Monthly Archives: January 2020

Community Matters: Schedule

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For more information about how we got here: click here.

For information about each presenter, click on the link of their project. For my reflections on their presentation, click on their name.

Calculating Risks in Service of Equity and Justice

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Many people feel stuck when considering taking action because of fear and undefined/ill-defined risk. If privileged people can identify where our reserves and resources are, and what risk we take on, we can be more expansive and effective in our social justice work. Thinking through risk helps us to expand our diversity of tactics. Sometimes the imagined consequences of new actions are more than the actuality.

N.B. I know that many people do not have the privilege and luxury of calculating risks. I see and honor the work of People of Color, particularly Black Women, who have been leading in this work for generations. This post is written to encourage those reluctant in their privilege to begin taking more risk to build the world that we want to see.

Social Risk

Social risk happens when we feel like our families, friends and/or group isn’t going to like or accept us any more because of new and/or political stances or actions. I think that this is the silent killer of action. When you begin voicing different opinions, or stand up to your identity, you may be afraid that relationships can end. That is hard; particularly if you already feel socially isolated. You’re able to take on more social risk when you feel confident in your breadth and depth of relationships. Social risk can look like bringing up taboo topics in conversation, sharing articles that have a political point of view, challenging wrong assumptions, or ending friendships that have or feel like that have social or other value. The bright side of ending relationships that don’t feel aligned with your social justice goals, is that it can open up energy and time for more supportive relationships. It can also be a risk to join new events/movements. It can feel that you’re not far enough on your journey to be able to join a new social justice event or movement. It’s okay. Meeting new people can be hard. Sometimes people can be welcoming and ready to invite you in. Sometimes people can be tired, and nervous about meeting a newcomer themselves, particularly if you’re joining the group after a traumatic event. When you’re new, it’s a good time to be a listener, learner, and your most authentic self, including practicing saying “thank you” and “I didn’t know”.

Physical Risk

Having a physical presence in the streets is so critically important for to show our strength in numbers, to create obstacles to the status quo, and to bring us together in solidarity, yet it can be a risk that many feel that they cannot take on. For people who are differently abled, have mobility issues, have invisible illnesses, are more likely to be targeted by LO, have an outstanding warrant or previous charges, have undocumented status, are suffering from trauma and/or anxiety, or are the primary caregivers for children, the elderly, or anyone else, the logistics and physicality of physical presence can be overwhelming. If you feel that you cannot participate for any of the reasons mentioned, or others, including fear of police incitement, targeting, and escalation, there are other ways to get involved. There is need for on- and off-site community care, legal observers, communications, amplification of online messaging, etc. in most public actions. Because physical action and work is often the most visible, those of us who feel that we can’t participate in one or all on-the-ground actions feel left out or that we’re not doing enough. There’s lots of work.

Professional Risk

Professional risk lives next door to social risk. When you begin talking out about things that you feel strongly about, and holding others accountable for justice and equity in the workplace, there may be consequences including denial of responsibilities, raises, promotions, networks, invitations for speaking, conferences, and on and on. Seek out support for your work within your professional sphere– a caucus, so to speak– to help you and others speak out and up. Expect that some will applaud your efforts, and other feel threatened. You may find that your fear of reprisal (particularly, the more privilege you hold) was overblown. If you see that others are facing consequences due to their advocacy for justice, make sure to support them both privately and publicly.

Emotional Risk

It is a risk to care. Our emotional health is taxed daily. This is on purpose. I first drafted this in cold, sunless January of 2020. Then, a friend needed rent money. The impeachment trial– which was ultimately toothless– was on the radio. Now it’s June and there’s a pandemic, and an uprising, and it is a time of emotional chaos. To make the emotional connection with our own trauma and lack of agency in this system is hard enough– to make emotional connections to support and heal one another can feel overwhelming. Yet, I’d encourage you to open yourself up to hearing stories that others wish to share about their own journeys. If you can access therapy, counseling and mental health support, go. If you have access, work to make sure that everyone has access to excellent, affordable/free mental health support. I’ve also come to realize the emotional risk of telling the truth to yourself about family, resources, relationships, etc. Reconciling your ideal values with your concrete actions requires emotional risk and work.

