Constant Vigilance
These are dark times. It is a full frontal assault on all peoples by an intolerant, sexist, racist, and classist administration. I am reminded of the this speech from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We are seeing some of the strategies used by Republican/White Supremacist leaders: Voter Suppression Creating Shock Events Gaslighting Lies […]
A Writing Hiatus…of sorts
I am working on two books right now, one on whiteness and addressing internalized dominance, and one on social justice supervision with two colleagues. I am finding it hard to focus on that writing and the blog writing at the same time, so I will take a hiatus from the blog. Of sorts. I will […]
I Don’t Want To Be Okay
Yesterday was a day of reflection for me, remembering memories and feelings from 15 years ago. The attacks on 9/11 punctuated my soul and heart, and in moving through all of that, I re-found this post I did. The desire to love still speaks to me even though I recognize the naivety of my younger […]
Walking in Liberation
I am flying home after co-facilitating a three day intensive institute on equity and justice sponsored by the multicultural student center at the University of Wisconsin Madison. It was a wonderful and deeply transformative three days with some faculty, staff, and students. I am returning home renewed, rejuvenated, and with a clearer sense of purpose […]
Cheerleaders are Never on the Field
I am a provocateur. I like art and ideas that stir the heart, mind, and soul. I like being moved. When I watched Beyonce’s video, Formation, last weekend, I was stirred. It was, at once, a celebration and a call to action. It was loving, hopeful, defiant, and angry, and it said get your shit […]
Ripples of Change 2015
It was a blessed and productive year. As part of my annual commitment to use a portion of my proceeds to spark more Ripples of Change, I share the organizations that I chose to support for 2015. I am supporting the Lower Bottom Playaz, an Oakland based theater company “dedicated to the excavation, critical examination, […]
Ripples of Change 2014
It has been a productive, complicated, difficult, and blessed year. I had the opportunities to work with people at Rollins College, University of Nebraska, UC Merced, and the Sierra Club. I am blessed to work, and grateful for my exceptional partners: dr. becky martinez and Amber Mayes. As part of my annual commitment to use […]
White Man Rules
As we have previously discussed, systems have consequences. And when we create nested systems within larger systems, often times those who benefit in the large system receive the benefits of the nested system, unless we account for it to be otherwise. Case in Point–A few years ago, Southwest Airlines revised their boarding system from a […]
On Mike Brown, Darren Wilson and the Deadly Intersection of Race and Masculinity
by Eric Mata and Craig Elliott A couple of days ago, we had a conversation about the shooting death of Mike Brown. As a man of color and as a father of an infant son and a white man and a father of two boys, the events that have unfolded in Ferguson, MO have resonated […]
Working Across Difference
Ferguson is not a black and white thing. Ferguson happens all over the country, to black folks, brown folks, asian, native, trans* folk. It crosses racial lines. Ferguson (and all the other violence and killings that happen in our country) is also at the intersections of race, class, and gender…and so Ferguson happens to poor […]