Conversations Unpacking Whiteness

About

This program runs for 5 Sundays at 4 – 6:00pm, from Oct 18 to Nov 15, virtually on Zoom - Participants must be able to attend all five sessions. ** TO REGISTER for this program, please contact the facilitators by sending an email to ConvosAboutWhiteness@gmail.com. ** Our facilitators will provide the Zoom link as well as course materials. Fish don’t see water. Birds don’t see air. And white people may not see whiteness. White supremacy has long been an organizing feature of our country. Its growth is increasingly obvious, making this the moment to learn more about it in the context of race generally. After participating in this paradigm-shifting course, you'll probably alter the way you live your values. With video clips, articles, and group activities, Conversations Unpacking Whiteness brings white-identified people together in a safe setting to examine deeply baked distortions from yesterday and today, and to then take steps toward a new tomorrow. Please register by sending an email to ConvosAboutWhiteness@gmail.com. Because each session builds on the previous one, we ask for participation for the full 5 weeks. If you cannot attend all sessions, please contact the organizers at ConvosAboutWhiteness@gmail.com to find out when the program will run in the future. Facilitators: Rabbi Jessica Lowenthal is the Rabbi and education director at Temple Beth Shalom in Melrose. She has been an educator most of her life, teaching primarily in the Jewish community for over 20 years. Her goal is to help participants see the underlying connections between multiple topics and how they impact each other. Rabbi Lowenthal has been trained by groups such as Facing History and Ourselves, Resetting the Table, and Echoes and Reflections. She was a Rukin Rabbinic fellow for 18Doors (formerly Interfaith Families) and is an active member in the Reform Movement's civil rights arm. Rabbi Lowenthal loves engaging with participants and cannot wait to meet the next cohort! Sue Herz , a generalist, has worn multiple hats: bioethicist, lawyer, writer, community organizer and – at heart – educator. As educator, she has served as faculty at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Suffolk University; and as facilitator in community forums focusing on areas such as race, disability, the Holocaust, and Laughter Yoga. Of particular significance: she brings to the course Conversations Unpacking Whiteness considerable thought and experience as a white person.