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Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture

Posted on February 6, 2022February 6, 2022

My sister passed along a very good article by Kenneth Jones and Dr. Tema Okun that is used in her workplace identifying characteristics of white supremacy culture. While I couldn’t find the exact article online, I found another very similar one, “Dismantling Racism: White Supremacy Culture,” with many researchers cited and the study summarized by Dr. Tema Okun and reviewed by Becky Mer. It details nuances of white supremacy culture that are glossed over in many organizations. Here are 15 characteristics listed with antidotes from the article:

  • Perfectionism, such as pointing out how a person or their work is inadequate. Instead, expect that everyone will make mistakes and that mistakes offer opportunities for learning. 
  • Sense of Urgency, such as prioritizing quick or highly visible results that can exclude potential allies. Instead, discuss what it means to set goals of inclusivity and diversity, particularly in terms of timing.
  • Defensiveness, such as spending energy trying to protect power or defend against charges of racism. Instead, work on your own defensiveness and understand the link between defensiveness and fear. 
  • Valuing Quantity Over Quality, such as directing organizational resources toward measurable goals. Instead, develop a values statement which expresses the ways in which you want to work, and make sure it is a living document that people apply to their daily work.
  • Worshipping the Written Word, such as valuing strong documentation and writing skills. Instead, work to recognize the contributions and skills that every person brings to the organization. 
  • Believing in Only One Right Way, such as concluding something is wrong with people who refuse to adapt or change. Instead, never assume that you or your organization know what’s best. 
  • Paternalism, such as decision-making processes that are only understood by those with power and unclear to those without it. Instead, include people who are affected by decisions in decision-making. 
  • Either/or Thinking, such as trying to simplify complex things. Instead, slow down, encourage people to do a deeper analysis, and sense that things can be both/and. 
  • Power Hoarding, such as feeling threatened when anyone suggests organizational changes. Instead, understand that change is inevitable and that challenges can be both healthy and productive. 
  • Fear of Open Conflict, such as equating the raising of difficult issues with being rude or impolite. Instead, don’t require those who raise difficult issues to do so in ‘acceptable’ ways, particularly if you’re using the ways in which issues are raised as an excuse not to address them.
  • Individualism, such as wanting individual recognition and credit. Instead, make sure credit is given to everyone who participates, not just the leaders.
  • Believing I’m the Only One, such as thinking that if something is going to get done right, then ‘I’ have to do it. Instead, evaluate people based on their ability to delegate to others. 
  • Believing Progress is Bigger and More, such as defining success as hiring more staff, developing more projects, or serving more people. Instead, make sure your goals speak to how you want to work, not just what you want to do.
  • Believing in Objectivity, such as considering emotions to be irrational and destructive to decision-making. Instead, push yourself to sit with discomfort when people express themselves in unfamiliar ways.
  • Claiming a Right to Comfort, such as scapegoating those who cause emotional or psychological discomfort. Instead, welcome discomfort as much as you can and understand that it is the root of all growth and learning.

Blue Juniper Happiness

Posted on July 17, 2021July 17, 2021

This week the idea came to me to start noting odd things that make me very happy, in case I forget them when I’m in a bad mood (another of the many things I feel the need to journal). Apart from the obvious, like spending time with family and friends, so far I’ve remembered two things that make me very happy: decluttering and visiting plant nurseries, the latter of which can also get expensive if I’m not careful!

Blue Juniper

Today I went to our local Raska Nursery in Broken Arrow, my favorite place to shop for plants, and found a beautiful little blue juniper evergreen to replace the evergreen that died in this last winter freeze. I was advised to plant it a bit raised because we have a lot of clay soil in our region and if you plant trees too deep here, they can’t drain well in the clay soil.

In other news, my little tropical/succulent garden is doing well. The tropical plant is flowering like crazy in our rainy, hot summer! Some of the succulents are starting to form new buds, too.

Little Tropical/Succulent Garden

I’ve also planted about 100 watermelon seeds in the backyard raised beds and I think all of the seeds sprouted and they are growing fast! On dry days I mist the garden for about 20 minutes and they’re thriving! I hope we have lots of wonderful watermelons soon!!

Suja Fasts, with Crystal Power

Posted on June 5, 2021

In April, my sister and I tried something new, a fast, and we were extremely exciting during the planning phase! Our original plan was to last for five days and nights, consuming only liquids. We allowed ourselves one coffee with cream each morning, but other than that, no soda or alcoholic beverages, only tea, and our newfound fasting friend, Suja (this is not an advertisement). Apparently Suja makes an entire line of fasting and cleansing drinks, and you can even have them delivered with a plan if you want to go on a full swing Suja fast. We didn’t want to spend a lot on this new adventure, so we simply bought a small variety of them at the store, and also got teas and V8s. After day one I told my sister that I felt great! And I did feel lighter and full of energy on day two. We were also excited to find that we had also each lost 2-3 pounds since the previous day! All of this was wonderful until the 48 hour mark, when I came downstairs feeling dizzy, at which point my sister told me I was white as a sheet. I grabbed a handful of peanuts and that tied me over until the next day, when I resumed my usual eating habits.