Legal Risk

When we recognize that the legal system is built for White Supremacy, we can choose to to push the boundaries of that system in service of Black Liberation. Our networks often include police officers, judges, lawyers, and their spouses, and other family. We get waved along during inspections. We get free consultations and payment plans. We get our privacy protected. We’re seen as respectable and safe. How do we extend protections? How do we use this privilege to smash the systems of inequity.

Financial Risk

Taking on more financial risk one of the most important and available opportunities to us with greater financial stability. Financial stability is NOT only having cash in the bank– lots of people with privilege are struggling to pay bills, and do not feel that they can give as much as they like. Wealth is not only money, but it is also property, networks of relatives, available credit, banking relationships, etc. One example of taking on financial risk is co-signing a credit card with someone who has no or poor credit history. It is possible to limit your financial risk, while helping someone access the benefits of a higher credit score. Assessing your threshold of financial risk could allow you to give more money, altering working hours in order to dedicate more time to unpaid community work, offer services on a sliding scale, etc.

To close, I’ll share this FB post from Scott Woods via Wear Your Voice Magazine

Speaking out puts you outside the pale of polite spaces. 
Speaking out costs you opportunities, gigs, and jobs. 
Speaking out suggests that you have time to waste, that you don’t have certain things. 
Speaking out costs you friends and lovers and camaraderie. 
Speaking out generates as much loneliness as it does attention. 
Speaking out makes you “that” cat. 
Speaking out means there are people you won’t get to meet once you speak, but who will have an opinion of you anyway. 
Speaking out makes you a target, makes you susceptible to judgment, makes you vulnerable to people and systems alike. 
Speaking out will dry up your associations and make you a pariah, force you to wear the scarlet tweet in your world. 
Speaking out may cost you your world. 
Speaking out makes an argument out of nothing, makes a fight last a year. 
Speaking out gets you uninvited to parties. 
Speaking out gets you invited to meetings that only want to co-opt your presence because speaking out makes them look like they’re speaking out too. 
Speaking out gets you dismissed, gets you fired.
Speaking out can make you poor. 

So if you’re out here arguing that someone speaking out doesn’t cost them anything, you’re probably wrong.

Community Matters: Lisa Woolfork

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Black Women Stitch, Stitch Please

People sitting at tables. The people are a variety of races and ages. Most are women. They are all engaged in small group conversations.
Students and community members ordering food before Lisa Woolfork presents.

Lisa Woolfork presented at last night’s second “Community Matters”. I’ve known Lisa since the summer of 2017 when we were doing preparation and response to the white supremacist Unite the Right rallies. I’ve heard the origin stories of Black Women Stitch and Stitch Please before; each time I hear Lisa talk about it, she brings more layers and understanding to why this is such an important project for Black women and femmes.

Lisa is an amazing seamstress– she’s been sewing and quilting for over 20 years. As part her work she’d pay to go to retreats where she’d often be the only Black woman in attendance. Last night she talked about it took some traumatic events to make her realize that she didn’t want to be part of those circles anymore. Lisa talked about fear, risk, and regret that she didn’t act sooner. Some of my major take-aways from last night were:

  • It’s not the responsibility of Black people to educate White people about their microaggressions. Lisa disappeared from the White sewing community that she had been part of for 20 years and almost no one followed up with her to check in about her absence. It’s not on Lisa to get them to understand why she is no longer there. Lisa wants to create her own productive, supportive community.
  • It is unusual and special in Charlottesville for a Black person to be able to share their story and perspective to a mixed race crowd and for their perspective to be honored without question or gaslighting. I hope that we can grow these moments.
  • By Lisa sharing her full perspective– full of examples of strength and self-doubt, a space was created for younger Black women to share their own struggles and doubts, and to get validation from other community members of what they are achieving.
  • Lisa’s story is inspiring other Black women in attendance to create and further their own projects.

