On Sunday, April 26, the ADORE (A Dialogue On Race and Ethnicity) meeting will be held from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM via ZOOM. The ZOOM login information will be posted later this month. We can all look forward to a very insightful awareness-raising racial justice workshop which will be presented by Nancy Rogene, Ph.D., and her colleague Amaranta Colindres. Please see below a summary of the workshop content and the presenters’ bios.

Brainwashed by Whiteness:  Transforming Our Racialized Mindsets

“Truth is on the side of the oppressed.”  Malcolm X

This workshop will begin with a whirlwind exploration of the major historical forces that created the racial categories and stereotypes that continue to plague us today.  We will then examine and explore ways in which we can transform our world both as individuals and in our wider social systems and communities. We will highlight the ways in which racism has emotional, mental and behavioral dimensions that must be eradicated and transformed if we are to create a just, peaceful and loving world. 

In this 2.5 hour workshop there will be opportunities for both self-reflection and for sharing.  

Workshop Leaders:

Nancy Rogene, Ph.D. has been a racial justice activist since her early twenties when she had the privilege of marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Chicago housing protests.  Nancy served in Somalia, East Africa as a teacher in the Peace Corps and has developed cross-cultural ties through extensive travels in Morocco, Spain, Japan, India, Mexico and South Africa as well as living in Honolulu, Hawaii for fifteen years.

She has been a racial justice educator since completing her doctorate in 2008, writing a dissertation entitled “Blinded by Whiteness:  Racism as a Cultural Complex.”  Nancy has been a psychotherapist in private practice for 35 years, emphasizing healing from trauma and addiction.  She has been a lifelong member of the United Church of Christ and an activist at Church of the Crossroads in Honolulu for fifteen years and now resides in Portland, Oregon.

Amaranta Colindres is an artist, educator and racial justice activist who was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, born in El Salvador and now resides in Portland, Oregon.  With a multi-racial, multi-ethnic background, Ama has a profound understanding of racial dynamics at all levels – emotional, physical, mental and social. Her work as an artist infuses her creativity with a deep affinity for the natural world, especially animal life. She has several certifications in Energy Healing modalities and her spiritual depth and awareness inform her work as an educator and seminar leader.