Healing the Broken Parts

The weather is beginning to warm up. I’m in constant awe as I watch the leaves slowly come back on the big beautiful tree in my backyard. The birds in all their beautiful colors, shapes and sizes are coming back to feed from our bird feeder. As I watch spring bring new life, I also think about the areas of my own life that I want to nurture and bring back to life. 

In my February Blog, I talked a little about the start of my journey to connect with my ancestors and heritage. For most of my life, I have actively rejected and distanced myself from my Jewish heritage. I am only now realizing the impact of that loss. I clearly recall attending my first Undoing Racism and Community Organizing workshop by PISAB (The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond: https://pisab.org/). During the workshop folks are asked what they like about being whatever race they identify as. What stood out to me most was the beautiful and rich responses that came from Black, Indigenous, Lantinx, and Asian folks in contrast with the profound silence and confusion that came from most of us white folks. This activity illuminated the empty place I have always felt inside. I understand now that the emptiness comes from not being connected to a culture separate from whiteness. This emptiness has led me to admire and appropriate others’ cultures in an attempt to fill the void inside of me. Dr. Ken Hardy has said that, “there is something very broken in white people, and it's from those broken places that white people cause harm.” Many of us white people and our ancestors gave up their cultures to assimilate into whiteness. This assimilation has cost me the sense of connection and belonging that comes with knowing and understanding the people I come from and belong to. It has hurt me and caused me to hurt others.

I want to heal my broken parts. I don’t want to continue to appropriate and inflict pain onto BIPOC. Part of my healing from white supremacy culture is to learn more about my own roots and where I come from; to embrace my heritage and reconnect with my people. As I watch the leaves growing, flowers sprouting and birds feeding, I am reminded about the importance of  feeding my own soul, too.  

Hope to see you on the journey,

Robin

THERE'S STILL TIME TO REGISTER FOR THE WORKSHOP BELOW!

IASWG Symposium (https://www.iaswg.org/2023symposium) will take place on June 8th (1:45-2:45pm) and is Session #5161: Using The Window of Tolerance to Manage White Fragility, for a 60-minute General Education Session. The session will be co-facilitated by Victoria Dexter and Robin Schlenger.

"Exploring the Enduring, Invisible and Ubiquitous Centrality of Whiteness." Discussions will be hosted by Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy: https://saturdaywhitenessseries.com/topics:  On  May 6th, I will be part of a panel discussion  “On the frontline and faultline: Anti-racism work in black and white." To register click this link: https://uncoveringracialtrauma.eventsmart.com/events/thecentralityofwhitenessseries/.

Check out the Three-Fifths April edition article that I wrote: “I’m not like those people" by Robin Schlenger: https://threefifths.online/2023/04/08/im-not-like-those-people/ 

Robin Schlenger