Creating the Container
"Creating community is an intentional act. But before we start thinking of what community is for us collectively, it is important that we have a clear understnding of what that looks like for us individually."
Aida Cuadrado Bozzo
Description: Setting/resetting your group’s container is one of the most important things you can do, but folks often want to skip this step because they worry more about what needs to get done instead of what it means to be in community with each other. You cannot call people in and up if you are not committed to defining how your group will be with each other. Taking the time to reset the container is time well spent.
By developing community commitments that honor what every person brings to the table, group members come to see equal value in their different identities and experiences. Through this activity, participants craft community agreements then explore the cultural, political and personal barriers to living up to them. Through this process, they 1) co-create a space that enables the surfacing of issues and identities that may be used for self-protection or to silence others and 2) develop shared commitment to how they will engage. This session should be facilitated the first time a group gathers as it lays the foundation for future learning and experiences. It should be revisited each time a group reconvenes.
Purpose:
To create community agreements that support a liberated zone, learning and growth
To explore barriers to maintaining the community agreements and include the lived experience of structural racism using an intersectional/gender lens
To develop shared commitment to sustaining a liberated space through reflection and body movement
Outcomes:
Participants create their unique community agreements and develop shared commitment to sustaining it
They recognize common social, political and personal barriers to creating a liberated space that are rooted in white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism
They understand how generative conflict can support maintenance of a liberated space
Process: about 90-120 minutes plus breaks with 16 people (depends on how many people and virtual/in-person)
"Loves music, Loves dance. Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness. Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself. Regardless."
Alice Walker
