Kaolin

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The Heartree Gatherings Leadership Workshop is here

Join Kaolin and Brya Faith Lee on Saturday March 30, 2024 from 3-6 PM for the first Heartree Gatherings Leadership workshop.

We will be providing food and beverages while covering themes & insights regarding spirituality, faith and manifestation.

Our love of trees their splendor and strength will be discussed. Prints will be available to further accent the Arts and the role creativity plays in all of our work!

Plus a segment of role-playing to prepare you to further your accomplishments, goals & dreams for Unity and Community within YOUR activism with an emphasis on Multigenerational Multiculturalism, Social Justice and Racial Equality.

3:00 PM Introductions. Brief Bios. Tree History Locations The Work Confronting Dualities Reconciling Conflict Metaphysics Pluto's Influence Integrating Intention with the Most Desirable Outcomes The Joy of Creating

4:15 Group Attunement/Sound Culture Ringing Bells

4:30 - 5:00 Break time

5:00 - 6:00 Reconvene, Renew, Replenish, and Restore!

More details available in our brochure. $50.00 per person.

Call: 413.417.1825 for more information and reserve your place in advance.

Remain blessed. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Location: Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence Check out their site regarding parking and directions.

Heartree Gatherings copyright 2024

Call: 413.417.1825 for more information and reserve your place in advance.

As the effects of Covid-19 reverberate in our lives I am sharing this stunning rendition of We Shall Overcome

Taylor & Co. Books is a new cozy bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y., that has started carrying my book!
They are located at:1021 Cortelyou Rd. Brooklyn, N.Y. 11218 I was born and raised in Brooklyn and am so glad about this! Congratulations to Andrew and his staff.

We wish you much success!

Press Release

Missouri National Organization for Women (NOW) Hosts Talking about Race Workshop

Missouri National Missouri NOW will host a workshop to talk about racism on Sunday, September 18 at the Missouri River Region Library, 214 Adams St, Jefferson City, MO beginning at 1:15 p..m. in the Mark Twain Room. The workshop will be led by Kaolin, is free and open to the public.

Kaolin has developed a course and workshops on racism. Kaolin married George A. Williams who was African American and a veteran in 1970 and they had a daughter and a son. Mr. Williams transitioned in 2010. She first taught the workshop with students at the University of Massachusetts and then developed the workbook. She will be leading the workshop via Zoom. The workbook is available for purchase on Amazon: Talking About Race: A Workbook About White People Fostering Racial Equality in Their Lives Paperback – January 15, 2010

As one of our core issues, NOW is committed to ending racism and discrimination. Through our work, we are constantly identifying and combating the barriers to equality and justice imposed by structural racism, particularly those that inflict a double burden of race and sex discrimination on black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) women and girls, including trans women and girls.

Missouri NOW will also host their annual meeting Sept 18 to elect officers for the coming year. Those elected must be dues paying members of NOW for at least one year. Chair of the nominating committee is Darlahorman@yahoo.com

To attend the meeting by Zoom please contact jht6468@gmail.com You will be sent a link to participate

For more information contact Jamie Tomek at 573-656-3082 or jht6468@gmail.com

I am so glad to have joined Bay Path University and the On the Move committee with a host of activists to celebrate Prof. Janine Fondon’s work on International Women’s Day

Janine Fondon, Chair of the Undergraduate Communications Department and Assistant Professor of Undergraduate Communications is also the CEO of Unity First an online-zine of the latest cultural events.

Thank you Phyllis Williams Thompson for the gathering and Natalia and Lucy at the Luxe Consignment Store at 376 Pleasant Street, Northampton, MA. for providing an ideal environment for a wonderful celebration!


Be sure to check out Jacqueline Williams’ work. Ms. Williams is an educator/activist/advocate/author on autism. Jacquie wrote the introduction to the Study Guide for my Talking About Race: A Workbook About White People Fostering Racial Equality in Their Lives.

Her work and her website is simply beautiful. You can order her sons books on autism thru her website. Their work is a gift that keeps on givin...
Click


Summer 2021!

The Unspoken Deep Pain of Racism is a book of short essays about racism and the power it has over people to silence them. It also deals with stereotypes that become comfort-zones to avoid relating and includes a few of my experiences working on this subject since my first book came out. It is (42) pages long with (10) essays

You can call 413.341.3503 for more details and place your order/s.

My 2nd book will be out by another publisher in Jan. '22. I will post much more about it in September.
Thank you!


Are you Interested in ordering Kaolin's books, donating to her work or scheduling a reading? You can do that right here & on her websites below. Go to Pay Pal: ctaylor@cctmedia.com

Thank you for your interest in Talking About Race, The Unspoken Deep Pain of Racism and Spiritually-Speaking Photography Vol. 1 & 2 .

SPRING 2021

PLEASE NOTE THE NEW MEDIA

CONTACT NO. 413.417.1825

A timely interview taped on Jacqueline Williams program in July 2020 regarding parenting. education, racism and a multitude of concerns parents have about their children.

Click To View

https://www.facebook.com/GrowingEmpoweredTogether/videos/380561039589716/UzpfSTMzNjM2MTc4MDA0Nzk1ODoxMT

Episode 28: Systemic Racism (Part 2) -- Tearing Down the System

Jul 16, 2020
In this final episode of a special Two-part series, we discuss white privilege from the perspectives of white people and Black people in America and then present tangible actions that can be taken to eliminate it. GET It co-hosts Ryan Thompson, Roy Aguillon, Andrea Fernandez, and Chad Hankins are joined by special guests Celeste Alana Brown, San Antonio activist, and Kaolin Kay, author of Talking About Race, for an inherently difficult, but very important, conversation. Thank you for hearing them.

Music: LeftfieldJT featuring Jasmine Battle

#blacklivesmatter, #justiceforgeorgefloyd, #systemicracism, #racisminamerica, #GETITpodcast, #growingempoweredtogether, #racism, #whiteprivilege

https://getit.libsyn.com/episode-28-systemic-racism-part-2?fbclid=IwAR2BpVKkQRsE_uLzhJGhFG-WAue2liu6o0Cymy8dv-s_2kyUkBM0FKanXYg

Somewhere in the Middle with Michele Barard
Business:Entrepreneurship

Author, Anti-Racism Coach, and Workshop
Facilitator Kaolin K joins me on Somewhere in the Middle
2020-04-11

https://www.awake2onenessradio.org/single-post/2020/02/13/Talking-About-Race-with-Kaolin?fbclid=IwAR1HxUCuqRrBPNo2mpH63sp5vdsC_6Ip_HByNs4SMKsmVlSkE4o0PvN8c9cg

BIO

Kaolin is a white woman who was born in 1951 in Brooklyn, NY. and attended Adele's play group until graduating from St. Savior's grade school in 1964. Kaolin, attended St. Agnes Seminary H.S. in Brooklyn, NY graduated in '69 and attended, Georgian Court College in Lakewood, NJ for a short time before marrying and having two children with George A. Williams, an African American Vietnam Vet & NYC firefighter from Squad One, in Brooklyn, NY. Mr. Williams is in several documentaries, including the most recently acclaimed "Hidden Battles" produced by Victoria Mills who also hails from NYC

Kaolin's work is included in many publications; she has also performed in many mediums such as: a vocalist in a summer series at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center in NYC in "Children of Adam" produced by the Urban Arts Corps and conducted by Chapman Roberts; fund-raised for the Audre Lorde Poetry Center at Hunter College; worked on the WBAI FM broadcasting program "Doing it for Ourselves; assisted the Parent's hot-line under its creator Judge Gertrude Bacon and rec'd. a scholarship to work on Kate Millett's ("Sexual Politics", "Sita", "The Loony Bin Trip") Women's Art Colony in upstate NY (1990).

Kaolin has also worked in politics organizing marches on Washington, D.C. for Peace & Justice and US Intervention out of Central America and as the Health Benefits Field Rep. for the Local 205 - D.C. 1707 Welfare Fund on Varick Street in NYC. Deeply invested in social services since 1991 and education, Kaolin is also a member of the Anti-Racism Committee in the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Writer's Union (NWU) and Local 2322 UAW.

