Nonviolent Communication for Black, Indigenous, People of Colour

About this Event and My Approach

My approach to Nonviolent Communication is one that is anchored in a desire to support people to recognise and live into their full humanity. Our shared reality is that we live in and are impacted in innumerable ways by systems. Whether they are capitalism, oppression, racism, homophobia, ableism and others, they starve the individual of their reality and have us act in ways that are meant to uphold them. 

This is especially true for Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, who can find themselves on the receiving end of some of these systems unfavoured impacts.

What many of us also share as BIPOC folks, is a generational embodied and lived reality of collective power, traditional ways of community and healing. What I find really helpful about Nonviolent Communication (NVC)  is that it has practices that can touch on and anchor who we are without those filters or scrim of dehumanising systems.   The approach is NVC, not only as a communication tool, which is valuable, but as a liberating practice where we find our voice, be in better relationship with ourselves and others. These are tools and practices that I have used in my own life.

This course is deeply experiential offering that commits much of our time to foundations and practices that you will use beyond the course.

Takeaways

We start with the fundamentals of NVC such as the value of feelings in letting us know what is meaningful for us; how to identify what needs, both individual and collective, how to in any situation connect to what is important to us, including how we want to anchor in our values; how we bring that all together when in conversation.

Through these sessions you can learn how to ask for what you need, handle any response; respond when you are being othered (such as due to racism, homophobia, misogyny) and how to clarify what brings you joy and create more of it.

If you have a challenging conversation ahead with a family member, a co-worker, or a friend, you will leave the sessions with the tools you need to get through that conversation. While the outcomes cannot be guaranteed, what can be is knowing that you showed up fully and demonstrated your commitment and care. All of those things are in our control.