Part I: Spring 2023; Thursdays March 9–May 18
6 2-hour sessions, every other week;
7–9pm Eastern
3/9, 3/23, 4/6, 4/20, 5/4, 5/18
In this time of increasingly visible extremism, facism, and political divisions, it can be painful to witness family members and friends express hurtful, and even harmful views. While it may be tempting to scapegoat loved ones and distance ourselves from them, our individual family members and friends are part of a much larger ecosystem that has encouraged these racist, sexist, and transphobic politics. Understanding where we come from and our part in it is a big part of figuring out where we want to go.
In this series, we will work with our complex and sometimes painful family histories to learn more about how our ancestries became white, acknowledge the harm this has caused/is causing, learn how this is connected to current politics, and work towards the healing and transformation of our family legacies. As an affinity-based workshop,* this series is designed for people who have been racialized as white, are interested in a courageous look at family dynamics, and who are committed to disrupting racism and other forms of oppression within our families, communities, and ourselves. We welcome family members to sign up and participate in these sessions together.
Cost tiers:
- $75
- $200 (Actual cost per person)
- $325
Mistress Syndrome uses a sliding scale in the spirit of our mutual abundance.
Full Description:
In this online workshop series, we will work with our complex and sometimes painful family histories to learn more about how our ancestries became white, acknowledge the harm this has caused/is causing, learn how this is connected to current politics, and work towards the healing and transformation of our family legacies. As an affinity-based workshop,* this series is designed for people who have been racialized as white, are interested in a courageous look at family dynamics, and who are committed to disrupting racism and other forms of oppression within our families, communities, and ourselves. We welcome family members to sign up and participate in these sessions together.
While some white people have extensive access to family histories, others may not. Even without much access to genealogical records or oral traditions, there is much we can learn through listening to silences, understanding the greater historical context, tuning into our experiences, and unpacking how white culture shows up in our family systems. This series is open to any white person—regardless of access to family historical records, legacies of adoption, and various definitions of “family”—who is interested in investigating their familial and cultural legacies and can commit to attending with an open heart and open mind.
In addition to—and often connected with—our racialized legacies, our family systems may be fraught with dysfunction, silence, and cycles of trauma. Our sessions together will integrate self- and community care practices as we work towards healing and more fully humanizing our family members and ourselves in navigating these tender spaces. We recognize that our understandings of who “family” is can be diverse (biological, adopted, chosen, etc.) and is also informed by the legacies of white culture and heteropatriarchy. While participants are encouraged to use their own definitions of “family,” the intent of this workshop series is to focus on the family legacies we’ve inherited due to and in relationship with our racialized identities.
As part of shifting our orientation away from an individualistic and colonized model, we will work towards doing this work with and alongside our families and not on or about them. This means that there will be opportunities to engage your family members in the work and also share your understandings with them. Although not required, we welcome family members to sign up and participate in these sessions together.
Even as we hold these painful legacies, our family relationships and cultures may also be the site of much joy and resilience. This series will consider how various family cultural practices can support us in dismantling intersectional racism while creating, modeling, and envisioning healthy and holistic transformative alternatives.
What is a white affinity space?
Affinity spaces (sometimes called "caucusing") are commonly used in anti-racist organizing. For those unfamiliar with race-based affinity work, the idea of racially segregating on purpose can come as a surprise. Affinity spaces help facilitate more honest conversation than often happens in multiracial spaces.
For people racialized as white who have rarely had to think about their own racial identity, the white affinity group creates a space for introductory conversations about race and racism without re-traumatizing Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color/ People of the Global Majority in the process. White affinity spaces also transfer the emotional labor and responsibility of race-related conversations onto white people as a space to practice these conversations with other white people.