How does sexism show up at KBOO? How do we bring change? Questions we asked at the latest training.
Our KBOO community is a true gift. How often to do you see a group of close to 500 incredibly diverse people, mostly volunteers, collaborate together to create radio? Not often! And KBOO has been doing it for almost 50 years!
This great community, this gift is here to benefit us all, but taking care of it becomes everybody’s business! The “Beloved Community” concept gives us a framework for ensuring we intentionally create space for dialogue between KBOO community members so KBOO continues to flourish as an egalitarian space for creative collaboration.
Martin Luther King Junior popularized the idea of the “Beloved Community” as “a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.”(1)
“At KBOO, we hope to have regular dialogues” as part of our Beloved Community framework “on various topics with the goal to understand our important roles as members of the KBOO community and discuss, understand and support our agreements for how we will be together in that community based in our Core Values, Programming Charter and our KBOO House Rules. We’ll always use, bring and discuss an anti-oppressions model at each of the Beloved Community meetings.” (2)
On April 19th, 2015 Mike Klepfer (KBOO News Producer/volunteer), Monica Beemer (KBOO station co-manager) and myself (KBOO producer/volunteer/board member) co-facilitated the latest of KBOO’s Beloved Community training on understanding sexism and the ways it shows up at KBOO. The training was attended by staff and board members as well as volunteers who discussed for four hours key concepts, and real life examples of sexist encounters at the station. A lot of time was also devoted to thinking up ways we can eliminate sexism at KBOO and the following conversation between Mike Klepfer and myself discusses some of them…
DELPHINE: Mike, why is engaging in conversations about how sexism shows up at KBOO and what we can do about it so important to you?
MIKE: I think learning about patriarchy and sexism is important because no organization is immune to these dynamics. Sexism can both be obvious and subtle, so I think it's healthy to take time to step back and ask people what their experiences are, how men, women and gender non-binary people experience these things. It's also important that we pay attention to the terms we use to create a shared understanding of what terms like "harassment," "rape culture," and even "power" mean, not taking them as static. Discussing how we both conceptualize and experience sexism and patriarchy gives us a more full understanding, and from there we can work together on solutions, and ultimately dismantle patriarchy.
But, I am curious about what's your experience at KBOO been, in terms of sexism? How has this informed the way you approach teaching others about these dynamics?
DELPHINE: I love being at KBOO because I find a true representation of our community, including a large number of women and gender non-confirming folks. But unfortunately, I have encountered or witnessed sexism a number of times at KBOO. I often see women receiving unwanted attention, hear comments made about their physical appearance as well as sexual innuendo and many folks are still reluctant to believe in the technical abilities of women. I have been a trainer for KBOO in audio production and editing for the last year and at times folks are surprised to find out that I am the instructor, men and women! In fact, many women do not believe in their abilities to learn to be engineers or board operators at KBOO and therefore never explore their potential in the area. I am so lucky to be a part of the Bread and Roses feminist collective at KBOO (our show airs every Fridays at 6pm) because since 1978 the women of the collective have made it one of their priorities to train new collective members to be public affairs producers and to be engineers. It helps to know that other women believe in your ability but also that other women have done it before you. In fact, the women who started the collective in 1978 were very clear about the huge learning curve it was at the time to be in radio when real to real machines ruled.
But sexism and socially constructed gender norms also shows up at KBOO in ways that affect the men and gender-non-confirming members of our community. And so, it is with all of this in mind that I joined the conversation on April 19th with the goal to deconstruct the idea that sexism is a “women’s issue”. It is everybody’s issue!
And I know you feel the same way Mike! Monica Beemer asked you to join the facilitation team for the sexism training that took place on April 19th and you stepped up! Talk about your experience and why it is everyone's responsibility to care for our KBOO community.
MIKE: Well, at first I was freaked out. I'm not an experienced facilitator, and I have much more experience of these discussions ending poorly. My experience was much better than I expected. We had a smaller turn-out, limited to staff and some board members, and key volunteers and I think those people have an invested role in keeping KBOO a respectful and inclusive environment. Everyone was really receptive, wanted to participate, and offered their own perspectives. I think you and Monica did a great job of helping to orient conversations, as well.
As to why it's important to care for the community, so much of what we do here is done cooperatively and collectively. You can't be creative and effective in an environment where you're unsure of your own safety, or one in which you don't feel respected. I want to feel respected when I'm doing something with the station and I think we can only grow our community by ensuring people's safety to the best of our ability. I want everyone who wants to be a part of KBOO to contribute what they can and I want to build a strong culture that's inclusionary and mindful of diversity. It'll be a culture that we build together that will accomplish that. The real solutions are collective ones.
So Del, what's your background as an educator and facilitator, and can you explain how this training fits into the wider goals of the Beloved Community?
DELPHINE: I have been an educator for a while now but often in very un-formal settings. Back when I lived in Indiana, I taught a couple of college classes as a Grad. Student and throughout my life people have encouraged me to become a teacher. But I could never accept the authoritarian position I was asked to take as an educator so instead, I sought after opportunities to exchange knowledge with folks, rather than be the expert. I did a lot of tutoring, a lot of one on one life skills and community inclusion skills coaching; I organized a lot of community conversations, and even co-facilitated a citizen journalism training program online. Today, I do a lot of mentoring and group facilitation.
As you said earlier, “the real solutions are collective ones” and I feel extremely fortunate to be able to exchange with the KBOO community ideas during the Beloved Community trainings and discussions on how we can move away from sexist, racist, homophobic, oppressive, restrictive patterns to ensure KBOO continues to flourish as an egalitarian space for creative collaboration. And that is the core idea of the Beloved Community as envisioned by Martin Luther King Jr. There is a way for all of use to be free, but we need everyone’s involvement to make it happen!
So Mike, what did you learn about the KBOO community at this sexism training that we need to work on and how can we bring change?
MIKE: I learned that while the people who have placed themselves at leadership positions at the station are committed to grappling with destructive dynamics. I learned that as a community, we excel at certain things; for instance, everyone had a good working knowledge of some concepts of power dynamics which support sexism. I learned that we need to do some work to shore up the ways in which we interact, because female staff has felt condescended to or had their knowledge trivialized. Also, there's some low-level harassment that happens that needs to stop. Some problems that we identified with KBOO's culture were distressing and consistently expressed by a lot of different people, and it will take time and commitment to change, and we have to find a way to do it.
In terms of how we change, we need to create interesting and empowering educational offerings and open them up to as many people as we can. We also need to consistently model good ally behavior, and interrupt sexism as best we can, both on a day-to-day basis and systemically. Basically never stop until patriarchy is destroyed (and I'm being serious).
How about you Del, how did you think the training went? What did we do well, and what do you think we can improve on?
DELPHINE: I truly enjoyed being at the training. I think the energy was high! People were ready to engage in deep, meaningful dialogues and though I think that, as a community, KBOO still has a lot of work to do to crush sexism, I feel that the group who attended the training had already put a lot of thoughts into the question.
When talking about oppression, it can be difficult for folks who have not examined behaviors (theirs and that of others) as being a manifestation of internalized social roles to talk about group accountability. The conversation often focuses on individuals, “bad apples” who are blamed for their sexist behaviors and excluded from the community. But all of us do things because it is what our culture/society encourages. And our society encourages a lot of sexist behaviors. And we all do, believe, and say so many things that we learned as “truths” from a young age. And so when we start looking with a more critical eye at the things we do or the things others do and realize that these things are in fact deeply sexist, unfair, restrictive, despite the fact that our society encourages us to do them, that’s when a turning point occurs.
I felt the training on April 19th signified a turning point for the KBOO community. Because staff and board members were there as well as some very involved volunteers, and honestly engaged in a healthy dialogue about oppression, the hard work of formulating long lasting solutions can begin.
I am determined to stay involved with the process of defining clear steps to interrupt and crush sexism at KBOO and elsewhere.
SOURCES:
(1)- The King Center - See more at: http://www.thekingcenter.org/king-philosophy#sthash.Cju0bX9P.dpuf
(2)- KBOO Beloved Community Statement
This great community, this gift is here to benefit us all, but taking care of it becomes everybody’s business! The “Beloved Community” concept gives us a framework for ensuring we intentionally create space for dialogue between KBOO community members so KBOO continues to flourish as an egalitarian space for creative collaboration.
Martin Luther King Junior popularized the idea of the “Beloved Community” as “a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.”(1)
“At KBOO, we hope to have regular dialogues” as part of our Beloved Community framework “on various topics with the goal to understand our important roles as members of the KBOO community and discuss, understand and support our agreements for how we will be together in that community based in our Core Values, Programming Charter and our KBOO House Rules. We’ll always use, bring and discuss an anti-oppressions model at each of the Beloved Community meetings.” (2)
On April 19th, 2015 Mike Klepfer (KBOO News Producer/volunteer), Monica Beemer (KBOO station co-manager) and myself (KBOO producer/volunteer/board member) co-facilitated the latest of KBOO’s Beloved Community training on understanding sexism and the ways it shows up at KBOO. The training was attended by staff and board members as well as volunteers who discussed for four hours key concepts, and real life examples of sexist encounters at the station. A lot of time was also devoted to thinking up ways we can eliminate sexism at KBOO and the following conversation between Mike Klepfer and myself discusses some of them…
DELPHINE: Mike, why is engaging in conversations about how sexism shows up at KBOO and what we can do about it so important to you?
MIKE: I think learning about patriarchy and sexism is important because no organization is immune to these dynamics. Sexism can both be obvious and subtle, so I think it's healthy to take time to step back and ask people what their experiences are, how men, women and gender non-binary people experience these things. It's also important that we pay attention to the terms we use to create a shared understanding of what terms like "harassment," "rape culture," and even "power" mean, not taking them as static. Discussing how we both conceptualize and experience sexism and patriarchy gives us a more full understanding, and from there we can work together on solutions, and ultimately dismantle patriarchy.
But, I am curious about what's your experience at KBOO been, in terms of sexism? How has this informed the way you approach teaching others about these dynamics?
DELPHINE: I love being at KBOO because I find a true representation of our community, including a large number of women and gender non-confirming folks. But unfortunately, I have encountered or witnessed sexism a number of times at KBOO. I often see women receiving unwanted attention, hear comments made about their physical appearance as well as sexual innuendo and many folks are still reluctant to believe in the technical abilities of women. I have been a trainer for KBOO in audio production and editing for the last year and at times folks are surprised to find out that I am the instructor, men and women! In fact, many women do not believe in their abilities to learn to be engineers or board operators at KBOO and therefore never explore their potential in the area. I am so lucky to be a part of the Bread and Roses feminist collective at KBOO (our show airs every Fridays at 6pm) because since 1978 the women of the collective have made it one of their priorities to train new collective members to be public affairs producers and to be engineers. It helps to know that other women believe in your ability but also that other women have done it before you. In fact, the women who started the collective in 1978 were very clear about the huge learning curve it was at the time to be in radio when real to real machines ruled.
But sexism and socially constructed gender norms also shows up at KBOO in ways that affect the men and gender-non-confirming members of our community. And so, it is with all of this in mind that I joined the conversation on April 19th with the goal to deconstruct the idea that sexism is a “women’s issue”. It is everybody’s issue!
And I know you feel the same way Mike! Monica Beemer asked you to join the facilitation team for the sexism training that took place on April 19th and you stepped up! Talk about your experience and why it is everyone's responsibility to care for our KBOO community.
MIKE: Well, at first I was freaked out. I'm not an experienced facilitator, and I have much more experience of these discussions ending poorly. My experience was much better than I expected. We had a smaller turn-out, limited to staff and some board members, and key volunteers and I think those people have an invested role in keeping KBOO a respectful and inclusive environment. Everyone was really receptive, wanted to participate, and offered their own perspectives. I think you and Monica did a great job of helping to orient conversations, as well.
