REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

We're sorry that we are not accepting additional registrations because this class is full. If you would be interested if another group is formed, please email Debbie Goodman.

This four-week reading and discussion group will delve into Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, the highly acclaimed book which explores the impacts of the caste system in the United States. 

Our group will gather virtually for discussion using a social & racial justice framework to:

• Discuss the book, reflect and learn together about where Wilkerson’s ideas show up in our lives and communities, and begin to think about how to interrupt these systems in our daily lives.
• Integrate and share our learning through optional artistic expression activities for reflection (journal questions, drawing etc.). 
• Begin each session with a brief embodied practice that will help us stay with the impact and intensity of both Wilkerson’s work and our own historical, ancestral, and generational trauma.

ABOUT THE GROUP FACILITATORS

SUSAN KAPLAN
Listening and Leading From Within LLC is the name of my coaching, training, facilitation, storytelling and Hatha Yoga Practice, which all tie to different ways of listening, i.e. Communication as a Spiritual Practice, Restorative Conversations for Families, Yoga Nidra, and Tending to Our Grief Retreats. Specific to Racial and Social Justice work, I provide a unique lens, all geared towards nurturing Beloved Community, A Culture of Care and Communities of Practice. As a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication® and Courage & Renewal Facilitator®, I weave together a variety of principles and practices to provide brave space, relational trust, contemplative listening, and a higher quality of connection to self and others through compassionate presence. Recently I finished Creative Strategies for Change Facilitator Cohort, became a Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Qualified Administrator, lead Resmaa Menakem’s settling practices and somatic abolitionism work, and co-lead the Highest Calling of the Heart Cross Racial Presence Retreats. I am excited to join Margaret Wheatley’s Warriors for the Human Spirit Program in early 2022. When I am not on my daily walks, swimming outside, or playing with drawing and water colors, I am in my garden or writing.

SARAH KAPLAN GOULD
Susan is a white, queer, Ashkenazi writer and educator who has spent the last several years building curriculum and teaching high school social studies through a racial and social justice framework. Between 2018-2020, Sarah was a core member of White Noise Collective NYC, where they collaborated on planning and facilitating community workshops and dialogues on the connection between white privilege and gender oppression.
Sarah is also a member of New York-based Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). After graduating with an MFA in Creative Writing and teaching for several years in New York, Sarah recently moved back to Denver and is excited to rejoin the B’nai Havurah community for this reading group.

DEBBIE GOODMAN
Debbie is the Program Director at B’nai Havurah, and has worked in various locations and Jewish institutions as a Jewish educator for many years. As a co-facilitator of this group, Debbie hopes to enrich the discussions by sharing her perspective as someone who is newer to the journey for racial justice and equity. In addition, by engaging with facilitators and participants, Debbie looks forward to deepening her learning and understanding of the critical issues raised in Caste.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR READING & DISCUSSION GROUP PARTICIPANTS

• Here is a link to hear Isabel Wilkerson speaking about her book:  https://youtu.be/7m49DT8pPe0
• Please read Prologue and Part I before the first session. Even if you can’t make it through all the material each week, you can still join and contribute to the conversation. If you would value being placed in a chevruta, (learning and discussing with a partner in between sessions), please let us know at the 1st session.
• If you don’t already have a copy of the book, we encourage you to support Black-owned bookstores by purchasing your copy at one of the stores listed here: https://lithub.com/you-can-order-today-from-these-black-owned-independent-bookstores/

*In alignment with our anti-racist commitment to moving resources to Black, Indigenous and People of Color, facilitators will distribute a portion of the fees received to two local Black and Indigenous organizations.
 

This event is brought to you by: