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Helpful Resources in a Time of Uncertainty #72

September 14, 2020 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

Racial Justice & Educational Resources

TWO EXCELLENT BOOKS TO READ AND ADD TO YOUR PERMANENT LIBRARY

If you want to go behind the headlines to understand the history and dynamics of race and racism in this country, I highly recommend these two deeply researched, beautifully written books by Isabel Wilkerson:

The Warmth of Other Suns focuses on the Great Migration of Blacks from the South to the North in the 20th century. Wilkerson centers her story on the migration of three real-life individuals. Ida Mae Gladney, her husband, George, and their two young children fled in the dark of night from the cotton fields of Chickasaw County, Mississippi, to Milwaukee and then on to Chicago. George Starling escaped the citrus fields of Eustis, Florida, and a possible lynch mob when he hopped a train for New York City. Dr. Robert Pershing Foster left Monroe, Louisiana, for Los Angeles, California after every hospital in the South refused to offer his a staff position despite the fact that he was a successful surgeon in the U.S. Army. Although the focus is on the lives of these three southern migrants, they represent the six million other migrants with whom they shared so much.

Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism for this book.

In her latest book, Caste examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. She brilliantly compares the treatment of Blacks in the US with the Indian caste system and the way the Nazis treated Jews. I was riveted.

“Magnificent . . . a trailblazing work on the birth of inequality . . . Caste offers a forward-facing vision. Bursting with insight and love, this book may well help save us.”

—O: The Oprah Magazine

“Extraordinary . . . one of the most powerful nonfiction books I’d ever encountered . . . an instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far. . . .Caste deepens our tragic sense of American history. It reads like watching the slow passing of a long and demented cortege. . . . It’s a book that seeks to shatter a paralysis of will. It’s a book that changes the weather inside a reader.”

—Dwight Garner, The New York Times

I’ve listened to the audio of both and highly recommend them—and the audio versions are excellent.

Writing Related

Thanks to Beverly Pincus for the heads up.

Black Lives and Black Poetics Matter: A Reading and Discussion curated by Faraday Publishing – September 17, 7:30pm

Join us for an evening of vibrant poetry and dialogue on the vitality and importance of Black Lives and Black Poetics in contemporary America. Moderated by Enzo Silon Surin, founder and director of Faraday Publishing, this panel will feature leading Black poets, scholars, and educators, including Dr. Tony Medina, Bonita Lee Penn, Lisa Pegram, and Dr. Shauna Morgan.

Click here to access this resource.

Miscellaneous

Check out this podcast: Tara Brach

Meditation teacher Tara Brach provides medicine for our tendency to polarize and view those we disagree with with “bad othering.”

Click here to access this resource.

Election 2020

UC Santa Cruz Special Events – Join us this Tuesday for the University Forum Election Series!

The November 2020 election provides an historic opportunity to shape the future of California and the nation. This series explores the 2020 elections in the context of national struggles for democratic accountability, racial justice, equal citizenship, and economic equality. In California, propositions may dramatically shift our tax system, affirmative action, courts and criminal justice system, voting eligibility, labor relations, and housing policy. Join the conversation as UC Santa Cruz professors engage with community organizers, political advocates, and other scholars.

Click here to access this resource.

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More Featured Students?

For years, I’ve been showcasing the work of one of my students in my monthly newsletter and here on my site. If you’d like to see a complete list of the students I’ve published, with links to their work, you can find it in the Featured Student Archives. Just click the link below.

Featured Students

What is the The Writer’s Journey Roadmap?

I send out inspiring quotes and provocative writing prompts via email Tuesday. You can collect them for their own use—or you can post your writing online and enter into dialogue and conversation with a very supportive group of writers who have made this part of their weekly writing practice.

I invite you to become part of my brilliant, supportive, intimate, honest, inspiring free online community.

I hope to see you up on the Roadmap soon!

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Like this Virtual Vacation?

You can also read about Laura’s travels to:

Peru 2017

In which Laura and Karyn and 18 writers explore Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of Peru.

Serbia 2017

In which Laura leads a workshop at the Incest Trauma Center.

Greece 2016

In which Laura explores the wonders of Crete and Santorini with a wide-eyed group of Write, Travel, Transform adventurers.

Vietnam 2015/16

In which Laura, who grew up during the Vietnam War, goes to Southeast Asia and finds out what Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are really like today.

Commonweal 2015

A journey toward healing loss and grief in a magnificent Northern California setting.

Scotland 2015

In which Laura returns to Scotland with a new group for another jaunt through the wonders of the Scottish Highlands.

Scotland 2013

In which Laura attends the Edinburgh theatre festival and leads 14 writers to a magical retreat in the highlands of Northern Scotland.

Bali 2013

In which Laura visits Australia, and spends three weeks diving, exploring, and teaching in three regions of Bali.

Florida 2014

A journey into old age in America in which Laura brings her 86-year-old mother to Florida so she can see her last surviving sister one final time.

Mexico 2014

In which Laura attends the San Miguel Writer’s Conference and explores the artistic towns around Patzcuaro.

About Laura Davis

In the course of my career as a communicator, I have also worked as a columnist, talk show host, radio reporter, radio producer, blogger, editor, and speaker. Words have always been at the core of my work and my self-expression. Read More . . .

Photo taken by Jason Ritchey

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What People Are Saying About Laura Davis:

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Retreating with Laura: Julie Sheehan

Julie Sheehan

For many years I put off my dream of writing and traveling. I told myself the kids were too little, my husband could never survive without me, that I couldn't possibly be so selfish. I couldn't imagine realistically stepping out of all of my responsibilities and roles. Then I started attending Laura’s summer retreat at Commonweal in northern California and that became an annual gift to myself for the next three years.

When the opportunity to travel with Laura internationally came up, my Land of Later mentality said I could never pull it off. But when my friend got cancer at age 39, I decided to stop taking life and it's endless opportunities to grow, live, nurture and explore myself for granted.

My children were 6 and 9 when I began allowing myself the luxurious pleasure of taking 10 days to two weeks each year to travel abroad with Laura, to spend time with like minded, soul searching people who share a passion for living and writing, to have all my meals prepared for me, to have the space and freedom to stretch out of my cage and check in with who I am, what I want, and how best to get there.

Laura is a skilled and nurturing teacher who encourages her students to take risks, to grow as human beings, and to be vulnerable. She has provided me with a forum where I can gain all my CEUs and learn techniques on how to become a more engaging writer, all while completing yearly emotional rehab.

I return home from each of Laura’s trip a little wiser, a little more open, and a lot more compassionate. I greet my family, friends and daily life with sparkly, clean energy and a renewed patience, brought about by way of re-writing old stories that I needed to let go of. I come home ready to move forward in my life.

A retreat with Laura Davis is one of the best gifts I ever received and gave myself. It took many years to realize that I was worth the time and financial investment, but now there is no looking back.

Julie Sheehan, Livermore California

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