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The Power of Relationships and Lived Experiences with Sharman Spieser
Description
After witnessing the racism her Black students experienced up close on a bus trip to Kentucky, Sharman Spieser’s awareness shifted from understanding how racism operates on an intellectual level to a deeper understanding gained from lived-experience. She reflects on how segregation, isolation, and scarcity thinking operate within a white supremacist capitalist system to keep us apart, and emphasizes the power of building authentic, trusting relationships that create the conditions for honest dialogue to happen as a way of unlearning white supremacy and advancing antiracist social change.
00:00 From Knowing to Understanding
00:45 Systems Keep Us Apart
01:50 White Liberal Doubt of Black People's Lived Experiences
04:00 Book Bans and Backlash
06:07 Show Intro and Mission
07:16 Meet Sharman Spieser
08:24 Early Activations at Work
09:25 Family Modeling Justice
11:30 Kentucky Trip Wake Up
14:02 Listening Not Saving
16:51 Detroit Rebellion Revisited
28:22 Why Truth Triggers White Rage
31:37 Trauma and Openness
32:17 How A Death In The Family Changed Things
33:01 Taking Custody Suddenly
33:49 Mentor Encouragement
35:33 Rebuilding Family Life
37:11 Workplace Lessons On Power
40:19 Retirement Disillusionment
42:42 Scarcity Mindset Exposed
45:26 History Erasure And Violence
47:38 White Privilege Conference
50:14 Whats Up With White Women
52:07 Talking With White Folks
58:03 Finish The Statement
58:32 Influences And Frameworks
01:02:46 Hope Is A Practice
01:04:07 Closing And Credits
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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.