Welcome to our Anti-Racism page.

Here are 3 steps you can take if you want to learn more about our Radical Honesty Anti-Racism Group (RHARG) :

1. Read our Anti-Racism Manifesto

2. Join our Monthly Anti-Racism Community Call or watch the recordings

3. Sign up to our Newsletter

Radical Honesty Anti-Racism Group Manifesto

“All of you is welcome here.” -Rumi

At Radical Honesty workshops, meetups or events, we offer a context in which all of you is welcome. That means the good, the bad and the ugly. All of your thoughts, judgements and opinions, all of your feelings and emotional reactions, big and small, we want them all. 

We believe that healing, growth, and true connection come from honest, vulnerable sharing, not from pretending, avoiding, withholding, and being polite. What we’re after is becoming aware of our pretenses and our social games, our ways of looking good and playing nice, and revealing those things to each other, ongoingly. 

From experience, we know that this leads to more connection, more groundedness, and more compassion towards ourselves and the people around us.

But here’s the catch: If all of YOU is welcome here, then all of EVERYONE ELSE is welcome here, too. This means that there must be a certain degree of willingness to sit with (and express) the discomfort that we feel when other people do and say things that we don’t like, or that hurt or trigger us. 

Most people do not share our political and social views, our spirituality or religion, our values and morality, our judgements about what is right and wrong, or even our narrative about the way the world is. 

How do we deal with bigotry in a Radical Honesty workshop?

The Radical Honesty Institute stands for inclusivity. We provide a context within which we are all welcome to share ourselves vulnerably, with the intention of getting over our hurt, shame, fear, anger, judgments, etc. and come into honest contact with one another.

Our aim is not to censor people or bigotted thoughts, or to remove people with differing ideas from our own from our workshops. Instead, our aim is to put our differences and our dirty laundry out on the table where it can be dealt with and gotten over, together.

Typically, people who want to do this work are looking for connection and liberation from the jail of the mind. We’ve found that over the years, the people that come to Radical Honesty workshops are looking to get over their anger, not to stew in it; to find the things that they have in common, rather than to dig their heels into their personal moral stance.

Safe Space vs. Brave Space

The term “safe space” typically refers to “a place intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations.”

A Radical Honesty workshop space is thus more akin to a “brave space,” where the intention is to come together, have hard, honest, and vulnerable conversations and feel our way through the discomfort together.

Together, we create a context in which we agree to acknowledge our biases, criticisms, judgments, and potentially threatening ideas, express them out loud, and sit with whatever experience comes up for us when we do so (for example: anger, shame, fear, sadness, grief, disgust, etc.).

Through this process, we learn to deal creatively with the conflict that arises in order to get over our attachment to our judgments, biases, criticisms and differences of opinion. 

We believe, from thousands of hours of collective experience, that expressing our ideas and judgements - even when potentially harmful - and feeling our way through what comes up for everyone involved (in order to get over our attachments to our judgements and get to forgiveness on the other side) leads to the greatest possibility for healing and growth.

What can I expect at a Radical Honesty event?

If you choose to participate in Radical Honesty workshops, it’s very likely that you’ll witness people expressing anger, grief, and hurt, sometimes in a loud voice, or even yelling or screaming. It’s also possible that you’ll witness people expressing racist, sexist, ableist, sizeist, classist, bigoted thoughts. 

A Radical Honesty Trainer’s job is to support everyone involved in staying grounded in our experience and expressing any anger, fear, disgust, grief, etc. that may come up in response to what has been said or done.

Radical Honesty is a method to support people through these experiences that can be scary and loud and outside of what some of us are used to. However, we will not allow dogpiling, harassment, a free-for-all of yelling put-downs, slurs, or the like. Our workshop leaders are trained to be with and guide people through highly challenging and typically uncomfortable interactions, and they’re also equipped to pause and redirect exchanges that are happening in ways that are outside of the Radical Honesty practice.

You can expect to feel out of your comfort zone at a Radical Honesty workshop, and we will stick with each other through the process.

Our commitment to ongoing education about race

We believe that effective group process work requires a certain level of awareness and training around issues of identity, power dynamics, and trauma. The Radical Honesty Anti-Racism Group was designed specifically to address the issues of racism coming up in our workshops, both for participants and group leaders. 

We are committed to continuing education about race for our Trainers, and we invite you to join us in our ongoing learning and conversation during our monthly community calls.

Join our Monthly Anti-Racism Community Calls

We offer public monthly community calls which provide a context for constructive discussions about race. The calls take place every 2nd Wednesday of the Month at 12:00-13:30 EST/NYC (generally 5-6:30 PM UK, 6-7:30 PM CET).

At the beginning of each call, we show a 10-15 minute video or give a short presentation, followed by an open group discussion. These calls are hosted by Firdoz (Trainer Candidate), Mak (Trainer), and various other members of the Trainer body. The video and presentation portion of these calls is recorded and available below.

