looking for OS practitioner in Philadelphia area

Tue May 5 11:26:55 PDT 2009

Greetings All,

I often wonder if it is simply our ignorance of seeing ourselves in each other that is at the root of all "isms"--our failure to embody the greater Oneness that embraces the many differences that can be used to separate us from each other...  I wonder if it's possible to understand one another's perspectives without blaming and labeling each other in ways that reinforce what divides us instead of what unites us.

It seems to me that what unites us is always greater than any perceived "isms" that we may use to divide us--this focus on what we have in common does not invalidate or justify our different experiences but holds these from a larger whole--a deeper ground from which we can view our different experiences of life standing together instead of apart.  

Just musing aloud... thanks all for sharing your perspectives in a way that honors our differences without neglecting our greater humanity.

Warmly,
Karen

Karen Sella 
Coaching:  www.luminacoaching.com
Consulting:  www.integralventures.com
Blog: www.lumina.typepad.com
Phone: 1.206.780.2998
Skype: karensella

lumina fr. L. light, air, opening... 

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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Heidi Nobantu Saul
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 10:23 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] looking for OS practitioner in Philadelphia area

Thank you John for giving the time and energy to open this important conversation - and those others who have chimed in...

I Echo the sentiments expressed so well by John and Lisa and so will just share my personal story around this topic:

To make a long story only a little shorter, I am a Euro American who grew up in a household where all were welcome and no one was talked down about. My life started in South Africa in 1959 moved to Switzerland (my mother's country) and then to the Southwest US (my father's country) I grew up with people speaking different languages, going to the homes of our Spanish and Native American and friends, attending dances and feast days. I had friends, dated and had boyfriends of many hues and nationalities and felt comfortable bringing anyone home. When my brother was little and we stayed with family friends from India, Mrs. V would feed Chuck with her fingers doing a better job that I could with a spoon, I thought that was so cool!  When my mother died 20+ years ago my Father met and married a Mexican woman named Lourdes who brought her culture into our lives enriching it even more. I certainly did not see myself as racist or a person who discriminated - as it turns out  what I w!
 as was extremely naïve and unaware of MY status and the impact this had on people of another color than mine. 

Last fall here in the Bay area I attended a learning workshop called Walking Each Other Home - A National Conversation on Race facilitated by Lee Mun Wah of StirFry Seminars & Consulting (www.stirfryseminars.com) In a break out session being led by a strong and gracious African American woman I said that I had not been raised in a racist household and so I was not racist - and she in the kindest and clearest way told me that there was no way that I couldn't be if I had been raised in this American culture/country. And this was my introduction to the reality of what being a member of the dominant culture means - (in the case of the US, the dominant white culture) and most specifically the great privilege it bestows automatically on any one who’s skin color is the same as mine. And conversely what it means for anyone who's skin color isn't.

This stopped me in my tracks, I was humbled in the best and most profound of ways and set on a path of discovery and learning. I attended some additional training with Lee Mun Wah - he has a great and challenging course called Unlearning Racism. Watched several of his Films - the most well known being The Color of Fear. I started reading and researching and in that way that happens when we put our attention on something, opportunities for conversations and learning started crossing my path with frequency. I asked my Step Mother/Lourdes if she experienced discrimination since she had moved to the US from Mexico, found out from a long time Santa Fe friend of Spanish decent how she had experienced it her entire life in the town of her birth, heard from a black friend I had traveled in Up With People with in the 70's that though he had liked some of the girls in our cast there was no way he would ever initiate something more than friendship for fear of being sent home - and on a!
 nd on.... I inhabit a new world now. As an Anglo (what we call white people in New Mexico) one book that stands out and that I recommend all white folk read, even if you don't think you're racist, is: White Like Me - Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise. 

In terms of facilitating and working with Open Space with the intention of creating better/healthier working environments, better/healthier communities and a better world that we may all inhabit  - this new and still growing awareness seems essential to me if I am to be fully conscious, appropriate and effective with my work. I now see in a way that I never would have before, that at times it is absolutely not appropriate for a white person (male/female etc...) to step in, say as the facilitator, but rather to offer any help that will support the group in what they want/need to do for themselves (like offering child care so members of the community can attend a meeting) - just as the dominant culture has been doing for themselves for 100's of years . 

