ENGAGE

This can be the hardest part for people new to racial justice work. Engaging in racially mixed settings can trigger age-old power and privilege dynamics. The goal is to be a learner more than a knower, exactly the opposite of what dominant U.S. culture teaches us to be.

Here are some Engagement Tips to guide you:

  • Enter the process to learn and bridge knowledge gaps.
  • Enter the process to practice mindful social habits like the ones below.
  • Stay engaged even when your mind and body start sending you signals to shrink or walk away.

  • Ask clarifying questions.

  • Acknowledge what you don’t know.

  • Validate others by listening closely and believing the truth and importance of what they are sharing.

  • Share airtime so that multiple perspectives are shared.

  • Step Up Step Back. If you are generally quiet, step up and practice speaking more. If you are generally a talker, practice stepping back and listening more.

  • Notice your biases and judgments as they arise. These are gold for you to excavate your subconscious!

  • Notice when you are uncomfortable. Reflect on why you’re uncomfortable and think about what you can do to build more emotional stamina in this area.


  • Honor confidentiality. Though you can share what you are learning in general terms, do not repeat stories in a way that can be traced back to the person who shared it.

  • Find a mentor within your own racial group to support and guide your growth.

Section Title

Type the content for this section here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this section. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this section, you will see the filler text disappear, and you can begin typing your real content. We’ve simply put in filler text in this area. No need to get caught up in the actual content of this body text, we just typed a bunch of meaningless sentences.