Our Writings – WHITE NOISE COLLECTIVE

Narratives of White Women Used to Uphold Racism and Patriarchy: A Partial Timeline

ancestors, barbie, Featured, Media Commentary, themes, virtuous victim narratives, white supremacy

Narratives of White Women Used to Uphold Racism and Patriarchy: A Partial Timeline

By zaraMay 11, 2011ancestors, barbie, Featured, Media Commentary, themes, virtuous victim narratives, white supremacy

This is a timeline we use in White Noise workshops to help make visible dominant representations of white women that have historically served to reinforce, normalize and naturalize forms of racist violence and patriarchal oppression. How do these narratives of white female sexuality and identity (re)appear in the present? How do they continue to live in our imaginations, bodies, dreams, media, collective consciousness, politics? By no means attempting to be some kind of comprehensive history, but rather pulling out some key threads in the unweaving of structures of domination. Here we go: Captivity narratives, stories […]

Body as Battleground: A Little Historical Context on the Attack on Women & Reproductive Rights

Events, Featured, gender, GOP attacks, Systemic Violence

Body as Battleground: A Little Historical Context on the Attack on Women & Reproductive Rights

By ToranNovember 1, 2012Events, Featured, gender, GOP attacks, Systemic Violence

In our September dialogue, we focused on the topic “Body as battleground.” Obviously, with the current political attack on womens’ reproductive rights, the conservative media’s sexist slandering, and the general ways that patriarchy interferes on every angle of our daily lives, there was a lot to talk about. We delved into a slew of intense and interesting themes, but for me it was the reading I did in preparation for the night that really floored me. I have been reading a book called Caliban & the Witch for the past few months. It’s been recommended […]

Giving Thanks on Stolen Land

Featured, movement strategy, thanksgiving

Giving Thanks on Stolen Land

By NicoleNovember 21, 2016Featured, movement strategy, thanksgiving

November is upon us, and this coming week will find millions of Americans gathering together with given and chosen family to celebrate the foundational myths of American settler colonialism and the ongoing erasure of indigenous peoples on this land. This year, in the midst of one of the most powerful, visible, and spiritual resistance movements for indigenous sovereignty at Standing Rock, those of us who participate in some form of ritual at this time of year can take concrete steps to support indigenous sovereignty: Support the resistance at Standing Rock, and also think critically about How […]

Racial and Gender Justice Halloween Action Toolkit!

#mycultureisnotacostume, #NoDAPL, #notbuyingit, Anti-oppression Action, costumes, cultural appropriation, Featured, gender, gender justice, halloween, halloween action kit, movement strategy, racial justice, spirit halloween

Racial and Gender Justice Halloween Action Toolkit!

By Julia SebastianOctober 8, 2016#mycultureisnotacostume, #NoDAPL, #notbuyingit, Anti-oppression Action, costumes, cultural appropriation, Featured, gender, gender justice, halloween, halloween action kit, movement strategy, racial justice, spirit halloween

Ah the beginning of fall. The air is a little colder, the colors a little more orange, and there is no shortage of pumpkin flavored products. Yet there is one sign of the turning seasons that is truly unwelcome…racist, sexist, heterosexist, and colonialist costumes — already in full force in stores around the country. Enter into any Spirit Halloween store and you will find the full gamut of costumes perpetuating cultural appropriation, racist stereotypes, Indigenous erasure and hetero-misogyny. At a time when Black Lives Matter has become a resounding movement pressing for the safety, humanity […]

I Am Not Trayvon Martin, but I sure look like the jury. Reflections on racism, the Zimmerman verdict and white women jurors.

criminal injustice, Featured, issues, justice system, Media Commentary, racial justice organizing, reflection, Strategy, Structural Racism, Systemic Violence, virtuous victim narratives, white female socialization, white supremacy

I Am Not Trayvon Martin, but I sure look like the jury. Reflections on racism, the Zimmerman verdict and white women jurors.

By ToranJuly 16, 2013criminal injustice, Featured, issues, justice system, Media Commentary, racial justice organizing, reflection, Strategy, Structural Racism, Systemic Violence, virtuous victim narratives, white female socialization, white supremacy

As we collectively mourn for Trayvon Martin and feel outrage for him, his family and all people who live in fear of a criminal (in)justice system which is designed to entrap and persecute them or their loved ones, we must reflect on the dynamics of racism and fear in our culture that not only allowed, but encouraged, Travon’s murder. From the We Are Not Trayvon Martin tumblr: The Trayvon Martin case isn’t about an isolated incident but about a pattern of behavior. It’s assumed that racism some how magically ended in the 1960’s. Instead, we’ve slapped a […]

Emotional Labor vs. Labor That Evokes Emotions; or the hard work of being human

Featured, reflection, white supremacy

Emotional Labor vs. Labor That Evokes Emotions; or the hard work of being human

By NicoleApril 8, 2018Featured, reflection, white supremacy

This blog post is written in response to comments and discussion generated at the February 2018 White Noise Collective dialogue, which examined the themes of “Emotional Labor and Difficult Conversations about Race and Gender”. I am grateful to the participants for their frank, vulnerable, and honest conversation. See our website for the guiding questions and suggested readings for the dialogue. I recently had a friend (a late 20s straight cis-man) divulge to me a dating encounter that he was frustrated about. To his credit, he asked my permission first before telling me the story (which […]