As to why it's important to care for the community, so much of what we do here is done cooperatively and collectively. You can't be creative and effective in an environment where you're unsure of your own safety, or one in which you don't feel respected. I want to feel respected when I'm doing something with the station and I think we can only grow our community by ensuring people's safety to the best of our ability. I want everyone who wants to be a part of KBOO to contribute what they can and I want to build a strong culture that's inclusionary and mindful of diversity. It'll be a culture that we build together that will accomplish that. The real solutions are collective ones.
So Del, what's your background as an educator and facilitator, and can you explain how this training fits into the wider goals of the Beloved Community?
DELPHINE: I have been an educator for a while now but often in very un-formal settings. Back when I lived in Indiana, I taught a couple of college classes as a Grad. Student and throughout my life people have encouraged me to become a teacher. But I could never accept the authoritarian position I was asked to take as an educator so instead, I sought after opportunities to exchange knowledge with folks, rather than be the expert. I did a lot of tutoring, a lot of one on one life skills and community inclusion skills coaching; I organized a lot of community conversations, and even co-facilitated a citizen journalism training program online. Today, I do a lot of mentoring and group facilitation.
As you said earlier, “the real solutions are collective ones” and I feel extremely fortunate to be able to exchange with the KBOO community ideas during the Beloved Community trainings and discussions on how we can move away from sexist, racist, homophobic, oppressive, restrictive patterns to ensure KBOO continues to flourish as an egalitarian space for creative collaboration. And that is the core idea of the Beloved Community as envisioned by Martin Luther King Jr. There is a way for all of use to be free, but we need everyone’s involvement to make it happen!
So Mike, what did you learn about the KBOO community at this sexism training that we need to work on and how can we bring change?
MIKE: I learned that while the people who have placed themselves at leadership positions at the station are committed to grappling with destructive dynamics. I learned that as a community, we excel at certain things; for instance, everyone had a good working knowledge of some concepts of power dynamics which support sexism. I learned that we need to do some work to shore up the ways in which we interact, because female staff has felt condescended to or had their knowledge trivialized. Also, there's some low-level harassment that happens that needs to stop. Some problems that we identified with KBOO's culture were distressing and consistently expressed by a lot of different people, and it will take time and commitment to change, and we have to find a way to do it.
In terms of how we change, we need to create interesting and empowering educational offerings and open them up to as many people as we can. We also need to consistently model good ally behavior, and interrupt sexism as best we can, both on a day-to-day basis and systemically. Basically never stop until patriarchy is destroyed (and I'm being serious).
How about you Del, how did you think the training went? What did we do well, and what do you think we can improve on?
DELPHINE: I truly enjoyed being at the training. I think the energy was high! People were ready to engage in deep, meaningful dialogues and though I think that, as a community, KBOO still has a lot of work to do to crush sexism, I feel that the group who attended the training had already put a lot of thoughts into the question.
When talking about oppression, it can be difficult for folks who have not examined behaviors (theirs and that of others) as being a manifestation of internalized social roles to talk about group accountability. The conversation often focuses on individuals, “bad apples” who are blamed for their sexist behaviors and excluded from the community. But all of us do things because it is what our culture/society encourages. And our society encourages a lot of sexist behaviors. And we all do, believe, and say so many things that we learned as “truths” from a young age. And so when we start looking with a more critical eye at the things we do or the things others do and realize that these things are in fact deeply sexist, unfair, restrictive, despite the fact that our society encourages us to do them, that’s when a turning point occurs.
I felt the training on April 19th signified a turning point for the KBOO community. Because staff and board members were there as well as some very involved volunteers, and honestly engaged in a healthy dialogue about oppression, the hard work of formulating long lasting solutions can begin.
I am determined to stay involved with the process of defining clear steps to interrupt and crush sexism at KBOO and elsewhere.
SOURCES:
(1)- The King Center - See more at: http://www.thekingcenter.org/king-philosophy#sthash.Cju0bX9P.dpuf
(2)- KBOO Beloved Community Statement