A few weeks ago, when I was visiting my friend Desiree Adaway in Asheville, a recurring theme kept coming up in our conversations – women, race, and privilege.
Community building is high on the list of values that both Desiree and I hold, and within that value is an interest in more effective community building across the gaps that divide us – like race and access to privilege. To get to a deeper place in those relationships that help us build community, we have to be prepared to engage in some of the harder conversations. That means asking questions that might embarrass us, admitting that we might feel some shame around some of the issues involved (eg. the privilege that we did nothing to earn), listening to each others’s stories with open hearts, and being prepared to step out of our comfort zones.
I invite you to listen in on our conversation and add your own thoughts in the comments below.
Note: the video stopped working part way through, but the audio works fine, so we decided to share it as is.
Women, Race, and Privilege from Heather Plett on Vimeo.