Kaolin does public speaking and consults with teachers and activists who are using her book "Talking About Race: A Workbook About White People Fostering Racial Equality in Their Lives". In addition to teaching, Kaolin is in several documentaries and designs study guides and workshop training programs for organizations, schools and programs that are dedicated to fostering racial equality in the work place and their communities.

Kaolin attended Holyoke Community College and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst summa cum laude. She also metriculted at Smith College where she studied voice for a time.


What’s New?

I am so happy to announce that my sister Catherine McCall is one of the panelists on this program!
https://newyorkcenterforchildren.org/25th-anniversary-virtual-fall-benefit-event/


Thank you, Michele Barard of “Somewhere in the Middle”, for a fine comprehensive interview regarding racism and what one can do about it. The program will be aired in Feb. 2020 an you will be able to stream it on this site! DTBA!


Kaolin attended Holyoke Community College and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst summa cum laude. She also metriculted at Smith College where she studied voice for a time.

Now you can purchase your copies directly thru this pay pal account!

$20.00 including shipping and handling costs!

Pay Via Paypal
Credit Cards Now Accepted!


Be sure to listen to this program in which Kaolin was the guest.

We discussed the fundamentals of white supremacist strategic foundational norms combined with the compelling white privilege/compliance dynamics and assumptions of normalcy that continually reinforce racism culturally and how to disassemble it in your personal life which is where the action and activist really lives. And Catherine McCall's book "Never Tell" and mine "Talking About Race: A Workbook About White People Fostering Racial Equality in Their Lives" which is in its 2nd printing. I remain available for lectures and interviews. Thank you Occupy Democrates103.3 FM Valley Free Radio for such wonderful questions and insights into the most destructive models of racism consuming our culture and destroying humanity. How does one reconcile the perversion of power racism is? Can one? Does one? Yes we can and we do ... listen in for more as we covered so much in just 60 minutes!

Click to Listen Link


Available Services:

Are you in need of a Beta Reader for your manuscript?
Do you need PR advice when your first book comes out?
Are you working toward getting your book into a 2nd printing?
Do you need some lecturing tips on your work?
Are you preparing for your first speaking engagement?
Do you need some excellent reviews to help promote your book or You Tube Program?

Call: 413.417.1825

Howard Zinn A People's History of the United States

Received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, taught at Spelman College and Boston University, and has been a visiting professor at the University of Paris and the University of Bologna. He has received the Thomas Merton Award, the Eugene V. Debs Award, the Upton Sinclair Award the Lannan Literary Award and the Prix des Amis du Monde Award.

Talking About Race is wonderfully engaging, truly conversational, and because it is so personal it takes the subject out of the realm of academic discussion and confronts readers with the reality of their own thoughts, their own experiences. I think it would be a very useful book for teachers and students.

Tim Wise, author White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

Kaolin's narrative is a compelling mix of first-rate analysis, personal stories, and practical, illuminating exercises that help readers utilize this book as a living, evolving document. By asking readers to stop and reflect as they move through the text, Kaolin gives us all a chance to breathe, take in the deep and important material herein, and then push forward in the struggle against racism, in ourselves and society.


Summertime 2020 (4)
Podcast Interviews Fall 2020 Workshop facilitator and Diversity Panelist for a local College.
Dates to be Announced! Call to Schedule a Consult.
Media Events:413.404.5683

Talking About Race with Kaolin
Awake 2 Oneness Radio with Author Kaolin on Friday, February 14, 2020 at 7:00 PM EST. This program was pre-recorded. http://bit.ly/3bBwmem

Kaolin will be a special guest on
Caroline Chang’s Awake 2 Oneness Radio Program
https://www.awake2onenessradio.org/
DTBA

THURSDAY NIGHT DEC. 5, 2019 6 PM EST.
KAOLIN WILL BE A GUEST ON MICHELE BARAD’S PROGRAM
“SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE”
URL: HTTPS://GLOBAL.GOTOMEETING.OM/JOIN/493510749
US: +1
(224) 501-3412
ACCESS CODE: 493-510-749
JOIN US FROM 6-7 PM!

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/209-nsv-online-radio-27417660/episode/talking-about-when-they-see-us-46243119/?cmp=ios_share&pr=false&fbclid=IwAR0O4XQnD8xUObu-BKlcqvtTtlzQX0WBKA-9wiLzAlGaOerTDzUfmact60g

Wednesday night June 12, 2019 at 7:00 PM
Kaolin will be one of several distinguished guest panelists on a program titled,

“When They See Us”
When Racism and Developmental Disabilities/Delays Collide

Tune in NSV Online Radio Facebook page and Call in: 561-623-9421 to participate the W4WN network (Women 4 Women Network) hosted by founder & Voice of NSV Online Radio Jacqueline Williams-Hines, M. Ed/Autism Specialist, UMASS Medical/Eunice Shriver Institute LEND Fellow and Founder of The No Small Victories Autism Awareness Initiative.
Listen to a physician, lawyer, educational advocate, psychologist and author discuss the following:

- Trauma resulting from racial profiling
- Trauma resulting from the School to Prison Pipeline
- Trauma resulting from the compounded influence of the Impact of Racism upon Children & Adults with disabilities and what you can do about it!

On Sunday June 23rd at 10 AM Kaolin will be the special guest on https://www.facebook.com/ValleyFreeRadio
Interviewed by Artist and Photographer Extraordinaire Emikan Sudan.

MARCH 2019 ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

http://www.antiracistalliance.com/movement.html

We are pleased to announce that you can now purchase Kaolin's book at Booklink in Thornes Market Northampton, MA.

Booklink Booksellers & Cafe - Thornes Marketplace


Tuesday Sept. 25, 2018

Kaolin’s Review of Leanna James Blackwell’s play NEW SOUL

The Northampton Playwrights Lab presents PLAY BY PLAY 2018 a festival of new play readings NEW SOUL Written and directed by Leanne James Blackwell
Are you looking for drama? On Friday night Sept. 21st at 7:30 PM I was looking for drama and attended a reading of Blackwell’s NEW SOUL at the Northampton Academy of the Arts on 33 Hawley Street, in Northampton, MA.
A friend recommended it to me adding that it was about interracial relationships which captured my interest right away. I am an author and lecturer on themes that have to do with recovery from racism so I was especially eager to see the show!
On stage there were six actors with extremely serene personas within the 2-hour performance. The reading was thought-provoking. It began in 1963 and brought you forward several decades in time for the birth of a deeply loved child of an interracial couple. The interrelationship between the characters to one another; the multiple roles of Susan Daniels (Sister Agnes and Gail) gave us a chance to re-visit the drama of childhood and belief systems that shaped us if we were raised with the demands and confusion of adulthood imposing itself upon us. With wit and clarity Daniels transitioned from one very strong yet witty and compassionate character to the other.
Rich Vaden inhabited (4) characters: Max, Clerk, Waiter and James. He gave the audience a glimpse into the ease with which a dedicated skilled actor can wrap us up in a whimsical moment, and just as easily have us feel pained when his character’s power overpowers one in need
Isaiah Michael Grace (Jean-Pierre Bedie) and Evelyn Galicki (Alyssa Labrie) carried a stunning authenticity from beginning to end so much so you did not want an ending at all! When they were in conflict their acting was so in harmony with one another that you did not have to become embroiled in it. There was no side to take. In interracial relations one can often become submersed in the dilemma of the characters, most especially in these times. Not so here. Blackwell writes to have you be entertained, to pay attention, to listen, to come to know what her characters come to know. There are no prolonged guessing games. It is incredibly refreshing to care as they care, to see as they see. Both Isaiah Michael Grace and Alyssa Labrie carry themselves thru the roles with such clarity I was especially moved by both of them.
Silk Johnson (Jake Gold) and Margaret Streeter (Liz O’Reilly Gold) have a newness about them in their union, a partnership and enthusiasm for their journey as parents-to-be while Jake sorts though his own lineage. Liz reveals the passage thru pregnancy which involved so much more than hunger, so much more than excitement and change. Liz’s voyage runs deeply into the recesses of her own soul, her own spirituality so she pays a return visit to a part of her past; a past which stirs an even greater appetite for partnership, for clarity, for honesty, for sharing and the certainty that she and  Jake will have what it takes to be happy together.
NEW SOUL invites you to an evening of fine talent, surprises, insights, compassion and humor!  I hope it moves forward as stories of this kind need to be told and deserve a far broader audience.

Put in your order for THE STUDY GUIDE FOR
TALKING ABOUT RACE: A WORKBOOK
ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE FOSTERING
RACIAL EQUALITY IN     
THEIR LIVES
with a Foreword by
Jacqueline Williams-Hines, M Ed/Autism Specialist
UMASS Medical/Eunice Shriver Institute LEND Fellow
Founder & Voice of  NSV Online Radio
W4WN Radio – Women 4 Women Network – All Women’s Radio – NSV Online Radio
Founder of The No Small Victories Autism Awareness Initiative
go to the contact feature on this website.
Thank you!

NOVEMBER 2018
CONGRATULATIONS!
On the 2nd printing of Talking about Race: A Workbook about White People Fostering Racial Equality in Their Lives whichwill be released soon with noteworthy changes on the cover. We are excited about it and will post it as soon as we have it.

What a welcome progression rightly-timed for this holiday season! Thank you to everyone who has had anything to do with this: fans, friends, reviewers, family and associates. And special thanks to my publisher at CDD books HTTP://WWW.CDDBOOKS.COM Thank you!

~ Kaolin HTTP://WWW.LTAR.BIZ & WWW.CCTMEDIA.COM

Kaolin is a new member of the Bay Path University "On The Move" committee. 
Please go to our Photo Gallery to view some photos from the Oct. 10, 2017 meeting. Enjoy!

Kaolin’s Book Review Corner

Reviews

Black is the New White by Paul Mooney
Book review by Kaolin May 2020
Thank you, Paul Mooney.

"Black is the New White" was published in 2009. It is an absolute must read. Why? Fact, humor, truth: Beginnings, endings, truth. "Black is the New White" is a literal-documentary with necessary clarity regarding how uncompromising racism is: Truth. It shows you how deeply and mercilessly entrenched in stereotypes we are and have always been: Truth. For myself, it is quicksand, so here we are still suffering through the vile and violent absurdity of racism: Truth.

Therefore how fortunate we are to have access to Mooney's honesty and humor; depth and compassion. Mooney expresses the rigors of the artist within the time lines of his profession & how the wounded sordid facts of racism shapes and defines us.

This is the first book I was able to read since this pandemic appeared as I was stupefied by what was taking place. I write book reviews on books that deal with racism and read on average (2) books a week while working on my own manuscripts. But since March 8th I'd look at a book and walk away. Gather some of my books together in a pile, walk them from room to room and walk away.

I even took photos of them as if I may never see them again, as if I was saying goodbye to a friend who was dying.

I wondered if I should simply give them away? Then a friend sent me a you tube clip of Mooney's act and I woke-up. Then I heard about his book, managed to get it and woke-up. I read it in one sitting and will read it again and again as it is that kind of book. You don't want to forget one line, one joke, one fact, one story Truth.

Now I am planning to stay awake for the duration of the white supremacist insanity that is suffocating us and his book has made my other books come alive again! Truth.

Thank you, Paul Mooney

July 2019!

Kaolin’s latest book review for Christian Perrings, Metapsychology Online Reviews: White Privilege Unmasked: How to be Part of the Solution

by Judy Ryde.

 
 

How Not to Get Shot by White People: And Other Advice From White People by D. L. Hughley

 
 
the guide for white women who teach black boys
by Moore & Michael & Penick-Parks
 
 
White Rage by Prof. Carol Anderson
 
 
Locking Up Our Own by James Foreman, Jr.
 
 
 
 
We're Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union
 
 
The Mother of Black Hollywood by Jenifer Lewis
 
 
 
House of Happy Endings by Leslie Garris
 


My Father's Heart by Steve McGee
 
 
The Secret History of Dreaming by Robert Moss
 
http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=4915&cn=139

Awards and Certificates of Recognition

  • " I love the work you’re doing and am so grateful for your wisdom. Keep going – the best is yet to come.."

