Volunteers need structures for personal and systemic anti-racism work
Volunteers need structures for personal and systemic anti-racism work
In a society built on white supremacy, we must be willing and able to look both inside ourselves and at the policies in place that make up the rules and culture that guide our lives in order for change to be meaningful. I believe intentional communities focused on social justice have the capacity to bridge and merge personal and political forces by engaging us in critical thinking and fostering an environment where systems of oppression are talked about openly.
Sadly, this has mostly not been the case in the St. Louis Loretto house.
I quickly realized at the start of my volunteer year that I had a lot of room for growth in my understanding of privilege and racism. But without the foundational trust necessary for our community to broach these topics organically or a formal framework for them built into the program, I began to unpack my whiteness and its implications independently.
