Beth McCaw and LeAnne Moss

Can we talk about...? Episode 3 Beth McCaw and LeAnne Moss on whiteness and embodiment. Title and headshots of Beth and LeAnne against painted orange and purple background.

Overview

In this episode, Beth McCaw (Founding Funder of Threshold) and LeAnne Moss (Executive Director of Renton Regional Community Foundation) share honest reflections of their personal journeys as white women in anti-racist work.

Together they dig into the process of embodiment – of moving racial equity from an intellectual exercise in your head with reports, data points, and understandings of history to a commitment you feel in your heart and whole body with emotions like guilt, shame, discomfort and joy. And they talk about why this can be particularly difficult for white-bodied people. 

They share the importance of boards being willing to make mistakes and interrogate what they do and why, and they acknowledge that a lot of the work - both personal and organizational - is messy. Amid the messiness, leaders need to remember to take care of themselves. (And yes, even for those of you who think self-care sounds “woo-woo”). “Sometimes it's hard to be the bird at the front or the bug on the windshield,” Beth acknowledges. 

 

References and Resources

  • The Sisterhood / “The Cohort”
    The Sisterhood is a Seattle-based community of seven white women and six Black women who have been in relationship with each other since 2019 to explore race, reparations and collective healing. “If it hadn’t been for the Sisterhood, I don’t think I would have had the capability on many levels to do that work with the board…” Beth shares in the episode. 

    “The Cohort” is a group of white wealthy women that came together in the fall of 2017 under LeAnne’s invitation to deepen their awareness for the sake of action around white supremacy and wealth. Six of the members of that group are part of the Sisterhood and continue to meet.
     
  • “Super Whitey” 
    LeAnne mentions “Super Whitey,” a term she learned from national racial equity trainer Heather Hackman. “Super Whitey” is a way to name when whiteness comes up, manifesting as emotions that make us want to run away like shame, guilt or discomfort. “Let’s move through it. And let’s not let it win,” LeAnne says.
     
  • Bird V Formation Metaphor 
    Beth shares Edgar Villanueva’s metaphor of racial equity leadership feeling akin to birds flying in a V formation. The bird at the front of the V is physically battered as the lead, continuing to push forward for the benefit of all the birds in formation behind it. The lead bird also moves to the back of the formation, letting other birds take the lead when needed. You can learn more in Edgar Villanueva’s book Decolonizing Wealth
     
  • My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem
    If you are interested in learning more about taking a body-centered approach to anti-racism work, we recommend exploring Resmaa Menakem’s work on Somatic Racism including his book My Grandmother’s Hands. The cohort mentioned above integrates Menakem’s Breathe, Ground and Resource exercise into their curriculum which you can find on page 146 of the book. 

 

Individual Reflection Questions

  1. As a child, how were you taught to navigate difficult emotions like shame, guilt and sadness? How do you navigate them today?
  2. Are you aware of how difficult emotions like shame, guilt and sadness show up in your body? If so, how and where do they show up?
  3. To our white colleagues: What are your observations about where, how and when your whiteness shows up? Where has it shown up this past week? How do you stay awake to this in an on-going way?

 

Group Exercise

Self Awareness Wheel 
As Beth and LeAnne mention in this episode, it can be difficult for individuals, and particularly white-bodied individuals, to move beyond racial equity as an intellectual exercise and connect this work to thoughts, feelings and the body. One of the barriers that we have found in this work is that many times, white-dominant culture focuses on getting straight to action and comfort. 

Using a Self Awareness Wheel, like the one shown below, can help by encouraging individuals and groups to slow down, pause, become present to the variety of thoughts, feelings and sensations that surface with racial equity work, and ultimately, act with deeper intentionality and a more expansive mindset. The structure also helps cultivate deeper levels of understanding, compassion, meaning and joy – even amidst deep challenging work. 


This Self-Awareness Wheel brings attention to five phases of self-reflection. Take time to move through each phase while allowing time for reflection and sharing throughout the process. 

INDIVIDUAL WORK
Use the wheel as a personal reflective practice or journal prompt to sort out what is surfacing for you when navigating challenging situations or conversations. 

GROUP WORK
Use the wheel with your board or team to navigate group tensions or difficult conversations. In each phase, have individuals reflect on the questions. Then create space for sharing. After each phase, give space to pause and reflect as a group before moving on to the next section. 

  • Observe: Ask yourself, what is taking place and what am I noticing in the room at this moment? What things am I seeing or not seeing?
  • Feel: What feelings are surfacing for me? (Fear? Anxiety? Joy? Anger? Hope?) What am I feeling in my body and where?
  • Think: What thoughts I am having at this moment? Are those thoughts leading me to other thoughts? 
  • Want: What do I feel the urge to do? What are some actions that I have the desire to take after having walked the other parts of the wheel? 
    Remember our "wants" might not be appropriate or best for the situation and for taking action, but it is important to become aware of them.
  • Act: How do the pieces of the wheel inform how I might move forward individually and with others?
    Remember that taking no action can also be a form of action. 

 

A few important notes:

  • There are many iterations of self-awareness wheels and models. The one we are sharing is an amalgamation of several different types that we use in our consulting practice.
  • Though the shape of the model may lead you to believe so, this process is not linear. You will likely find your mind jumping between different parts of the wheel. The purpose of this exercise is to try to slow yourself down enough to identify what you are experiencing in each of the areas in order to become more self-aware.  
  • When doing this exercise in groups, it's important to recognize how individual identities, lived experiences, and power dynamics can play a role and impact how individuals show up in the conversation.

 

 

Episode Highlights

Credits

This episode of Can we talk about…? was produced by Aya Tsuruta (Executive Producer), Emily Daman (Producer) and Jesse McCune of Podfly (Audio Engineer).

Special thanks to Asha Hossain (Graphic Design), United Philanthropy Forum KM Collaborative (Web Support), Nancy Sanabria (Host) and Komiku (Music), And to LeAnne Moss and TGP Senior Advisor Lisa Fisher for their thought partnership on this episode guide and our Philanthropy Northwest and Giving Practice teams for their support across our project. Thank you to the Ford Foundation for making this project possible.


Beth McCaw headshot
Beth McCaw
Founding Funder, Threshold Philanthropy
She/Her

Beth brings her past experiences as a Board Chair at the YWCA of Seattle/King County/Snohomish County, a Board Chair at YWCA USA, and President & CEO of Washington Women’s Foundation as well as her roots and family lineage in North Carolina to the conversation.  


Today her work at Threshold Philanthropy focuses on individual and collective healing and liberation through relationship-building and the return of resources to Black and Indigenous communities in Washington, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

LeAnne Moss
Executive Director, Renton Regional Community Foundation
She/Her

LeAnne brings her experiences as Executive Director of the Women’s Funding Alliance in Seattle, Senior Director at YWCA, co-founder of The Sisterhood, and Executive Director of Renton Regional Community Foundation to the conversation. 


Most recently her work has centered around amplifying voices of community leaders in the South King County region and getting more resources down to their organizations.

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