    Christina Cleveland, author of Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Faces that Keep Us Apart

  • " Kaolin's narrative is a compelling mix of first-rate analysis, personal stories, and practical, illuminating exercises that help readers utilize this book as a living, evolving document. By asking readers to stop and reflect as they move through the text, Kaolin gives us all a chance to breathe, take in the deep and important material herein, and then push forward in the struggle against racism, in ourselves and society."

    Tim Wise, author White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

  • " Kaolin's Talking About Race: A Workbook About White People Fostering Racial Equality in Their Lives offers a thoughtful curriculum for white people to do the hard but necessary work of confronting the denial, pain, fear and apathy that comes with growing up in the racist culture of the United States. Drawn from her own extensive life experiences and a course she designed as a returning-to-school undergrad, Talking About Race adds to the growing toolbox for anti-racism that helps white people move towards accountability, courage, and freedom."

    Mab Segrest, author of Memoirs of a Race Traitor

  • " This is a very difficult topic to explore, study, encourage awareness of, and pay attention to. I find Kaolin's Talking About Race a thorough, real, and needed workbook or primer for the rising number of beginning white anti-racists to start or further their journey as they become acquainted with the enormity of racism that persists in the United States. She brilliantly addresses the importance and wide spectrum of challenging emotions and needs felt and explored in the monumental work towards the goal of racial equality. I completely agree with her 'musts', warnings, and cautionary points. My deep hope is that this book will educate, inspire, and guide a good number of white people who want to organize and build communities to heal our wounded society."

    Holly Fulton, Traces of the Trade and "Coming to the Table"

  • " Talking About Race is a valuable tool for raising awareness of the number one problem in the US today: Racism. It is written from the standpoint of Whites who benefit most from race bias. Anyone interested in standing up for social justice has something to learn from the lessons taught and learned by Kaolin and her students. As the nation attempts to dismantle racism's devastating effects, open discussion is essential. Kaolin's book gives a look at the burden Whites carry in a racist environment without minimizing what People of Color suffer on a daily basis. This book shines a light on the guilt, shame, fears, challenges and triumphs of unpacking White privilege. Readers will find the questions and exercises an opportunity to go beyond book knowledge and escape their comfort zone to flex their "racial equality muscles." These practical and proven strategies encourage both new ways of thinking and action. Kaolin's message is quite clear: everyone loses in a racist society but there is hope if we work to change it."

    Dr. Carlie C. Tartakov Emerita Professor, Iowa State University and retired public school teacher Immediate Past President, Iowa Chapter National Association for Multicultural Education (IA-NAME)

  • " As a young black athlete growing up in NYC during the seventies and early eighties, my teams weren't afforded the luxuries of having a 'home court' advantage and had to travel to play in white CYO gyms around the city. More times than not, we had to literally defend ourselves against rogue gangs of youths, that wanted to cause us bodily harm as we left the gym. Oft times this also occurred during the games. While these experiences did help to shape me, I still never understand why such racism exists. Kaolin's workbook, 'Talking About Race' answers some of these questions, because now I can hear it from 'the other side'. Kaolin attacks this delicate subject by telling her experiences as a wife and mother in an inter-racial marriage and as a teacher on this delicate topic. To also hear Caucasian students speak on how they were introduced to racism and their subsequent reaction to it shows us that racism is inherited and not hereditary and can be lessened over generations if properly addressed. I highly recommend this workbook to all seeking to eradicate this disease. "

    Craig Taylor, CEO & Founder http://www.rarehiphop.com

  • " As an educator who teaches the history of racism, I see firsthand just how much students want to discuss-really discuss-the topic of race. We educators need to do more, and Talking About Race is a great resource to get that much-needed discussion going."

    Dr. Diane Beers, author and Professor Social Sciences Division, Holyoke Community College

  • " Talking About Race, identifies the on start of racism and will demystify the process of deprogramming (for both blacks and whites). This honest, enjoyable read touched me as a biracial woman, made me LOL, as well as made me hopeful that we are one step closer to becoming "just" different shades of the same human race. "

    Carolyn Battle-Cochrane Director/Producer "Biracial Not Black Damn It"

  • " Kaolin has constructed a powerful tool in the fight for racial justice. Talking About Race provides the user with self help strategies that uproot ingrained prejudices and fosters healing."

    Nancy R. Lockhart, M.J. http://www.nancylockhart.blogspot.com

  • " If you think racism is dead, check out a city's churches on a Sunday morning. Whites worship their God in white churches. Obviously race continues to shape our religious practices. Kaolin's workbook, Talking About Race, was born from her probing leadership and teaching experience. She gives us a vital reflective tool for shifting our latent stereotypical attitudes. Her workbook overflows with sensitive questions and keen observations on a delicate subject. It reminds us that our multiracial culture is a gift, calling us to continually evolve, widen our cultural consciousness. I recommend this workbook to all Sociology Educators."

    Adele Azar-Rucquoi author of Money As Sacrament/tenspeed press/random house

  • " Writer, educator and long time community activist. The concentration of her 1994 Master of Human Services degree from HBCU Lincoln University is the ethics, sociology, and psychology of organizational change. She has recently separated from her 30 year career, most recently, as a systems analyst for a large social services agency in NYC. Not only is Talking About Race an important contribution to the conversation on race in America, it is one that will present human beings with actual opportunities for self-reflection and growth. Instead of inundating the readers with yet more information to take in about the racial problems in America, Kaolin guides her readers to take a look at their innermost thoughts, feelings and experiences on racism. By doing the exercises in Talking About Race whites who formerly might have remained frozen in place due to fear of rejection and/or reprisal from other whites, are afforded the chance to become more open to moving themselves and therefore a better quality of dialogue on race toward positive change. Kaolin is to be commended for her foresight and courage in bringing this wonderful opportunity to the good people of America so that we might all breathe just a little more freely. "

    Robin Pugh-Perry, Mhs. IntegralTalk: http://integraltalk.wordpress.com

  • " In her book, Talking About Race.. Kaolin opens up an opportunity for people to examine and create their own race stories. By effectively weaving in and out of her own race story, her students stories, and our own writing exercises in a cyclical style. Kaolin intertwines the ideas and experiences that affect all of us. As a white woman living in New York City, I never thought racism was an issue in my life. This "course" has redefined the way I interpret the reality of racial equality and makes me see that there is much work to be done, both within the way one chooses (or not) to participate in our communities and our continuing education. Kaolin asks us to continually revisit the ideas presented in the book, and as one does so, each reflection allows us to dig deeper and deeper into our pasts and review the experiences from the beginning, middle and end of the book, as well as in our lives over time. This work should be required curriculum in high schools around the country, especially in the diverse communities where we think there is no problem. Although at time's the writing exercises were uncomfortable, they are there to help us all begin the process of healing as we can hopefully move toward a place of greater understanding of each other and plan ahead for a future in which we consciously work toward equality, and not just patting ourselves on the back for how far we have come! Kaolin and her students are brave, vulnerable, open, and ready to continue their work, and we should follow suit! "

    Ms. Kerry K. Dowling New York City Teacher (Beacon School). Union Activist-UFT-United Federation of Teachers NYSUT- New York State United Teachers, AFT - American Federation of Teachers

  • " This is one of the most revealing and honest books that I have ever had the pleasure to read and review. It invites the reader to consider and respond to their experiences with racism. While it is intended for white people to learn about and work toward racial equality it can translate to all of the other ethnicities as well. Much of this book stems from a class that Kaolin developed and taught fro the University of Massachusetts which ran for two semesters. There are personal stories from nay of her students (the names have been changed) that portray their change in mindset as they worked through the issues, topics, and questions in this class and book. This book is organized and works best when read in snippets and left alone to digest and reflect upon before determining how we might each respond to the various and poignant questions as they relate to issues of racism and racial inequality. Doing so helps us to splice together our own race stories such that we can understand how history has helped shape this unfortunate racial dynamic as well as learn what we can do to move past this and into a world of racial equality. "

    A Review of Talking About Race by Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM for Bookpleasures.com also posted on www.AmericanChronicles.com

