Dereca Blackmon – Spiritual Allyship

You’ll begin this course with a look at the history of spiritual allyship, through stories of brave and dedicated white allies. Allyship is ineffective without an inclusive mindset. With that understanding at the forefront, Dereca will guide you through the foundations of an inclusive mindset.

She’ll cover the differences between diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity… and create a shared language around bravery and what it means to center marginalized voices.

This entire first session will be rooted in examples of real-world stories and examples of what spiritual allyship looks like in practice — to provide you with the grounding you need to start implementing spiritual allyship in your own life.

In this module, you’ll discover:

• A reflective practice on the history of spiritual allyship… and the foundational tools you’ll need to become a spiritual ally
• How to identify key moments of spiritual allyship in past and present-day situations
• The difference and significance of diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity
• The meaning and importance of centering marginalized voices
• The foundations of an inclusive mindset

In this second class, you’ll take a step into your brave space through the exploration of what it means to cultivate a practice of bravery as a spiritual ally.

As an ally, you will make mistakes. Everyone does. Dereca will offer insights into how to decrease your fear of mistakes, how to ground when you’re uncomfortable, and how to be and stay encouraged to speak out — which means, in part, naming bias when you see it.

You’ll discover how to look for and address bias — even when you’re uncomfortable. And, you’ll learn the spiritual ally’s role in advocating for change. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

In this module, you’ll:

• Learn to recognize and address bias
• Become ready to move past discomfort and take action
• Cultivate a practice of bravery
• Start to shape your role as a spiritual ally in advocating for change
• Participate in a contemplative practice focused on cultivating bravery when you’re uncomfortable in practical situations — such as naming and addressing bias

One of the key qualities of a spiritual ally is humility, a quality that needs to be cultivated and practiced. In this session, you’ll dive into the framework of cultural humility — a phrase coined by Dr. Melanie Tervalon and Dr. Jann Murray-Garcia — and reflect on its application in your own life. Dereca will guide you through how to respond with cultural humility when someone accuses you of “being racist” or impacting them negatively.

A large part of humility is the capacity to separate intent from impact. To that end, Dereca will take you through an exercise with specific instances of microaggressions — and focus on the art of the unqualified apology. You’ll look into the many ways microaggressions show up as you go through your days.

Being a spiritual ally is a process of lifelong learning, and you’ll dive into the many forms it takes in you.

In this class, you’ll learn how to:

• Apply the principles of cultural humility in your own life
• Understand how to separate intent from impact
• Be guided in an experiential practice to help you identify microaggressions when you see them, so you can choose a productive response
• Respond productively if you feel defensive about accusations of privilege or racism

Arguably the hardest and most defining quality of an ally is their willingness to be dedicated in the struggle for justice. In this session, you’ll learn specific inclusive mindset practices that require dedication. In preparation for that conversation, you’ll first turn inward and explore the dreaded P-word — Privilege — and look at the key characteristics of power and consciousness.

We often use words that hold different meanings based on the audience and context. Dereca will define bias, prejudice, discrimination, and oppression… and take you on a deep dive into the way they impact our lived experiences.

In this module, you’ll:

• Define privilege in its many forms
• Understand the various forms of power and consciousness
• Reflect on what it means to be dedicated to the struggle for justice
• Identify the differences between bias, prejudice, discrimination, and oppression
• Explore your place on the continuum of allyship
• Be guided through a personal analysis of the role of privilege, power, and consciousness in your own life and the world around you