Stop Saying Woke

Rebecca and Shea launch into their first episode of their first season by calling out white women who claim to be allies yet attempt to control BIPOC spaces through tone policing and threatening to leave the movement when they encounter a boundary.

“But who gets to play that card, who plays it first, and who plays it the hardest? And also who plays it with a level of threat? Which is, if you don’t meet my comfort and my definition of safety, I will withdraw my support, and in the history of whiteness in this country withdrawing my support also means making you more vulnerable to harm.” - Shea

Show Notes

2:05 The comments section on Instagram
7:45 White women holding space like white men
10:58 Unnecessary flex (respectability politics)
12:14 Emmett Till
18:30 Tone policing
(On 19:10 Protesting correctly- when this episode was recorded 4 weeks ago, the climate was not the same, however this is even more applicable now than it was then.)
23:15 Opting out
24:30 The charity of white women/The Master's Wife
27:05 What's not allyship
28:38 Colonizer mentality
31:50 Gendering and Jesus
34:35 Danger of call outs
35:30 The Christian roots of slavery
40:40 A love letter to white women

Made by the founders of artic LLC, Stop Saying Woke is an outlet for deep dives into antiracist education, snide remarks, and a place for people of color to feel seen. A call in for white folx, Stop Saying Woke is both a directive and a plea for well-meaning white folx who are ready to graduate from talking about it, to being about it.

A short-ish conversation, we (Rebecca + Shea) offer listeners a glimpse into our working and relationship dynamic, as well as provide you with an introduction to who we are, what we do, and why you as a white person should Stop Saying Woke.

We are two trauma therapists who realized almost as soon as we met that a) we like each other more than we like many other people, b) we're extremely aligned in almost everything, and c) racism is stupid, and impacts our clients with trauma in very, very specific ways. Veterans of the child welfare system, we're out to slay dragons and protect our clients through providing free education to white helpers who want to do better but don't know how, and probably already call themselves allies when they have no business doing so.

“Equity work is no different. You need somebody that’s gonna walk with you. So when we say do the work, we’re not saying that we expect you to know what it is you need to do, but you have to show up. You have to show up, and then you have to shut up. A lot of white folx like to come into the work and start talking loudly over the people of color.” - Rebecca

Show Notes

:50 Racist algorithms

1:50 white folx believe everything is for them

4:30 What makes us qualified?

5:50 Rebecca’s heritage and personal story

8:15 Shea’s heritage and personal story

11:05 Why is a white person on this podcast?

16:20 If we’re doing it right, you’re getting your feelings hurt

17:20 This is not a feel good podcast

18:40 What does doing the work mean?

21:15 White person to white person

22:50 Paying educators

25:05 Stop Saying Woke

26:15 A reference to the revolution. At the time of the recording of this episode (April 2020), while the world was agitated, the climate was quite different.

Made by the founders of artic LLC (antiracist, trauma informed care), Stop Saying Woke is an outlet for deep dives into antiracist education, snide remarks, and a place for people of color to feel seen. A call in for white folx, Stop Saying Woke is both a directive and a plea for well-meaning white folx who are ready to graduate from talking about it, to being about it.