  • " We all have a unique race story. In the Talking About Race workbook Kaolin provides an expertly guided opportunity to explore and consciously define a new, racially mature identity. My African-American husband and I (myself Caucasian) enthusiastically endorse this book as a tool for helping confront the legacy of racism we all share. Change is truly up to each one of us and Kaolin offers a rare chance to candidly, yet gently make the shifts in perspective and behavior necessary to right the wrongs of our past. "

    Elizabeth Merriweather, Co-Founder of P.R.I.S.M.S. Ministry (Progressive Racial Integration for Sunday Morning Services) http://www.prisomsonfacebook.blogspot.com/

  • " Talking About Race is both a do-it-yourself guide and a source of motivation to understanding and confronting racism and white privilege, in oneself and in one's family, school and community. It is a bold sharing of personal experiences uncovering and confronting racism in the Caucasian world into which the author was born. The book is based almost entirely on Kaolin's first-person experiences, in her family, in her interracial marriage, and in her experiences as a student and a teacher. It is a heartfelt meditation on a vital topic, and an important complement to the research-based literature that abounds on race and racism. Whether one completely agrees with all of Kaolin's many personal insights and assertions regarding racism or not, her book will likely push all readers to examine where they stand, and to exercise what she terms the "racial equality muscle." "

    Robert M. Wilson, M. Ed. Executive Director, Veteran's Education Project

  • "Talking About Race puts anti-racism into action in the classroom. Kaolin moves far beyond mere theoretical musings of white privilege by offering an introspective and applied workbook. This practical book challenges the deafening silence of whiteness and racism that pervades far too many classrooms across the United States. Talking About Race challenges white students to not only take the first step in reflecting and analyzing their own racial privilege, but more importantly, calls upon them to actively resist and challenge the system of white supremacy. The author's writing exercises provide compelling questions to probe the many layers of depth and delusion that whiteness fosters within the classroom. "

    Jake Alimahomed-Wilson Assistant Professor of Sociology California State University, Long Beach

  • " Finally, a primer for those who seek to understand the dynamics of facilitating a conversation about race. The interactive design of this book makes it accessible and relevant in an ongoing conversation about race. The first person accounts are powerful and authentic. The worksheets allow you to question your assumptions about race, and at the same time guide you to a better understanding at how we see ourselves in an increasingly diverse universe. "

    Momodou Sarr Cross Cultural Conversations Facilitator Greenfield, MA

  • " "I finished Talking About Race: A Workbook About White People Fostering Racial Equality in Their Lives yesterday and am filled with gratitude for Kaolin and her students. As a person from a mixed background, I have grown used to knowing that those around me generally live in one or the other side of the divide. I accept this. But reading Talking About Race . I truly for the first time envisioned a world where it was no longer necessary to translate and interpret and shelter the children. I envisioned a world where people talked LIKE THIS and TALKED openly and some- day the awkwardness would fade as would defensiveness and fear and anger. Thank You!" "

    Laura Collins Author of Eating WITH YOUR Anorexic

  • " Kaolin's work is to be lauded as a catalyst for initiating these conversations. Her book, Talking About Race: A Workbook About White People Fostering Racial Equality in Their Lives may be one of the most important literary works put forth in our lifetime. To say that conversations about racism are painfully uncomfortable and can be provocative does not scratch the surface of this topic. Kaolin takes the conversation to the often most overlooked participant at the table, the white person living in America. She entreats every white person to examine race through the lens of a social construct - of an imbalance of power. Reactions to this subject matter will include a myriad of emotions, though never often enough does it incite respectful exchange, introspection and reconciliation. Race relations and discussions of racism are an uncomfortable dance at best. The partners are not just reluctant, but are often dragged to the dance floor kicking and screaming. Until we are willing to actively listen, and not just hear long enough for us to offer a chorus in the form of rebuttal, everyone will be locked into this unfortunate dance. The music will continue to rise and fall in unfortunate crescendos. "

    Jacqueline Williams-Hines, M Ed/Autism Specialist
    UMASS Medical/Eunice Shriver Institute LEND Fellow
    Founder & Voice of NSV Online Radio
    W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network - All Women's Radio - NSV Online Radio
    Founder of The No Small Victories Autism Awareness Initiative

MEDIA CONTACT

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TALKING ABOUT RACE