White Folks Workbook: Week 7
Freedom Dreaming
Imagine a World
As we, as White folks, do the work, inside and out, we feel a sense of resistance and revolution growing within us. We want to destroy racism and White supremacy culture. We dream of a world without oppression. But, what does that look like?
Do the Work! Imagine a World...
In a journal or in conversation with another White person doing this work, ask yourself:
When you imagine a world where we have dismantled racism and White supremacy, what does it look like?
Hard to imagine, isn't it? Adrienne Maree Brown said, "All social justice work is science fiction. We are imagining a world free of injustice, a world that doesn't yet exist." We've never seen a world without racism and White supremacy. Certainly, we possess conceptual words for what we imagine: equity, equality, safety, belonging. The tougher part, is actually visualizing what that might look like. Especially because these aren't dreams for improvements to our safety and success as White folks, they are dreams for others.
Anti-Racism Work Is Dismantling AND Building
In the video below, Andréa Ranae Johnson states of anti-racism, “It’s one thing to dismantle. It’s another to rebuild,” and reminds us that these two things do not happen at the same time.
As White folks, we often remember that we must dismantle, but forget that we must rebuild. We are so focused on what we don’t want, that we have no idea what we do want instead. To use Johnson's analogy, we want to clear the land for a house that has no blueprints.
As Johnson states, the dismantling that we are all doing is only half the work. In order to make that dismantling worthwhile, we must have a vision of the world we plan to build in its place. It is important to know what we plan to get rid of, but as Johnson explains, this is not a vision for the future. She asks, "How can you not do something?" The absence of bad is not a conceptualization of good.
Freedom Dreaming
In We Want to Do More Than Survive, Bettina Love uses Robin D.G. Kelley's concept of freedom dreaming to describe this visualization of a vision for the future.
Freedom dreaming for White folks isn't about dreams for ourselves, it is about dreams of liberation for marginalized communities. A risk of White folks envisioning a liberated future is centering ourselves; some White folks may be imagining a future where BIPOC folks have what White folks have. This vision of the future is steeped in White supremacy. It does not question the difference between the unearned power of privileged groups and the basic humanity that must belong to all people. It imagines working for a future that is mutually beneficial. However, as Love points out, White folks must understand that freedom dreams are those in which we are giving up our privilege so that BIPOC folks may possess safety, joy, power, and success. This is why it is important that when White folks freedom dream, we remember that this is a shift to support the dreams of BIPOC communities, knowing full well that these dreams will take from us power and privilege we have unjustly been handed.
Do the Work! Reformer or Revolutionary?
In a journal or in conversation with another White person doing this work:
Examine whether you tend more toward reform or revolution in your thinking. Ask yourself:
When I imagine change in the systems of my country, do I imagine adjustments to the existing systems or do I imagine new systems altogether?
What about in my work/school? In my community, family, and friendships?
Do I imagine what it might look like to give up privileges to create a more just world?
Learning the Language of Freedom Dreaming
Because freedom dreaming for White folks is not about imagining a future in which we benefit, it is important to learn the systemic plans already being imagined by activists in BIPOC communities. This means understanding concepts of both dismantling White supremacy and ideas for building a just society. Take a look at some of the terms and concepts below that are commonly used by abolitionist organizations. Many of these ideas are a part of the vision of 8 to Abolition.
These concepts are important to understand as we imagine a new world. They are big systems to be dismantled and powerful alternatives to be built. There are many different visions of what our society could look like. This is by no means an exhaustive list and no singular vision is certifiably correct. However, we might use the concepts above to begin researching alternative systems to cull our freedom dreams and begin to spark our imaginations.
As White folks, these visions are helpful because we must consider what a new world will look like overall. However, we must also consider what it will look like in our daily lives.
In a post preceding her video, Andréa Ranae Johnson poses two questions, to all folks doing anti-racist work:
What do I want to create in the world?
And am I willing to be responsible for creating that?
For White folks, it is important to follow those up with:
How can I use, bankrupt, and abandon my privilege to create in the world?
What work do I still have to do to be ready to be responsible?
Do the Work! Clarify Your Vision
In a journal or in conversation with another White person doing this work:
Using the questions above, clarify your freedom dreams for the future. Consider what your role might be in this vision.
The House that Anti-Racism Builds
In the video earlier in this post, Andréa Ranae Johnson compares the work of anti-racism to building a house: “In order for me to build this entirely new thing, I’ve got to dismantle the house that’s already there…and then there’s building.” She reminds us that clearing the land is but one part. We must have a vision of what we are building before we can build it.
Therefore, to do both the dismantling and building necessary for anti-racism and freedom dreaming, White folks must consider what there is to dismantle and what we want to build in its place. To borrow Johnson's metaphor, we need demolition plans and we need blueprints for new construction. Our demolition plans must be built around our internal and external anti-racist work. Our blueprints for new construction must be designed to uplift the dreams of BIPOC folks and join them in rebuilding.
Here are some examples of what demolition plans and blueprints for new construction might look like:
Do the Work! Demolition and Construction
In a journal or in conversation with another White person doing this work:
Look back at the suggestions of demolition plans and blueprints
Get more specific. What might each of these look like for you?
Are there any demolition plans you would add to the list?
Are there any blueprints for new construction you would add to the list?
How will you focus your anti-racist work and freedom dreaming?
Making Freedom Dreaming a Practice
White folks often get caught up in focusing on the negative. Our White Supremacy Culture characteristics of sense of urgency and progress is more/bigger cause us to focus on the immediate, with no regard for the longer path of our work. We must remind ourselves what we are working toward, and decenter ourselves by considering who that work must benefit. We must immerse ourselves in dreams of liberation and radical visualizations of a future with new systems and rules. Bayard Rustin said, “The real radical is that person who has a vision of equality and is willing to do those things that will bring reality closer to that vision.” To be radical co-conspirators, we must make a regular practice of freedom dreaming and use this to drive our anti-racist work of dismantling racism.
Do the Work! Freedom Dreaming
In a journal or in conversation with another White person doing this work:
Make a practice of freedom dreaming.
Spend time writing your demolition plans and your blueprints for new construction.
Ask yourself: How can I attend to these now? How can I attend to these long-term? What work do I need to do to reach for these dreams?
Begin to seek out communities that share your vision to begin dismantling and building.
Additional Resources for the Week
The following are good supplements to the work you did above, if you are looking to dig deeper into this topic.
We Want to Do More Than Survive by Bettina Love
Freedom Dreams by Robin D.G. Kelley
"How I Became a Police Abolitionist" by Derecka Purnell
Interested in Doing More of This Work?
The activities and materials on this page were created for the Anti-Racism Every Day White Allyship Discussion Group and were completed together in a virtual discussion. All are welcome to join us to continue this work and benefit from the power of collective reflection and discussion.