Community Matters: Mack McLellan

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Mack’s website, Mack’s Amazon wishlist

I asked Mack to be our first presenter because he’s game for most anything, funny, charming, and super personable (I just described every presenter I got, so I actually no longer know why I picked him first). I met Mack on August 13, 2018, after a summer of organizing to prepare for the anniversary of the events of August 2017. I wanted to be doing something proactive for community, not just reacting to the actions of White Supremacists. Mack got invited to this community meeting that I was attending, and the two of us immediately hit it off. Mack has a can do attitude that isn’t bound by following conventions of what’s been done. He just wants to make positive change. I value his perspective immensely– I remember regularly his words about all children– regardless of privilege– needing time with parents, and yet missing that critically important relationship, in wealthy families with nannies, and less affluent families where parents work 3 jobs to make ends meet. His words reminded me of universal needs, and helped shift my perspective to be more empathetic overall.

Mack McLelllan, an African American Man, speaks to a group of people sitting at dining tables.

One way Mack works is to distribute culturally competent books in area neighborhoods through his Bridging the Gap program. He’s pragmatic– what’s more likely to bring kids out– some piles of books? OR some piles of books in front of a bounce house and some ice cream?! Mack meets the community where they are, accepts and celebrates them as they are.

Some highlights from last night:

  • Mack’s description of how mindfulness puts the burden on children to change their behavior without the acknowledgement of context, or change of environment (my summary)
  • His story and picture of a proud Afghani girl wearing a hijab that matched the book’s cover picture of a girl in the same pink hijab
  • Discussion of a literature/book distribution event on grounds for young community members
  • The idea of UVA student-led book drives
  • Seeing people engaged with the event for the entirety of the 2 hours, some staying longer than they meant to, and some staying way longer than the 8:00 close.

group of people sitting at dining tables in a restaurant. Participants are a mixture of ages -- ranging from early 20s to late 40s, present as different races and genders. They are engaged in small group conversations.

I hope to see you at the next event Tuesday, January 28 with Lisa Woolfork of Stitch Please

UVA students, register for dates in the series here. Community Members, please join us. I appreciate a message letting me know you’re coming, but spontaneity is okay too!

Community Matters: How We Got Here

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A year ago my friend Julie Caruccio (you know, Julie, the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs; Associate Dean of Students– no big deal) wrote to me “I’d like to formally invite you to collaborate with us on the development of a training program for students interested in doing community engagement.”

This was an exciting moment for me professionally. I remembered finishing my doctorate 15 years ago, and asking myself and my adviser, what am I even doing? Am I even using my education? My adviser assured me that I was okay– that my path would make sense, and that all my experiences would lead me to where I was supposed to go. There’s so much internal and external pressure to “use” your education. As if education isn’t an exercise for each of us to understand our selves and our skills better, that is an end to itself, and doesn’t have to be commodified. I’ve always had a defensive, uncomfortable, and complicated reaction to the combination of holding a PhD and service industry jobs. I honestly don’t think that my degree makes me smarter or more valuable as a human. And yet, I find myself simultaneously wanting recognition for my achievement, and the recognition of the humanity of my fellow service workers regardless of formal educational attainment. Also, I am ambitious– I know that my skills and experience in education and community building could be applied at the university level, even as I am uninterested in and unsuited for the typical academic track. Being recognized as having expertise in training and community engagement was important and meaningful to me.

Julie and I began meeting with a student intern, Maggie Hirshland, and, after her maternity leave, another Student Affairs staffer, Rose Cole. After a week or two of listing frustrations stemming from a couple decades of working with UVA students and faculty (a partial list at bottom), I made a mental shift– remembering that the UVA undergraduate population are an age group that I love, and that they are smart, still developing, and in “education mode”. This realization made me view this work as an opportunity to teach, not just chastise.

Over the course of the spring semester, we worked together to visualize what effective student training for community engagement would look like in the particular environment of UVA. I thought about the internal work we must do for our idealized beliefs to become concrete actions. I thought about what respect looks like in practice. I thought about how our insecurities and discomfort negatively affect the way we move through the world. I thought about how it’s so much more powerful to frame suggestions in positive action to enact, as opposed to as a list of “nos” and “nots”. As I reflected, my thoughts coalesced into a framework to guide thinking before, during and after community engagement. I’ve been fortunate to present this framework in a number of Melissa Levy’s classes within the Youth Development Program, and have applied it in community work.