Moving into Radical Self-Worth to Better Support our Movements — part 1 in a series

Featured, gender, Internalized worthlessness, racial justice, racial justice organizing, reflection, role models, Strategy, violence, white supremacy, white woman

Moving into Radical Self-Worth to Better Support our Movements — part 1 in a series

By WN CollectiveJuly 3, 2015Featured, gender, Internalized worthlessness, racial justice, racial justice organizing, reflection, role models, Strategy, violence, white supremacy, white woman

In our struggles to take down white supremacy and patriarchy, we must each heal the ways we have internalized these systems of oppression. Otherwise, we end up recreating them — even in our liberation movements. This healing means different things to different people. We write this piece in particular for those of us who identify at what we often call the intersection of race privilege and gender(ed) oppression. The two primary authors of this piece identify as white, queer women (though those labels never seem sufficient), but we recognize that people invested in this conversation […]

Vent Diagrams for White Racial Justice Practitioners

#healing, #vents, #white supremacy, Featured

Vent Diagrams for White Racial Justice Practitioners

By zaraSeptember 15, 2021#healing, #vents, #white supremacy, Featured

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. We purposefully don’t label the overlapping middle. Making vent diagrams as a practice helps us recognize and reckon with contradictions and keep imagining and acting from the intersections and overlaps. Venting is an emotional release, an outlet for our anger, frustration, […]

A Letter to White People Using the Term “Two Spirit”

colonization, cultural appropriation, Featured, gender non-conforming ancestors, two spirit, white people, White People Using the Term “Two Spirit”

A Letter to White People Using the Term “Two Spirit”

By ToranMay 18, 2015colonization, cultural appropriation, Featured, gender non-conforming ancestors, two spirit, white people, White People Using the Term “Two Spirit”

Thank you for taking the time to read this. This letter was written by white allies in support of certain Native members of our community who have already put a lot of time and energy into trying to explain why it’s a problem when people without Native/First Nations heritage use the term “Two Spirit” to describe themselves. We know that you care deeply about this issue because you are still reading this letter. This means you have not yet closed your mind to what we are saying. Let us begin by acknowledging that we live […]

On Rachel Dolezal, White Privilege, and White Shame

Blackness, colonization, costumes, Featured, halloween, Media Commentary, Rachel Dolezal, white privilege, white shame, white supremacy

On Rachel Dolezal, White Privilege, and White Shame

By ToranJune 18, 2015Blackness, colonization, costumes, Featured, halloween, Media Commentary, Rachel Dolezal, white privilege, white shame, white supremacy

Rachel Dolezal Isn’t the Most Important Race Story in Spokane. But she does seem to be an unraveling puzzle that continues to elicit curiosity, outrage, and comment. From Mia McKenzie’s discussion of Blackness and Blackface, to Kai M Green’s willingness to give Rachel a little more benefit of the doubt in discussing the similarities of race and gender constructs, to Lisa Marie Rollins’ explanation of what transracial actually means, plenty has been said already. It is a story with endless complexity. While I find all of this interesting, what interests me specifically about this situation is […]

Disposability, Desirablity, and #MeToo

costumes, Featured, gender, halloween, movement strategy, reflection

Disposability, Desirablity, and #MeToo

By NicoleFebruary 7, 2018costumes, Featured, gender, halloween, movement strategy, reflection

This blog post is written in response to comments and discussion generated at the January 2018 White Noise Collective dialogue, which examined the themes of “Race, Gender and #MeToo”. I am grateful to the participants for their frank, vulnerable, and honest conversation. See our website for the guiding questions and suggested readings for the dialogue. The following two articles were additional excellent ruminations for this piece: Consenting to Normal by Hyejin Shin and The Female Price of Male Pleasure by Lili Loofbourow. ————– As someone with very limited social media exposure, I’ve been largely distant […]

Reclaiming Mother’s Day

body sovereignty, critical reflection, Education Tools, Featured, issues, Mother's Day, motherhood, reclaim mother's day, reproductive justice, Systemic Analysis

Reclaiming Mother’s Day

By WN CollectiveMay 7, 2014body sovereignty, critical reflection, Education Tools, Featured, issues, Mother's Day, motherhood, reclaim mother's day, reproductive justice, Systemic Analysis

As Mother’s Day approaches, the White Noise Collective is once again faced with more questions than answers about this national holiday with a rich but forgotten history. We all agree that the current mainstream celebration of Mother’s Day — adorned with endless plastic, fuzzy and floral ways to express your annual appreciation to your mother — are at best a capitalist co-optation of a holiday that was originally meant for a completely different purpose. Harnessing fierce maternal love in all its forms, we offer this blog with a compilation buffet of food for thought and […]