It’s one thing to simply say that we are aiming to interrupt the default patterns of white supremacy in writing workshop spaces. It’s quite another to enact this work.

Part of the process is getting specific. There are clear, straightforward steps that prepare individual relationships within these spaces to support community-wide standards. There are actions we can take to preclude passively oppressive dynamics and build true trust and intimacy in relationships that would otherwise be fraught with microaggressions.

If you’re curious about how Restorative Writers is designed to bring our intentions into the real world, please read on:

• We are starting from the practice of listening to and believing women of color. So when you say something is up, you will be met with validation in this space. Every time.
  
• We are capping the participation of white women at 50% of the class.
  • This means that if five women of color and 30 white women apply, then our class is 10 people with a waitlist of 25 people.
• The facilitators will actively demonstrate what a supportive and equitable relationship between white women and women of color can look like.
  • To set the tone for how our relationship will work differently than the status quo collaborative relationship, we are actually going to speak our commitments to one another as vows at the start of the workshop. 
  • We are going to be mindful about how much time we each spend talking during class. We will actively and deliberately relate to one another as co-facilitators in a way that reflects this. You are welcome to ask questions or check in about this process if something feels off.
  • Occasionally, we’ll call out behavior that is notably different from the status quo and is helpful in building a healthy dynamic so that white women can make note of it and continue practicing in the future.
• We are going to collaboratively create a set of agreements that includes white women (facilitator first, but ultimately all participants) taking on the emotional labor of education and accountability around racial privilege.
  • In cases where white women don’t understand or don’t see what they did wrong, we’ll default to the first value stated on this page and then go educate ourselves (including finding resources to navigate that) without further taxing the woman/women who experienced the problematic behavior/interaction.
  • We believe that it is enough for the women of color to point out when something is bothering them if it seems like it’s going unaddressed.
• We are building our writing practice to celebrate, honor, and encourage folks to write whatever and however they need, free of the silencing or shame that women (especially women of color) often experience in other writing programs. We will help our writers identify what matters most to them in their work, what the genius inherent to that vision is, and then figure out how to amplify that.
• We focus on what it means to pursue writing while living an adult ass life instead of shaming people or having unreasonable expectations. We build habits and practices that support one another in meeting our self-determined goals.
• We commit to taking a slower approach to learning/thinking together as a community, wherein knee-jerk, fragility-based reactions are strongly discouraged. Instead, problematic or troubling moments will be acknowledged ASAP in a way that honors the person speaking out without subjecting them to further discussion. After that acknowledgement, women with lived experience of privilege will step back and take time to really internalize the message and think about how they might do better before continuing the conversation. By letting these conversations take time, our participants with privilege will learn how to respond with accountability and understanding.

Interested in participating in a space like this?