In the Fall, Julie followed up on one of our ideas of putting on an evening series similar to BE’s study groups, compensating me as a Community Fellow. On Tuesday nights from January to May, we’ll be meeting in the back room of the Blue Moon Diner. I’ve got an amazing slate of Community Members doing work that supports, honors, and nurtures our greater community in a multiplicity of ways. They will present about their work, with time built in for dinner attendees to get to know one another, and to generate ideas that authentically connect the University and greater Cville communities. I plan to reflect on each week’s presentation here. The name of the organization links to some material on each presenter. As they present, their name will link to my reflections. The amazing slate so far includes, these fabulous humans:

UVA students, register for dates in the series here. Community Members, please join us. I appreciate a message letting me know you’re coming, but spontaneity is okay too!

Historical Challenges of Working with UVA students, faculty, staff (an incomplete list)

  • Hierarchical Thinking This shows up as UVA-affiliated peeps thinking that they are smarter, more experienced, more capable, more competent, etc., which in turn leads to savior complex.
  • Access to Resources/Systems UVA peeps have access to space, tools, printing, money– this is not without a cost (hello student debt), but there is an assumption that systems and resources available to UVA’s institutional purchasing power is available to local organizations and individuals. A lack in the community may not be due ignorance, the lack can be due to lack of resources, or a mindful prioritization of different resources or values.
  • Compensation I gave free labor to UVA for many years. It’s sorta like when artists are encouraged to do work for free for “exposure”. When a school has a $9.6 billion endowment, and a $3.5 billion annual budget (!!!), that they can’t pay local content experts $100 to share their knowledge is kinda crazy. Not only is getting promise of compensation in the first place challenging, but the logistics of getting paid is incredibly difficult. I’ve gotten paid 3 different ways in the course of the year. When I do get paid, I get a 1099 at the end of the year, which results in having to file taxes, sometimes a tax penalty, and an additional fee for running a business. Some of this is not the University’s fault, it’s just something that anyone doing work with the University has to factor into their financial well-being. (I’m focusing here on people not employed by/affiliated with the University, but plenty of wage workers, adjunct faculty, staff, student athletes, undergraduates and grad students are under-compensated for the labor that they are doing for the university. That the history of UVA is rife with sexism, classism and racism and that marginalized people, especially Black People, have been exploited for their labor cannot be over-emphasized in these conversations.)
  • Extractive Processes This shows up when the University (students, faculty, staff, administration) benefits more from “community” projects than the actual community does. Community members’ resources come in the form of information, time, stories, money, land, data from unconsented experiments, emotional labor, good will. At the root of this is hierarchical thought and practices. The University in all its forms benefits through resume lines, network building, grant-funding, control of community resources, and an outsized voice in community decision-making due to power and perceptions of expertise.
  • Longevity of Relationships Undergraduate students are here for anywhere from 2 to 6 years depending on transfer status and how long it takes to complete course work. Each “year” can be as short as two 15- week semesters with their own obligations and deadlines. Students have all sorts of other obligations– travel home or to study abroad programs, work opportunities and obligations, varying weekly schedules, exams, etc. All of this is a completely different rhythm than much of the greater cville community, which has public school schedules, calendar years, fiscal years, and generations of living life. It can be very hard to sync up the competing timing needs of the different worlds.

Guiding Questions for Improved Community Engagement

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This is the work of Dolly Joseph, and should not be used without express permission and compensation.

Before Engagement

Before heading into a community– for an internship, volunteering, seeking employment, whatever, it’s a good idea to situate yourself in relationship to the new project. 

Feelings

Check in with yourself about how you are feeling– nervous, excited, timid, enthusiastic, apathetic… It’s okay to feel one or all of those feelings, and it’s also important to think about how the display of those feelings might be received by the community member(s) that you’ll be interacting with. 

  • What am I bringing to the community? 
  • How may I be received by this community? How do I feel about that? 
  • What will be challenging? What will be easy? 

Skills

It’s also a good moment to take a skills inventory of yourself. What do you feel like you know how to do well? What could stand some improvement? What skills are you hoping to practice or develop with this opportunity.

  • What am I bringing to the community? 
  • What relevant skills do I have? Is that enough? Where should I grow? 
  • What am I expecting to get out of this interaction? 
  • What am I expecting the community to get out of this interaction? 

Information

It’s important to understand the context of the community that you will be engaging with. Do you have the needed information to engage in a positive manner? Have you gathered information from trusted, accurate sources? 

