Principles
RRS believes in conducting its work according to a set of core principles. The purpose of adhering to these principles is to interrupt the harmful dehumanization strategies embedded in the system of white supremacy and foster those that lead to collective liberation, in the work and society at large. RRS is grateful to be in an accountability partnership with Dr. LaShaune Johnson, who provides ongoing in-depth expertise and guided reflection to align RRS with these principles.
To get to where we need to go, we first need to acknowledge patterns of ongoing harm. According to Sandra Kim, the Three C's of Dehumanization include:
These dehumanization strategies, when backed by state power, result in systemic oppression. The diagram below illustrates how RRS interrupts these strategies through practices of attending, nurturing, learning, reflecting, recognizing and compensating.
To get to where we need to go, we first need to acknowledge patterns of ongoing harm. According to Sandra Kim, the Three C's of Dehumanization include:
- "Control: try to make people change and force a specific outcome by insisting, pushing, coercing, manipulating, forcing, etc.
- Condemn: make people wrong as people by vilifying, judging, shaming, blaming, etc.
- Crush: deny multiple realities and layers of realities by minimizing, projecting, ignoring, suppressing, etc."
These dehumanization strategies, when backed by state power, result in systemic oppression. The diagram below illustrates how RRS interrupts these strategies through practices of attending, nurturing, learning, reflecting, recognizing and compensating.
Image description: three boxes containing text that says "from controlling to attending with compassion to needs for pace, scale, and ongoing change and nurturing uncontained joy, playfulness, care, and connection in all aspects of the work; from condemning to learning when things do not go according to plan and reflecting on racial biases, behaviors, context, and structure before, during, and after any project; from crushing to centering perspectives from Black and Indigenous people as necessary gifts that ground any project in integrity and compensating Black and Indigenous people for these gifts"
Need help with your white folks, specifically? RRS also designs multi-session workshops that derive directly from these principles and allow us to learn together. Learn more on the White Learning page.