Each one. Teach one.
It was August 12th, 2013. Two weeks before the start of the new school year. Bright and early, I was headed to the Grailville Retreat Center for a five day intensive with 27 UC students I did not know to be apart of one of the second Accelerating Racial Justice (ARJ) groups in UC Racial Awareness Program (RAPP) history. I was so excited and the hunger I had for knowledge about such a controversial, uncomfortable topic was going to be finally fed (at least hopefully). After completing the experience, I can personally say that it definitely did. Becoming a part of RAPP piqued my interest because I wanted to educate myself about the racial and social issues that occur here in America. Before moving here from the Bahamas, never had I really had to be aware of my race and gender on a daily basis. Participating in ARJ would arm me with the tools to become more aware of these issues and help me to work towards changes that I myself could do while here in the US. ARJ did not fail to do this in the least bit.
Immediately, the group was thrust into this very unnerving and highly emotional topic. We laid out rules and expectations for the group as well as ourselves and dove into the theoretical part of racial and social issues. We had an area called the "Parking Lot" which was where all participants could write down any topics or recent news stories that they thought were worth having a conversation with the entire group during our spare time. The first few days we played a lot of games that helped us to get to learn more about each other so that we could become comfortable which I appreciated a lot. We each got a 'check-in buddy' which is a person who we had to check-in with from time to time to discuss how we were doing and our feelings were about the program thus far. Little did I know that the relationship I developed with my check-in buddy would be one of the strongest bonds created at the retreat. We delved not only into race but we also discussed the various 'isms' such as heterosexism, cissexism and ableism. ARJ really opened my eyes to the various identities people mostly carry with them through their daily lives and also helped me to realize that you can't separate the lenses that people mostly look through. They all mesh together and they all have an impact on how the person perceives things.
I think that participating in ARJ would benefit anyone from any background because the blending of backgrounds helps to create a richer and more purposeful experience for everyone involved. I was not the only international student in the group. There were two other international students at the retreat. We all brought our own stories and experiences of race in America as well as from back home and that in turn created a more open environment. I think that allowed us to take back even more from the experience.
It was August 12th, 2013. Two weeks before the start of the new school year. Bright and early, I was headed to the Grailville Retreat Center for a five day intensive with 27 UC students I did not know to be apart of one of the second Accelerating Racial Justice (ARJ) groups in UC Racial Awareness Program (RAPP) history. I was so excited and the hunger I had for knowledge about such a controversial, uncomfortable topic was going to be finally fed (at least hopefully). After completing the experience, I can personally say that it definitely did. Becoming a part of RAPP piqued my interest because I wanted to educate myself about the racial and social issues that occur here in America. Before moving here from the Bahamas, never had I really had to be aware of my race and gender on a daily basis. Participating in ARJ would arm me with the tools to become more aware of these issues and help me to work towards changes that I myself could do while here in the US. ARJ did not fail to do this in the least bit.
Immediately, the group was thrust into this very unnerving and highly emotional topic. We laid out rules and expectations for the group as well as ourselves and dove into the theoretical part of racial and social issues. We had an area called the "Parking Lot" which was where all participants could write down any topics or recent news stories that they thought were worth having a conversation with the entire group during our spare time. The first few days we played a lot of games that helped us to get to learn more about each other so that we could become comfortable which I appreciated a lot. We each got a 'check-in buddy' which is a person who we had to check-in with from time to time to discuss how we were doing and our feelings were about the program thus far. Little did I know that the relationship I developed with my check-in buddy would be one of the strongest bonds created at the retreat. We delved not only into race but we also discussed the various 'isms' such as heterosexism, cissexism and ableism. ARJ really opened my eyes to the various identities people mostly carry with them through their daily lives and also helped me to realize that you can't separate the lenses that people mostly look through. They all mesh together and they all have an impact on how the person perceives things.
I think that participating in ARJ would benefit anyone from any background because the blending of backgrounds helps to create a richer and more purposeful experience for everyone involved. I was not the only international student in the group. There were two other international students at the retreat. We all brought our own stories and experiences of race in America as well as from back home and that in turn created a more open environment. I think that allowed us to take back even more from the experience.
This photo, I think, visually captures what I learned and took away from RAPP as a participant. We completed an activity on the last day in which each person had to throw a ball of yarn to a person they made a connection with during the retreat. This process continued until everyone had a piece of yarn. In a nutshell, this shows how over a five day period, complete strangers found so many things that made them all connected. Our bonds became so strong. An intense camaraderie had developed. We saw what power sharing our personal stories and experiences could do and at the end of the day, we all walked away as people who gained knowledge about ourselves, others and the country in which we live in.