  • What am I bringing to the community? 
  • How have I educated myself about the community? 
  • What assumptions have I made? Are those fair? 
  • What expertise already exists in this community? 

Resources

Resources can cut across these 3 categories– Resources can be related to access to information, time, money, emotional labor, etc. Often when we do community engagement in the form of volunteering we forget about the resources that are required to accommodate us as volunteers. It’s incredibly important to consider how resources are used when we engage with the community.

  • What am I bringing to the community? 
  • What is the balance between what I will bring to this community (skills, open-mindedness, readiness to work, etc.) and what I will take (time, energy, etc.) 
  • What is the community [giving/sacrificing/risking] by hosting/partnering with me? 

During Engagement

While you are within your community engagement, it’s important to consider how things seem to be going– both good and not-so-good. Remember, none of us are perfect. Often we get into the trap of thinking that there is no room for error. You will make mistakes, and then grow and learn from that practice. Reflecting and adjusting during your community engagement is a great way to improve your current and future experience. 

  • Am I effectively paying attention to direct and indirect communication? 
  • Am I engaging in effective, positive and/or productive interpersonal interactions? 
  • Am I using my skills in an appropriate, effective, and respectful way? 

After Engagement

Even if your most recent community engagement was a “one off” commitment, you will have another experience in your future. It’s important to reflect on how things went so that you can be more effective next time. 

  • How do I know if my interaction was a positive experience for the community? 
  • How did my expectations differ from what happened? 
  • What should I do to have a positive and productive experience next time? 
  • What skills or resources should I access to improve my effectiveness?

DART: Developing Anti-Racist Techniques

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A 5-week course for white people to develop their skillset of anti-racist techniques for use in a variety of contexts, from interpersonal relationships to institutional change. Sessions are March 12, 19, 26 and April 2 and 9 from 5:30-7:00 at a downtown location. This course is for people who are committed to incorporating Anti-Racist Actions into their lives.  The course is $100.

Participants will:

  • Identify and lower individual barriers to performing anti-racist actions
  • Integrate more anti-racist actions into their day-to-day life

Participants will engage in goal-setting, facilitated discussion, observation and practice during the week, and debriefing. 

Topics to include:

  • Lowering Barriers through Identifying Risk.
  • Analyzing Resources
  • Inventorying Relationships
  • Putting Ideals into Practice

To begin registration: complete this Google Form.

Dolly Joseph, a white woman, wearing a black t-shirt is on the left. Toni Barskile, a Black woman, wearing a white t-shirt are pictured. Both are smiling.
Your facilitators: Dolly Joseph and Toni Barskile

Toni Barskile has been Black for 58 years in which she has attended prep schools in New Jersey, mastered White-approved “standard” English, figured out how to be perceived as “non-threatening” to members of the White establishment and teaching survival/ computer/ critical-thinking skills to Westhaven residents. Toni also works with the dialogue on race subcommittee on media relations, attends White Feather presentations sponsored by Trinity Episcopal Church, and provides web development/design assistance to the Truth Commission Ad Hoc Planning Group of the University and Community Action for Racial Equality. 

Dolly Joseph has been White and lived in Central VA all of her life. Her ancestors colonized landsof the Moneton and Cherokee peoples in the Appalachian Mountains; her family’s generational wealth comes from the exploitation of Enslaved People of African descendants near Calypso, North Carolina. Dolly is an educator and community builder and was once named one of the “4 under 40” women leaders in Charlottesville. Now that she’s no longer under 40, she’s petitioning for a new honor of “5 under 50” to be started. 

Toni’s superpowers include being able to call White people out on their ish without making them cry and the ability to identify structural racism in everyday situations and ways to dismantle it. Dolly’s superpowers include slicing to the heart of the problem, finding order and pattern in chaos, and getting people to do the thing they didn’t even know they wanted to do. Together, they will facilitate so that we will collectively be more ready to smash white supremacy.

BE is Dead. Long Live BE.