Radical Honesty Anti-racism Community Call Statements of Intentions

1. These calls are intended for us to have a space to learn from experts in the field of anti-racism work through short videos about the current state of racism in the world and have open conversations about this sensitive topic.

2. Following each presentation, we can vulnerably express our thoughts and feelings to others.

3. We're not here for any Radical Honesty processing, to teach others or even overtly debate the presentations themselves. Some amount of criticism is okay.

Watch our previous calls below :

#1 - Jun 08 - Defining Our Terms (w/Mak & Firdoz)
Before we can move forward in a constructive discussion about racism, it’s important to get clear on the meanings of the language we’re using. We’ll start by presenting contemporary definitions of some fundamental terms such as racism, white supremacy, white fragility, etc. You can download the pdf version of the presentation here.

#2 - Jul 12 - White Fragility (w/ Firdoz)

Learn about the factors underlying white people's discomfort with talking about racism. In this call, we learn about : 
• what are the differences between racism, racial prejudice and racial discrimination ?
• why does being a called a racist has come to be seen as a defamation of character ? 
• how do fundamental American/European ideologies shape people's understanding of racism ?

#3 - August 10th - Empathy by Pharrel Williams

Pharrell Williams and his friends discuss the importance of empathy in their lives :

• What is empathy ?

• How can it help us build a truly equal society ?

• How to open ourselves up to others' feelings and experiences ?

#4 - Sept 14 - Nice Racism by Robin D’Angelo

In this summary of Nice Racism by Robin DiAngelo, learn how to :

• Recognize nice racism and the harm it does

• Look at your own potential investment in the status quo around racism

• Get real about bias and internalized racist beliefs

#5 - Oct 12 - Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Racism by Reni Eddo-Lodge

In this call, you'll learn about :

• Britains’s history of racism, imperialism and colonialism.

• How this history remains present through the structural racism of British society today.

• Ways to ensure equal opportunities for everyone today.

#6 - Nov 9th - Unconscious Bias

In this call, you'll learn about :

• What is implicit bias ? Where does it come from ?

• What are the effects of our collective biases on BIPOCs ?

• What might be done to reduce the harm they cause ?

#7 - January 11th - Daily Experiences and Fears of People of Color

Learn to recognize some of the common experiences and fears related to racism such as :

• physical harm

• discrimination in the workplace, housing, education and healthcare.

• daily microaggressions

• harmful stereotypes and prejudices.

#8 - February 15th - European Colonial History

Develop an understanding of European Colonial History via this summary of Adam Hochschild's book " King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa".

#9 - March 8th, 2023 - How Europe Stole the World

Two short videos about the history of Europe's imperialism. Part 1 below, and Part 2 here.

#10 - April 12th, 2023 - How to move race conversations forward as a white person

A couple short videos about some of the ways that white people halt constructive discussions about race.

#11 - May 10th, 2023 - What we can learn from apartheid (Part 1)

Take a look at one of the most oppressive social system ever created: the racial segregation system of apartheid.

By learning about this extreme case of a racist society, we have a lens to look at how the social structures we live in today continue to harm people of color, and ponder how we can create meaningful change.

#12 - June 14th, 2023 - What we can learn from apartheid (Part 2)

#13 - July 12th, 2023 - The Racial Wealth Gap.

Explore how slavery, housing discrimination and centuries of inequality have compounded to create a racial wealth gap.

#14 - August, 9th 2023 - Illustrating Systemic Racism

Explore the harsh realities of inequality in an eye-opening video and delve into the topic of systemic racism & the wealth gap through powerful metaphors.

#15 - September 13th, 2023 - How Systemic Racism Works

Watch a compelling presentation that delves deep into how structural racism works across various aspects of our lives, including jobs, education, criminal justice, housing, and more.

#16 - October 9th, 2023 - Get Inspired by Anti-Racist Leaders

Get to know about the extraordinary activism journey of Albie Sachs in the fight against racism and inequality in South Africa. Draw inspiration from his remarkable journey of defying oppression to champion justice and equality.

#17 - November 15, 2023 - Understanding the Israel-Palestine conflict

Delve into the intricate, complex history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the involvement of America, Britain, and Europe. And see how this conflict is linked to colonialism, imperialism, and racial inequality.

How much do the calls cost?

The monthly RHARG calls are free and the leaders of the group volunteer our time. We do ask that you make a donation (suggested $10-$20 per call) to the RHARG Scholarship Fund, to help BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) attend RH workshops and trainings. Learn more or make a donation to the fund HERE.

Upcoming Calls :

• Wednesday, August 9th, 2023 at noon ET, 18:00 CET

• Wednesday, September 13th, at noon ET, 18:00 CET
  
  

We will keep you posted on the topics of the different calls and any news from the Anti-Racism Group with an occasional newsletter.