Since our decision to sunset the organization in 2023, we have taken a year to reflect with core collective members and close collaborators to integrate this decade-plus experience, distill lessons and lift up valuable movement memory. Most of these conversations have been recorded for our podcast and also live on StoryCorps.
To our friends, comrades and community,
We miss you! And, we have major news to share: after a long, rocky period of deliberation, our core has made the difficult decision to sunset our organization. Ultimately we have determined that we do not have capacity to move forward together in the form of White Noise Collective.
We are big fans of vent diagrams: move from the overlaps – a phenomenal participatory art project, which was started by educator E.M./Elana Eisen-Markowitz and artist Rachel Schragis.
In their words: “We define a “vent diagram” as a diagram of the overlap of two statements that appear to be true and appear to be contradictory.
Written by White Noise Collective core member Jay Tzvia Helfand, for the recently published anthology There is Nothing So Whole As A Broken Heart: Mending the World As Jewish Anarchists, edited by Cindy Milstein.
… Read moreThrough stories at once poetic and poignant, There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart offers a powerful elixir for all who rebel against systemic violence and injustice.
It is our annual practice to write and share a “Year in Review” blog, both as part of our own reflection process and as part of our accountability and transparency practices. We usually post this earlier than April, but that apparently wasn’t in the cards this year. Here goes…
Every year is a year like no other, but 2020 certainly outpaced most other years.… Read more
When Amy Cooper pointed her finger at Chris Cooper saying, with cell phone in her other hand, “I am going to tell them (the police) that an African-American man is threatening my life.”, a crystallization of decades and centuries of ghosts that have haunted this country came into sharp focus. The weaponization of white womanhood is so old.
Within the massive waves of information overwhelm, we compiled these resources to boost our capacity and connection to respond to this crisis. Gratitude to all of the labor by so many amazing people that went into creating these resources to weather this and future storms together.
Another year has passed, and white supremacist violence and misogyny is ever-present, from white nationalist mass shootings in El Paso and New Zealand to our president’s twitter account.
Here in our small corner of the world, the White Noise Collective has continued our work to create space to unlearn systems of oppression and build embodied resilience in our movements for racial justice.… Read more
A Transcript of an Interview with White Noise Collective on Feminist Magazine Radio Show, July 2, 2019.
We use “white womanhood” as a term to capture the set of cultural messages that are widely spread through media and institutions like churches and schools about how “white women” should look, act, behave, and participate in society. These messages often result in learned behaviors that many people who identify as white women perform, or are expected to perform in order to be accepted.… Read more
As the winter solstice passes, we at White Noise Collective are engaged in the beloved tradition of taking stock of our past year, expressing gratitude for what we have made possible given all that we hold, letting go of that which no longer serves us, and making space for new ways to breathe life into our movements for racial and gender justice.… Read more
SURJ moves funds and resources to many of the same POC-led organizations as WNC. Please see their end of year donation request and offer what you can! -WNC
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Dear family, friends and comrades,
We are all receiving requests for donations for many worthwhile causes. Please consider how much of your giving goes to people of color-led organizing.… Read more
Re-posting this excellent blog by Felicia Gustin of SURJ. Upcoming events also include: 7/2 Families Belong Together – Block ICE and Banner making: Stop ICE Family Separation
We are all feeling outrage over the cruel and inhumane immigration policies that separate families at the border. Trump’s Executive Order is a smokescreen, a distraction, and we have to keep up the pressure.… Read more
“This sacred site represents our living culture and more than 5,000 years of our history. We will not allow our ancestors to be disturbed.”
—Joint statement from Ohlone family bands
Hello local settlers, it is a vitally important and urgent time to tune in to the Indigenous-led campaign to save the West Berkeley Shellmound, learn and understand the profound significance of this Ohlone ancient burial ground and sacred site, and to teach others, and get involved with many forms of support.… Read more