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BE Hiking
Since 2014, BE has been magic. We’ve worked with over 260 young adults and children, including a core group of about 30. Two hundred community members have been involved. The entire model of BE has been based upon authentic connections, honest communication, and responsiveness to needs of all participants. We’ve worked to break down hierarchical models, and lockstep programming; we’ve formed an authentic community of mutual support and achievement.
BE Together: Batula and Frances
My life has been in major transition in the past year as my beloved mom, Frances, was in her final illness and died in July. During this time two tendrils worked together: the energy I had for BE was less, and the need for weekly gatherings for our high school and college age peeps was less as students graduated and moved to 4 year colleges and grad school out of the area. My focus has shifted; I want to support other people as they create their own communities and own work. I’ve reminded so many that you don’t have to have permission to do work, and you don’t have to have structures to do work. With that in mind, BE will not be continuing our Joint Partnership of Work with VO. This means is that we will not be soliciting tax deductible contributions. 
BE at the Diner
Even while we shift, the work of BE continues in so many forms. Laura and the Blue Moon Diner, our spiritual home, will be hosting community talks on Tuesdays beginning on January 21. These interactive sessions– open to you, our community– will highlight the work of community members that are building their own works. Ellen provides her mental health work both by providing free informal consultations and referrals to counselors who fit the needs of community members– including the ever-present financial piece. 
BE Swimming
BE is woven into our existence. Batula and I claimed each other as mother and daughter– even while she’s at JMU, my home is her home. When kids are in crisis, they call or text or visit us. Their friends and siblings fuss at them until they reach out. One of our younger members, Marissa, has begun her own nonprofit– Donor Diapers– and reaches out as she needs advice with her own thriving project. As I travel the state with Raven and his haiku slams, BE students join us in every city that we go to. It’s so great to drive to Richmond and see Onai and Bakar– to go to Roanoke and see Breyanna and Kimani. I run into delightful junior members like Phin, Sam, Janiya, and Juliet and their youth and energy almost trick me into doing regular events again. Cliche and I worked on a project around community members’ interactions with the police. Zongwe and I work together most Mondays beating back kudzu and other invasive weeds. These connections are genuine and long-lasting and don’t require a fiscal model to continue. 
BE at King's Dominion
There’s work to do, fun to be had, news to hear: Elie emailed from France and needs a cover letter edited. Zaw texted from Indiana, wanting to create a program to help Thai and Burmese folks access support. Dilara and Gouzal want a visit in NOVA. I dream of traveling to see Jackie in Hawaii and Thet in Myanmar. Corey reports to me how well Kadija is doing at her new job at the Montessori School. Valeria texts to tell me her semester grades. Htoogay continues with her studies. Jean updates me on his work life, and we discuss further goals. Bakar reports on his promotions at work. 
BE at BMD
Our young adult members are growing into adulthood. I could not be prouder of them. As I update my notes, I type “4 year school”, “graduated college”, and “grad school” again and again. These are Black and Brown kids, 1st generation college kids, 1st generation Americans, Young Women in the Sciences… While we never viewed the kids through the lens of their underserved identities, the reality is that they face more barriers than they should. 
BE Fancy
We will continue to amplify the work of others who are creating community and breaking down barriers. Donor Diapers, Black Women Stitch, Southern Gothicc Futurist Haiku Slams, Bridging the Gap, and Culinary Concepts AB are all works that we’ve supported this past year. We will continue to amplify the needs of our community. Redistribution of resources, reparations, and smashing hierarchical structures of discrimination and inequity are central to BE philosophies. 
BE Thankful
In the coming year, I will continue to support and consult on projects, particularly those led by Black people. If you would like to support me and my individual work, You can send payments to PayPal paypal.me/dollyjoseph and Venmo @dollyjoseph. I will also be launching a Patreon which will show my creative work, and writing about community building and activism. https://www.patreon.com/dollyofchange
BE CLAW
I appreciate your support over the years. The work that we’ve done with BE is one of the proudest accomplishments of my life. BE could not exist without the Steering Committee in its various shapes: Laura, Ellen, Davina, Toni, Mia, Batula, Marissa, Thet, and Jackie. The Donors and Advocates: Adam, Michele, Pat, Virginia, Ryan, Brandon, Bruce, Kim, Jim and Linda, Jennifer, Janet, Ceri, Tay, Bekah, Laura, Laura, and many more. And of course all the young people.See y’all soon.