Earthaven — Sound of Rest Tour

Sound of Rest : Earthaven

July 2 | 10 AM to 1 PM | Breaking Down Barriers Workshop

July 2 | 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM |Sound of Rest Song Circle  

Breaking Down Barriers Workshop

July 2 | 10 AM to 1 PM

Being close to blackness is the deepest, most personal aspect of working with systematic racism. When we are guided by a facilitator, we can identify and root out our habits, biases, and histories that are holding us back from being close to African heritage people. Through asking better questions of ourselves, our families, and our communities, we can transform the world around us.

Many white-identified folks may not consider themselves racist and yet may have hidden or underlying biases that are creating a barrier between themselves and black people in their community. These barriers prevent us from really truly seeing blackness, from being close to blackness, and from advocating for true change. Aaron Johnson will facilitate this group, helping white-identified folks to reflect and discover personal, community, and cultural barriers particularly as they affect white controlled spaces.

Here is some of the key thinking at play for this workshop:

• Understanding your positionality profile as an individual and community
• Understanding “Will you marry me?” questions, unfair questions, story questions and when and how to ask them
• “The park bench” scenario: A critical analysis of complex racism when black people are simply being full humans in public, landing the program and deeply considering next steps

Sound of Rest Song Circle

July 2 | 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM

Sound of Rest Song Circle is a song meditation centering black voices uplifted to interrupt the trauma story of Unrested Labor. This is an opportunity for us to be in prayerful meditation and a slowing down of what it means to absorb a collective commitment to supporting folks that have been navigating the state of being Unrested in their resource gathering. 

This is a mixed space event, both people of the global majority and allies are welcome. The meditation will support holistic thinking on how to make resource gathering happen in a rested state in communities that have historically had to fight for survival. The event will also help break down what it means to be an ally, a key supporter, an anchor person, and a disruptor of the Unrested Labor trauma story, not just this weekend, or this month, but as a part of a life practice.

Unrested Labor is the acknowledgment of the slavery and post-slavery exploitation of black labor that is often unvalued, untracked, and unsupported. Generations of black-bodied people have been at the bottom of capitalism tiers to the benefit of those at the top. Unrested Labor is recognizing the work of people of the global majority that have labored for countless hours with no rest, often while required to be at a high level of performance with a low level of nourishment.

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