Labor and Work – WHITE NOISE COLLECTIVE

our writing on this theme

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. In many ways, this year has been a painful one for those who dream of collective liberation. However, amidst the chaos, confusion and heartache, we have managed to support the deep, transformational work of praxis — […]

Five Lessons From the Past and Present of Racial Justice Organizing

Anti-racism Practice, Hate Groups, Labor and Work

Five Lessons From the Past and Present of Racial Justice Organizing

Written by Julie Quiroz, Senior Fellow, Movement Strategy Center. Originally posted for Philanthropic Institute for Racial Equity The years of fighting racism have taught us many lessons, perhaps the greatest of which is the recognition that we have to be clear about the type of racism we intend to confront. If we take a narrow view of racism as a set of stereotypes or personal beliefs, then educational efforts aimed at individuals have some impact. But taking on structural racism requires entirely different approaches. As scholar Eduardo Bonilla-Silva asserts, “Social systems and their supports must […]

Police Brutality Action Kit (Created by Showing Up for Racial Justice – SURJ)

Police Brutality Action Kit, cross posted with permission from: showingupforracialjustice.org/archives/2016 Created by Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Click here for a PDF version of this toolkit. By Tes One Artwork used with permission. Showing up for Racial Justice(SURJ) was formed in 2009 by white people from across the US to respond to the significant increase of targeting and violence against people of color in the aftermath of the election of Barack Obama. The killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO; Eric Garner on Staten Island, NY; Ezell Ford in Los Angeles, CA; and John Crawford in Beavercreek, […]

A Dozen Things You Can Do Right Now You Can Help End Trump’s Family Separation Policy

Labor and Work, Reflection

A Dozen Things You Can Do Right Now You Can Help End Trump’s Family Separation Policy

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. Now is the time to do something. You can turn your anger into action. Do one thing today. Do several things this week. Join with others because collectively we are stronger. Here’s a consolidation of the […]

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Ask First! A Better Practices Guide for Indigenous Engagement

Cultural Appropriation, Labor and Work, Reflection

Ask First! A Better Practices Guide for Indigenous Engagement

Sneak peak with context and description by Dixie Pauline: This Better Practices Guide is a collaborative effort between event producers, community organizers, and Indigenous leaders. It’s still in DRAFT form and only a portion of it is presented here so be sure to keep an eye out for the document in full released this December. Gatherings * Festivals * Conferences * Action Camps * Ancestral Arts * Protests * Ceremony * Water & Land Protection/Defense * Climate & Environmental Justice * Antiracism * Human Rights * Sacred Sites * Permaculture Whether we acknowledge it or […]

What do you want from us in 2014?

Labor and Work, Reflection

What do you want from us in 2014?

Hello 2014! Hello White Noise Collective Community! This year, like every year since our humble beginnings in 2009, we are asking for your insights, ideas and feedback to shape our work so that its as relevant and fabulous as possible. Help us achieve new heights and be more responsive and strategic about where we direct our collective energy and (mostly) free labor by taking our QUICK survey. We will print out your words of wisdom on Jan 16 (please complete before then) and take them to a retreat with us to pour over and think […]

Calling In: Questions we have for the One Billion Rising campaign

As Valentine’s Day approaches (a day that often inspires much activism from women), the White Noise Collective took an opportunity in our February dialogue to reflect on white feminism: What issues are white feminists largely drawn to, how are those issues expressed, in what way is white privilege showing up, and what patterns are helpful to explore? What better place to start this inquiry than with One Billion Rising, founded by white feminist Vagina Monologues writer and founder of V-Day Eve Ensler? In 2013, One Billion Rising claimed to be the biggest mass rising in human […]

Dispatch from Northern California – Our Commitments in 2014

Labor and Work, Reflection

Dispatch from Northern California – Our Commitments in 2014

In late January 2014, for the first time since our birth in 2009, the entire current White Noise Collective core met for a full weekend retreat in coastal Northern California. The blissful sunshine, gentle wind, and migrating whales inspired a weekend of tough questions, deep introspection, big dreams, new plans, and renewed commitments. We hope this post, which summarizes the growth we underwent at our retreat, serves to put our intentions to the world, makes transparent our commitments, and increases our accountability to those of you who provided valuable feedback on our 2014 survey. On […]

Themes to Comment On!

