Identity & Culture Workshop: Foundation for Dismantling Whiteness & Racism 

About This Training

In this 12-hour workshop over 6 weeks, we will discuss what we can do to move away from a racial identity that can promote (often without our realizing it) a racial hierarchy to one based in culture, community, connections, and heritage. The facilitators have been working in cultural communities for over 25 years and have learned that doing the work of promoting justice and equity for everyone in our society requires not just taking responsibility for the history and consequences of “whiteness,” but also learning what we need to reconnect with, affirm, and promote our cultures that is healthy and healing. 

We ask such questions as: 

• What are the characteristics of European American culture?
• What is a healthy cultural identity? How does knowledge of your culture inform your work in communities of many cultures?
• What is the history of whiteness in the U.S. as a concept and identity?
• What are the cultural narratives that support whiteness and what counter-narratives can we promote?
• What resources from your cultural roots can you draw on to have a healthy identity and have healthy relationships across cultures?
• What new language can we use to replace language based on hierarchy and prejudice?

 Learn more about Healing Roots at their website: https://healingrootscommunity.com/

NOTE: All MAC staff members have participated in this training and HIGHLY recommend it! Don't hesitate to reach out to us to ask questions or talk about the workshop. 

Presenter Bios

Janice Barbee is the director and founder of Healing Roots, and has the honor of being named an Elder in our European American community. She designs and conducts workshops for organizations who want to better understand culture and respectfully and productively engage with people of different cultures. She is also an adjunct instructor at the University of Minnesota, teaching on culture and health. 

Sara Axtell is an Elder in the Healing Roots learning community. She loves teaching and learning with others, and feels fortunate to be able to do so in a variety of settings--at the University of Minnesota, in the community, and in correctional facilities. She focuses on reconnecting with ancestral culture as part of a process of dismantling whiteness and developing a healthy sense of cultural identity.

Eligibility, Fees, Dates, Times and More Information

The workshop is open to MAC members only. No sure if your program is a MAC member? Check here. 

Workshop Fee: FREE for all MAC members.

Workshop Dates and Times:

• Tuesday, November 2, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
• Tuesday, November 9, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
• Tuesday, November 16, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
• Tuesday, November 23, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
• Tuesday, November 30, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
• Tuesday, December 6, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM