Embracing The Work of Anti-Racism with Improv

CommunityMending

Jun 12

Written By

Improv Round Robin, YES AND conversation, begun with Lancaster MQG in February 2020, my last in person workshop before the pandemic hit. I closed the conversation today by adding the red stripe and black and colored strips to the left.

Today, I took time to channel my emotional energy around the blow up in my (now closed) FB group last week into a quilt. It wasn’t pretty seeing all of the tensions around white privilege in the quilting community, explode from every angle in that mostly wonderfully creative, open and brave group of improvisers. I am deeply sorry it happened, and wasn’t able to prevent it. This blow up was witnessed by a lot of folks in the group with agency and voice, and with many points of view, who will be bringing the conversation, hopefully with insight and compassion to their guilds and quilting communities. The truth of racial tension in the quilting community is something to lean into. At the very least it has set a fire under my heels!

I have a role to play, within the quilting community and other communities to which I belong, in the necessary work being led by black people to dismantle racist systems and expose the lens of white privilege —to ensure justice, equity, safety and the basic human right to life, freedom and happiness for black, indigenous people of color. The importance of holding space in the center for the most marginalized, has always been one of my core beliefs, and my commitment to live and act from this believe is stronger than ever. Black Lives Matter and I embrace the difficult work of confronting racism within myself, and within the communities to which I belong, including the mostly white quilting community. I embrace and welcome the mistakes I am making and will continue to make along the way, because improv has taught me that taking risks, and embracing the mistakes, leads to the flexible, open and affirming mind I need in order to accept and be the change.

I am stepping back my summer livestream workshop schedule and my social media involvement, so that I have more time to listen and focus on black voices, and DO THE WORK (visit this link)… and room to process, journal, blog, and most importantly channel the energy through my creativity, so that I am able to share my discoveries and continue to do the work of anti-racism through the work of teaching improv, better.

Summer Livestream Workshop Update

June 20 Layered Improv Curves workshop focused on curiosity as an antidote to fear on the edge of the unknown, is sold out.
July 11-12 Bias Strip Daisy Improv Curves will focus on cultivating beginner’s mind, embracing mistakes and addressing mistakes with continuous adjustments, as an ongoing part of the piecing process, not as something that will ever be mastered. Registration will be released through my livestream alert list.
Stay tuned in the fall. I hope to have an exciting curriculum in place designed to help us navigate these chaotic times with flexibility, resilience, and radical acceptance.