I think we probably went overboard from the start, but I’m not ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater just yet. A recent series of strange happenings has made me want to give it another go. For one, this year’s allergy season has been exceptionally trying for me, and these spring days are too often Benadryl-laden. I’ve also felt a bit off ever since my second vaccination, but don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for the vaxxes. Then there was my knee twister… Who am I becoming??

The point of all of this is that I want to make a conscious change and see if it improves these odd health concerns, so I have decided to start a more responsible fast, and maybe make it into a weekly thing. I downloaded the “fastic” fasting app, which lets you choose time increments based on your level of experience, today’s fast will last for 16 hours, because I am a beginner 🙂 And it gives you a timer and biological updates along the way, which I find very interesting. Right now I am at the stage where my “blood sugar level rises.”

Suja, with Crystal Power

Tonight I am drinking Suja’s 20-calorie “Turmeric Love,” containing cleansing lemon, turmeric, pineapple, and passionfruit. The white quartz crystal pictured here was one of this year’s Mother’s Day gifts from my daughter, and it represents cleansing and healing. I have several different types of crystals that have different meanings, and I love having them around me, both for decorative purposes and their meanings, and I keep them on my most used tables and desks.

I enjoy bringing the natural structure and beauty of crystals into my home, and also use them as a reminder to be thoughtful of the qualities they are believed to possess. The first time I fell in love with the idea of having crystals in my home was when I first toured the Price Tower in Bartlesville, and saw a crystal paper weight on one of the desks. It was perfect.

Last night I went to the Tulsa Zoo Conservation on Tap event and got to see some of my friends for the first time in over a year. It was really wonderful but today my allergies are saying “no more of the outdoors this week, please.” Also, the garden calls but I must stay inside for now if I am ever to get better. Besides, today I got beautiful petunia colored yarn for the freezing February days in my temperature blanket, and Kazuo Ishiguro’s newest book, Klara and the Sun, so the rest of the weekend will be a cozy one of crocheting and reading.

There’s No Place Like Home

Posted on May 31, 2021May 31, 2021

Few things are as gratifying to me as spending a long weekend at home, which is exactly what I did for this Memorial Day weekend. This entailed planting some flowers, taking down the blinds and putting up new curtains, catching up on some crochet, and enjoying some backyard time with the dogs with the new fence that was built this week.

Tulsa’s 2021 deep freeze winter wiped out everything in the front yard except for the plants closest to the house, so I set out filling those spaces this weekend. I started with some pretty daisies for the pots, and a tropical and some succulents for our little circular “garden” area in the front yard. I spread a few of the succulents out in the hopes they will multiply on their own and fill out the area. I probably should have mixed some pebbles in with the soil for better drainage for the succulents, but didn’t think of it at the time. Perhaps that will be my next project.

Daisies
Daisies
Tropical & Succulents

Inside, I finally took down our old blinds and replaced them with curtains. It feels like I sprained my knee somehow while doing this; I’m getting old. I shopped around but always came back to Target’s super cute curtains – here are the owls I got for the kitchen window.

New Owl Curtains for the Kitchen

Another indoor project I worked on was my temperature blanket, which I really need to catch up on since I’m only on February 8th! This is a good project for me to do while watching TV, and the pets love it when I relax and crochet; they feel like they can settle down, too, and they nap around me, which explains the dog and cat hairs that are an inevitable part of this blanket.

Temperature Blanket

Speaking of pets, I couldn’t be more excited to get a new fence in our backyard for several reasons, but most importantly so the dogs can run free and I don’t have to worry about them jumping the fence! My daughter bought them kiddie pools to celebrate and they loved it all!

Tripp
Tripp, Maria, and the Kiddie Pool

Now it’s starting to rain and the plants are getting a nice shower 🌧️

Happy Memorial Day!

Summer Listening: Syd Barrett

Posted on August 3, 2020August 3, 2020

Post-swim, open windows, vacation wind-down, cooking warm German potato salad with this amazing Syd Barrett 1970 Peel Session recording.

Tracklist:

1. Baby Lemonade
2. Effervescing Elephant
3. Gigolo Aunt
4. Terrapin
5. Two Of A Kind

Elephant Awareness

Posted on July 31, 2019

World Elephant Day is just around the corner on August 12, and in celebration, I’m giving to my number one charity, the World Wildlife Fund. Here’s a video for awareness both for the majestic elephant, and for the WWF:

Happy 4th!

Posted on July 4, 2019August 15, 2020

LOST: Jacob & Richard

Posted on May 6, 2018

Remember LOST

Soap in the Making

Posted on October 24, 2017August 21, 2020

Yesterday I made a new batch of ‘clean cotton’ scented soap, with the help of the KitchenAid to give it a wonderful, almost fluffy trace. And it is hardening nicely today.

I’ve got an autumn mix going and am ready to make today’s email cleanup task quick and easy.

Signing off for now.

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Mom, dreamer, home lover, ocean lover, people watcher, scribbler, piano player, yarn lover, soap maker, candle maker 🌊

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