Aligned Living Conversation: Cultural Intelligence in an Age of Racial Reckoning

Race in America is a complex topic. It can feel hard to wrap your arms around, particularly since our lives are filled with so many commitments. Even if you interact with diverse groups of people, conversations about race can feel abstract, especially because of loud voices and powerful emotions on all sides. Being part of the solution starts with curiosity about what racism and antiracism have to do with your life. It’s as much an inward reflection as about external problems. This isn’t easy, because it requires slowing down from a busy life long enough to put yourself in others’ shoes and wonder what they are thinking and feeling. It also involves questioning things you’ve never asked hard questions about before. This can feel uncomfortable but also refreshing. It’s a chance to learn something new about yourself and the country you live in. As importantly, you get to be part of the solution. 

Making this topic personal is important.  Most of us have been exposed to good-faith attempts to heal this divide in open-hearted but incomplete ways. The traditional liberal school of “colorblind” thought (now adopted by many conservatives) correctly identifies the arbitrary nature of racial categories yet bypasses the exclusions and violence of American history. Many in the antiracist school rightly document how far we have to go and make it personal yet deny real progress, get caught in shaming, and reinforce racial essentialism. Neither school of thought gives you a chance to make this personal and does so in a respectful and open way. Getting where we need to go requires being part of a truly integral solution. 

Greg Thomas, Jewel Kinch-Thomas, and Amiel Handelsman will talk with Matt about how to explore these topics in a way that provides tangible results. Looking at American history, reflecting on our own experiences, and imagining a better future—in a safe environment that allows people to speak freely and honestly—helps us to create a better tomorrow starting today. 

We will complete the conversation with an offer from Jewel, Greg, and Amiel to join them in Stepping Up, a six-month course starting in October and devoted to exploring these very topics in a personal and transformative way. Sign up for that course now to receive the early bird special.

About the Aligned Living Conversations Series

At The Aligned Center, our model for Aligned Living is inspired by a Four Quadrant framework used in Ken Wilber’s Integral philosophy that represents four dimensions of our experience–individual inner and outer experience, and collective inner and outer experience. Our Four Quadrant model includes Mind-Body Awareness, Work & Wealth Abundance, Heartfelt Community and Knowledge of Systems.

Aligned Living Conversations shed light on the possibilities and practices for living fully into all dimensions of our lives. With our world in the midst of seismic shifts, Aligned Living allows us to foster positive change for ourselves, our families and the world.

This conversation sits in the quadrant of Heartfelt Community. We invite you to join us.