And I am grateful for the reminder of how in Open Space it is possible for the facilitator to fade out and be invisible truly allowing the group to own their space and conversations.

Well - this turned out to be long and even if no one reads it :-) it was a good exercise for me to write it out this way. Thank you.

Wokiksuye (Live and Remember) 
(a term I learned from friend and teacher Kaylynn TwoTrees - of Lakota, African American, and Swedish ancestry) 

Heidi

 h e i d i  n o b a n t u  s a u l
Facilitation Coaching Process-Design

Santa Fe, NM & San Francisco, CA

Mobile: 505.470.5131
Skype: heidi.nobantu.saul
EMail: heidi at nobantu.com
Web: www.nobantu.com 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/nobantu
 Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of John Engle
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 7:34 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: looking for OS practitioner in Philadelphia area

Hi Nigel,

When my friend communicated that they preferred a person of color to  
facilitate, my first response was, "I'm not going to put that in my  
message to the OS list." I knew there would be philosophical questions  
and didn't feel I had the energy and time to respond, even though I  
felt no need personally, to call into question the wisdom of this  
particular group or another one that indicates such a preference in  
their facilitator.

When it comes to groups dealing with issues of anti-racism, gender  
equality, etc. i just assume that each one is dealing with nuances,  
complexities and intricacies that would require an immense amount of  
time for me to begin to understand.

This particular group indicated that they preferred to have a  
facilitator who is a person of color. I made no mention that they have  
a preference of color in general.

I'm white, my wife's black, my three year old son calls himself  
yellow ; ). My wife and I don't think of ourselves as racist. In fact,  
we're committed to promoting equality and love among all human beings.  
I don't know this group wanting the facilitator except for my co- 
worker who is a part of it. Coincidently, he is white and has two  
black daughters. But I can certainly imagine either my wife or i  
feeling like there might be a type of person (color, class, gender,  
sexual preference) that is better suited to create a trusting and safe  
environment, depending upon the group involved, even if it's a group  
committed to love and equality among all human beings.

Can't you?

Meeting people where they are is so essential. I know you do this in  
your work. I've met people who glow when they speak of you and what  
you do.

The pain and wounds among many people--even those committed to not  
discriminate--are so deep. Where I currently live in Florida, black  
people in their 70's share stories of family members being lynched by  
KKK and how they grew up in fear and terror. Haiti, where I lived many  
years and still work, where black Africans were enslaved by whites for  
centuries, color (and even shade) is, unfortunately, of huge  
consequence, whether one wants it to be or not.

In my humble opinion, the fact that an anti-racist group prefers to  
have a person of colour facilitate their open space meeting should not  
necessarily call into question their commitment to anti-racism. In my  
humble opinion, it could be a very wise preference, depending on the  
circumstances.

John

On May 4, 2009, at 8:57 PM, NigelSeys-Phillips wrote:

> Can an anti-racist group 'prefer' a colour?
>
> Nigel
>
> Nigel Seys-Phillips
> Fulcrum Business Management Solutions
> 30 Mount Elizabeth
> #13-32 Highpoint
> Singapore 228519
> Tel: +65 9639 2510
> E-mail: nigel at fulcrum.com.sg
> www.fulcrum.com.sg
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of  
> Michael M
> Pannwitz
> Sent: Monday, 4 May 2009 11:49 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: [OSLIST] looking for OS practitioner in Philadelphia area
>
> What color does the anti-racist group prefer?
>
> mmp
>
> John Engle wrote:
>> Fellow-listers,
>>
>> One of my colleagues is looking for an OS practitioner in the
>> Philadelphia area. It's an anti-racist group and their preference  
>> would
>> be to have a person of color.
>>
>> Anyone?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> John
>>
>> _________________________________
>>
>> John Engle Associates
>> Tel. 202-236-6532
>> Haiti Tel. 011-509-3461-3067 or
>> 011-509- 3685-3273
>> www.johnengle.net
>>
>> Open Space Facilitation
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
> -- 
> Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
> ++49-30-772 8000
> mmpanne at boscop.org
> www.boscop.org
>
>
> Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 461 resident Open
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> worldwide
> Have a look:
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