Raising our Hands: Jenna Arnold
The 2020 election is fast approaching and the stakes are really high. While voting, of course, isn’t the only tool of participation and intervention, it is an essential part of our democracy.
In the wake of the 2016 election, our guest, Jenna Arnold, hosted listening circles around the country to understand why 53% of white women voted for Trump. She wrote a book that captured those learnings called Raising Our Hands: How White Women Can Stop Avoiding Hard Conversations, Start Accepting Responsibility, and Find Our Place on the New Frontlines. This podcast is particularly for white women who are reckoning with their complicity and how to show up in this critical political moment to make things right.
In our conversation, Jenna shares about what she discovered about the insecurities and cultural norms that are holding us back from real allyship. She points to our addiction to performance chores, perfection and privilege that protects our positionality and gets in the way of showing up for the wellbeing of everyone. Throughout the conversation she had me asking, “How is that me?,” “How do I do that?,” "How can I do better?”
And that is exactly what she intended with this book—to ask white women to take a hard look at themselves and dismantle the systems that are within them and all around them. This conversation is a welcome invitation to do our work and take our place—without taking up too much space, in the movement. Check it out.
Connect with Jenna Arnold:
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