DAY 19: New Patterns, New Vision

In her book Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown writes that we are engaged in an “imagination battle,” that the current conditions are the result of someone’s imagination, a de-humanizing and domination-oriented view. There are so many other alternatives, if we would be bold, broaden our view, and band together with one another to create new living and life-affirming stories. There is a growing sense that these times call us to live more concertedly and pursue better ways of being and doing, ways that are just and regenerative of patterns of equitable well-being.

In Race and the Cosmos, Barbara A Holmes appeals to all of us to expand our views with the help of science and cosmology so that we can pull from a wider sense of who we are and could be. Watch this short video meditation (3 min) from Dr. Holmes offered by the Center for Action and Contemplation. 

In addition, we invite you to watch two short segments of this video from a talk given by Penobscot educator, author, and attorney Sherri Mitchell (Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset) on her book Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change (start at 19:35 and end at 24:12; then start at 29:12 and end at 33:02).

Lastly, watch the 2-minute video embedded on this webpage on “Bridging - Towards A Society Built on Belonging” from the Othering & Belonging Institute.

• As you consider systems, including organizations and communities, that work for everyone (characterized by equitable belonging and well-being), what comes to mind and heart?

• Have you had even small glimpses of that future in a moment or interaction? How could that be nurtured?

• Reach out to a friend, family member, or colleague to have this conversation. What is their imagined world? How can we encourage and support the imaginations of others?

• Engage your organization and/or your community (personal or greater) in an “imagination conversation." See if you can weave “opportunity narratives” to counter the narratives of fear that are out there.

More Resources

• The Art of Richard Haynes Jr.

Yesterday: Sovereignty
Tomorrow: Reflecting on Week Three

Author Photo Credit: Katy Grannan| Excerpted from Words of Change: Anti-Racism by permission of Sasquatch Books. Copyright 2020 By Kenyra Rankin. All rights reserved.

SIBA thanks its generous sponsors, who have made the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge possible:

Many of the quotes used in the Challenge are excerpted from Words of Change: Anti-Racism by permission of Sasquatch Books. Copyright 2020 By Kenyra Rankin. All rights reserved.

Although SIBA has modified when appropriate for a bookseller audience, the majority of prompts and resources come directly from the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge created by Food Solutions New England (FSNE). We are so grateful for their extraordinary work creating this program and making it available to other organizations.