suggested reading

our writing on this theme

dialogue notes on this topic

Though many of the themes from the monthly dialogues are represented in our blog posts, those posts rarely include all of what was discussed.  Find the notes here from each dialogue raw and uncut. We share them (with names omitted) in an effort to be  accountable and transparent to our larger community, accessible for those who are not able to attend, and saved as archive to return to and draw from.

March 2021: Reflect, Recalibrate, Recommit

While 2021 is racing out of the gates, let’s take a moment to pause. What are the lessons we want to learn from 2020, from the past 4 years of 45, from Freedom Summer, the fight to defend our decaying democracy, the many ways we’ve adapted to pandemic living, grieving and loving, what is (im)possible, dreamable, doable? Let’s take time to gather together to support critical and compassionate reflection on how we are finding our ground in shifting political landscapes, the relationship between inner and outer work, and what fortifies us for the ongoing work […]

April 2020: Culture, Family, Land and Self: How We Respond in Times of Crisis

Description: The future is not an escapist place to occupy. All of it is the inevitable result of what we do today, and the more we take it in our hands, imagine it as a place of justice… the more the future knows we want it, and that we aren’t letting go.   adrienne maree brown As we continue within the conditions of our new physical, social and political reality, every day reveals a little more about individual and collective patterns under pressure. But where are these patterns coming from, what are their exact shapes and […]

August 2017: Examining Settler Colonialism

Dialogue Description: In anticipation of the upcoming powerful panel discussion “Living on Ohlone Land”, this dialogue will explore how structures of white supremacy and patriarchy contribute to settler colonialism in our lives and in the Bay Area.  How do our desires to feel rooted, grounded, and at home on stolen land impact our commitments to movements for indigenous sovereignty?  In what ways do we perpetuate and/or resist narratives of settler colonialism?  How are indigenous struggles connected to our other social and racial justice activism, organizing, paid and unpaid work? Suggested Readings: Contemporary Ohlone History, Sogorea Te’ Land […]

October 2016: Haunting and the Ghosts of Colonialism

Dialogue Description: We originally designed this dialogue to be a reading/book group for the book Ghostly Matters. However, after we started to dig in, we decided to shift away from a specific focus on the book (actually a very challenging read) to a wider discussion about the ways US culture (and beyond) is haunted by the ghosts of slavery and colonialism (which to us includes racism, capitalism, sexism, ableism…). How do we, those alive today, interact with and reckon with the violence, the terror, the loss, the repressions, and the shadows of the past as […]

November 2014: Relationship to Land

Dialogue Description: Moving from the “horrors of October” to those of November, we will take this time together to examine national mythologies that continue to justify colonization. We will also question our relationships to land, here in the Bay Area, California and beyond. What histories shape the present? How do patterns of displacement repeat at home? What are ways we can support each other to intervene into this holiday, which some are calling to be renamed as a national day of mourning? Suggested reading: The Last Thursday in November Control of Ancestral Remains Dialogue Notes: […]

November 2013: Thanksgiving Mythologies

Dialogue Description: Thanksgiving/Thanks-taking is coming up, and with inherited and/or chosen family time together, it is a potent time to (re)direct attention to realities that are hidden by this holiday’s very old propaganda campaign. We’ll look at histories of this land (specifically in CA), Thanksgiving and other national bedtime stories/mythologies we tell ourselves. For additional resources on ways to subvert and shift this holiday towards social justice education and challenging historical amnesia, you may find these interesting: Thangs Taken: rethinking thanksgiving Rethinking Thanksgiving: teaching ideas and resources and Myths and Misgivings Dialogue Notes: These are […]

September 2013: Gentrification

Dialogue Description: On September 17th we invite you to join us again in monthly dialogue–this time examining the theme of gentrification in the Bay Area.  From San Francisco (also this, and this) to Oakland and beyond, we’ll analyze deeper trends that influence where we live and why, including “safety,” economics, credibility, and quality of life.  After all, gentrification is #73 on the list of Stuff White People Like. And how do race, class, gender and colonial settlement tie into the conversation? For more resources on the intersection of gentrification and July’s dialogue topic of food justice, explore Oakland’s Phat Beet’s statement on […]

April 2011: Exploration of Ancestry

Dialogue Notes only: At our second White Noise monthly dialogue, we delved into the topic of ancestry with the intention of looking at how the histories/legacies of our (white/female) ancestors connect to the larger discussion we’ve begun. We began by checking in with affirmations about ourselves and about white women – something we committed previously to doing because we recognize how easy it can be to go instantly into denigrating ourselves and feeling over-responsible for all the problems of the world (something we, as women, have been very effectively trained to do — see the […]
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