Here are the themes that the folks who came to our last dialogue said that they want to explore in future dialogues. Through the help of Beja, they miraculously transformed from notes on poster paper into typed clusters in this blog for people to comment on to collectively figure out what to talk about next (April 12). Let’s see if this works. They are numbered and named for ease of commenting: Here’s a suggested process: 1. Read them over 2. Pick a cluster or a topic within a cluster that you think would be a […]

HUNGER FOR JUSTICE – 7/31 Day of Solidarity with Hunger Strikers

Anti-racism Practice, Labor and Work, State Violence

HUNGER FOR JUSTICE – 7/31 Day of Solidarity with Hunger Strikers

The White Noise Collective has added our name to the list of organizations that support and endorse the California Prisoner Hunger Strikers. We do this as an act of solidarity and to stand in opposition to the structural racism of the prison industry. As part of that endorsement, we are sharing this announcement about an upcoming way for all of us to show support and solidarity. Please join us in making a call to Gov. Brown and encouraging him and the CDCR to negotiate. -the WNC — Hunger for Justice On Wednesday July 31st, people […]

Strategies to Engage White People Around (Im)migrant Justice

Anti-racism Practice, Gender Identity, Labor and Work, Monthly Dialogues, Reflection

Strategies to Engage White People Around (Im)migrant Justice

In our June dialogue, we convened white female and gender minority racial justice activists to examine personal and political histories of immigration to this country, and to generate steps for action, engagement and dialogue with other white people towards contributing to the inspiring momentum of the immigrant justice movement. It was fantastic for the White Noise Collective to be joined by special guest, organizer and facilitator extraordinaire Dara Silverman of SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), who led us through a three-part process of familial exploration on a timeline of US history, expression of values […]

White Women, Patriarchy and White Superiority

"White Womanhood", Labor and Work, Privilege Systems, Reflection

White Women, Patriarchy and White Superiority

This piece is by longtime educator and social justice practitioner Tilman Smith, published on Dr. Shakti Butler’s World Trust site (a phenomenal resource for racial justice educators). Her articulation of the intersection of whiteness and femaleness deeply resonates with White Noise in this ongoing work to critically examine and courageously shake up the ways in which, as Smith so clearly expresses, It is in those moments when I feel most challenged around my oppressed identity as a woman that I call on my areas of internalized superiority. This is an invitation to all white women […]

Reclaiming Mother’s Day

"White Womanhood", Hate Groups, Labor and Work, Parent/Teacher Resources, Problematic Holidays, Reflection

Reclaiming Mother’s Day

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 […]

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

Disability Justice, Hate Groups, Labor and Work, Reflection, Therapy, Healing, and Whiteness

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

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 […]

The year turns: 2015 in review, 2016 on the horizon

Labor and Work, Reflection

The year turns: 2015 in review, 2016 on the horizon

At the beginning of December the White Noise Collective core met to examine our experiences from 2015 and envision new intentions for the coming year. How quickly yet another year has passed, full of new growing edges, community building, core transitions, and ever-deepening practices. Reflecting on our intentions from our past retreat, it is powerful to witness how the past year was indeed full of manifestation of so much intention: direct action organizing, a new presence on twitter (that we are still co-evolving with), maintaining an action listserve, some beautifully juicy and complex community dialogues, a new dialogue […]

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

"White Womanhood", Anti-racism Practice, Hate Groups, Labor and Work, Patriarchal Violence, Reflection

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

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 […]

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

Cultural Appropriation, Gender Identity, Labor and Work, Reflection

A Letter to 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

Gender Identity, Labor and Work, Privilege Systems, Problematic Holidays, Reflection

On Rachel Dolezal, White Privilege, and White Shame

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 […]

A Visual Response

"White Womanhood", Labor and Work, Reflection

A Visual Response

How does experience of white/female socialization create a brick-wall enclosure, holding in my dream of myself and others? How do my thought patterns, my conceptualizations of relating to myself and others, enforce these bricks? I feel I’ve made these bricks to model a brick I was handed at birth, collecting more over my lifetime, painstakingly making them in my mind’s workshop, firing them in my heart’s oven. The momentum in my life of white suprematicist privilege and body/beauty norm, nationality, literacy, class privilege overlapping with my experiences of gender, sexuality, and ability oppression create complexities […]

The Future of Solidarity: How White People Can Support the Movement for Black Lives

Anti-racism Practice, Labor and Work

The Future of Solidarity: How White People Can Support the Movement for Black Lives

This is to express our gratitude to everyone who showed up at The Future of Solidarity, organized livestream viewings across the country, helped share the event, and made the evening so powerful through your deep presence, open hearts and warm connections. With over 600 people gathered, it was the most amazing turnout we could have hoped for! We also want to say a huge thank you to the 35 person volunteer team that donated time, energy and great care to making the venue more accessible, and the entire evening run smoothly. Here is the transcript of […]

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

Labor and Work, Monthly Dialogues, Patriarchal Violence

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

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 […]

2016 Behind, 2017 Ahead

As part of our annual end-of-year tradition, the White Noise Collective core met in early December to reflect on 2016 — our accomplishments, failures, and growth as a collective — in order to compost old projects and germinate new ones for the year to come. Chapters – White Noise Collective is National! One of our greatest accomplishments in 2016 was the growth and flourishing of our national chapters in Rhode Island (facebook) and New York. In late fall we hosted our first ever national virtual gathering, and had an opportunity for a rich deep dive exploring some of […]

Another Year in Reflection

Labor and Work, Reflection, Saviorism

Another Year in Reflection

Wow, another year has passed, and a new year lies ahead. For many of us, and those of you who participated in our offerings this year, it was an exceptionally challenging and painful year. However, as we came together to reflect on 2017 and vision for 2018 and beyond, we couldn’t help but feel proud about all we — as a small, all-volunteer collective — have accomplished this year: Carrying on our steady tradition of using dialogue as political practice, we convened eleven dialogues this year. These spaces brought together our community to engage in critique and […]

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.

February 2018: Emotional Labor and Difficult Conversations Around Race and Gender

Dialogue Description: What messages have white supremacy and patriarchy directed at us about emotional labor in interpersonal relationships? Do you feel challenged navigating differences across race and gender where emotional labor is expected or warranted? Do you find yourself struggling to identify and maintain boundaries with colleagues, friends, housemates, community members, partners, or family when it comes to having difficult conversations about race, gender, and other lived experiences? Join us in dialogue as we explore these questions, and others, in an exploration of how race, gender, and emotional labor impact and complicate our lives. Some […]

August 2016: Race, Gender and Workplace Power

Dialogue Description: Guided by many motivating questions, our August dialogue will explore our struggles for racial and gender justice in our workplace settings. Whether we work at an explicit racialjustice organization, a largely white, “a-racial” institution, or somewhere in between, we want to use this dialogue to examine the unique challenge of managing workplace relationships and institutional power while also struggling for workplace justice. What roles do we hold in our workplaces, and what barriers do we face to dismantling white supremacy and patriarchy within our institutions? How do the real risks of losing or […]

May 2016: The Problem with Work

Join the White Noise Collective in our first ever reading group. At this dialogue we will dive deep into intersectional Marxist feminist Kathi Weeks’ groundbreaking book “The Problem with Work.” If you are unable to read the text, you are still welcome to join us in dialogue as we examine our own relationships towork, problematize the ideas of “work” and “labor”, and critique some of the feminist responses to gendered inequality at work. We’ll also dream big about what Weeks calls “post-work politics”, and ask ourselves what it means for our movement and our lives to have utopian visions of […]

May & June 2014: Meaningful Work

Dialogue Descriptions: For May, we will we explore the idea of “meaningful work.” What is it? What stories have we been told about it? Is it a necessity, a right, a privilege or a luxury to do work that aligns with our values and also pays the bills? Is the work we are doing (both paid and unpaid) just a pressure release valve, allowing larger social structures to remain unchanged, or are we really pushing our radical edges and building our communities? And how do paradigms about “sacrifice” and “success” fit into this conversation? Whether […]

March 2013: Helping Professions and the Buffer Zone: Maintaining and Challenging the System

Dialogue Description: In response to the theme of this year’s White Privilege Conference, The Color of Money, we will be re-examining what Paul Kivel terms “ the buffer zone,” a range of jobs and occupations that structurally serve to maintain the wealth and power of the ruling class by acting as a buffer between those at the top of the economic pyramid and those at the bottom. With a focus on how people socialized as white and female have occupied and represented this terrain, we will examine historical patterns, iconic images, and our individual participation and insight. […]