Monday Kickstarter June 1, 2020

Monday Kickstarters is a working session designed for everyone on the call to figure out how to have conversations worth having when faced with a tough situation or problem. You can listen live on the Conversations Worth Having YouTube Channel.

Here are the topics and generative questions that were developed on Monday, June 1!

There were lots of participants interested in finding ways to talk about the urgent conversations we need to be having about racial equity and social justice. The public murder of George Floyd by a U.S. police officer and the subsequent protests are igniting people’s desire to take action.  We addressed some of those topics as a group, but not all of them. Next week, we’ll pick up where we left off.

HOW TO TALK ABOUT WHITE PRIVILEGE?

A few additional comments:

• What do you think is so ‘charged’ about the term white privilege?
• Why do white folk feel the need to say, “No, not me.”  What’s going on for us?
• White privilege isn’t something you did and it’s not a belief you hold, it’s what you get in the U.S. when you are born white because of the nature of this society.
  • What are all the things we can do as white people without a second thought?
  • What do we take for granted?
  •  
    What items on our list would a person of color agree they can do without a second thought? Without worrying about being questioned, judged, or hassled?
     

EOY CONVERSATIONS IN THE FACE OF PROTESTS

Social Justice protests were right outside my school on Friday night.  There is unrest in our area and in our Virtual Learning settings…teachers, Admin, and parents are upset. I’m supposed to be closing out the school year by calling parents about End-of-Year reports for their students, which is going to be a hot button since we are such a diverse community.

Further Comment:  Ask questions to connect and be in relationship with them.

• How are they doing?
• How are their kids doing?
• What concerns about their kids are they experiencing?
• Is there some way they feel the school might support them and their children during this time?

Assess the openness to go further to talk about COVID19 and its impact on school:

• How has it been for them?
• How was the online learning and home schooling for their student?
• What worked, if anything?
• What didn’t work and what suggestions do they have for what might have worked?
• I noticed your student did not attend the online classes. What insights can you share about why not?
• We want your child to be prepared for the fall and I’m concerned they may not be ready. How might we best support your student right now, given all that is happening?
• How can we help you help your child?

CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING FOR NEW UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS HANDLERS

So many people are filing unemployment. They are frustrated, scared, and have questions. We are hiring people and having to put them to work almost immediately. How do we have time to spend on customer service training for our new unemployment claims handlers with the all the unprecedented number of claims?

SAFE DISTANCING FOR SERVICE PROVIDER TRANSPORTATION

Working in field of developmental disabilities on a statewide level with multiple stakeholders who cannot agree on a standard of social distancing for people using service provider transportation on small vans. The issue is having social distancing less then 6 feet to three feet. This is causing major disagreements and conflicts.

3 ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT TOPICS

Three additional topics for conversations were asked; we ran out of time and did not get to address them. Each one is a valuable topic.  If the person who posted the topic is on the call next week, we will begin with these!

• How to talk about the current events / uprisings with others who hold different viewpoints.
• How to talk about communal prejudices.
• How to talk/ask white people what they will do to work on dismantling white supremacy.

MONDAY KICKSTARTER

Bring your own challenging situation! Please register through the Center for Appreciative Inquiry. 

To view the video from this Monday Kickstarter session, please visit our YouTube Channel, Conversations Worth Having. Monday Kickstarter June 1, 2020.