Debby Irving Returns with "Leveling the Playing Field, Interrupting the Patters of Privilege & Power"

*DIVERSITY, EQUITY and INCLUSION SERIES*

MVNC with the generous support of the Tower Foundation invite you to join us for:

Leveling the Playing Field, Interrupting the Patterns of Privilege and Power 

with Debby Irving  

Wednesday, February 10th, 2021 at 12 - 2pm

Zoom (see below for details)

MVNC is thrilled to welcome back Debby Irving, racial justice educator and the author of the acclaimed book, Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race. 

"Leveling the Playing Field: Interrupting Patterns of Power and Privilege"  is a follow-up to "I'm a Good Person, Isn't that Enough?". Using a series of pointed questions, Debby works with participants to build a graphic map of the groups people belong to, and have belonged to, because of social locations and roles throughout U.S. history.

Participants will think together about how various groups have and have not had access to rights, resources, representation, and respect, ultimately revealing the social positioning and impacts of white privilege and dispelling illusions of a level playing field. Once the graphic has been created, Debby then leads participants in an exploration of social dynamics and dominant cultural attitudes and behaviors that perpetuate power and privilege patterns, even when best intentions are in play. Ultimately this workshop explores how we can begin to level the playing field by interrupting common patterns of power and privilege. Participants will leave with two powerful tools to analyze power dynamics and cultivate transformative cultures in their circles of influence.

This presentation includes pauses for reflection, dialog, and Q&A. Please see suggested resources for you to prepare for the event below.

Zoom Call In:

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6585316212 

Meeting ID: 658 531 6212     PASSCODE - 123456

One tap mobile +13017158592,,6585316212# US+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)  

Debby's Recommended Resources:   https://www.debbyirving.com/recommended-resources/

About Debby IRving:

Debby Irving brings to racial justice the perspective of working as a community organizer and classroom teacher for 25 years without understanding racism as a systemic issue or her own whiteness as an obstacle to grappling with it. As general manager of Boston’s Dance Umbrella and First Night, and later as a classroom teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she struggled to make sense of tensions she could feel but not explain in racially mixed settings. In 2009, a graduate school course, Racial and Cultural Identities, gave her the answers she’d been looking for and launched her on a journey of discovery. Debby now devotes herself to working with white people exploring the impact white skin can have on perception, problem-solving, and engaging in racial justice work. A graduate of the Winsor School in Boston, she holds a BA from Kenyon College and an MBA from Simmons College. Her first book, Waking Up White, tells the story of how she went from well-meaning to well-doing and how she unpacked her own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color. She reveals how each of these well-intentioned mindsets actually perpetuated her ill-conceived ideas about race.                                                   

Her book Waking Up White is the story of her two-steps-forward-one-step back journey away from racial ignorance. She continues to study racism and strategies for its undoing while working to educate other white people confused and frustrated by racism. She is passionate about transforming anxiety and inaction into empowerment and action, be it for an individual or an organization. 

Learn more about Debby by viewing her Ted Talk here.