Anti-racist reading and sharing circle

guided by the book Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

Online Program
Facilitated by Jacqueline Celemencki & Seth Shugar

Dates and Times:
The sessions will take place on the first and third Tuesday (except Halloween) of each month, at 8:30 pm.

There will be 18 meetings of 1h30 each, starting on Tuesday, September 19th.

Online and live on Zoom.
Register

Who is this program for?

The program is for people who identify as White or benefit from White privilege and who are interested in exploring and dismantling racism within themselves and in society.

Program

Seth and Jackie will facilitate the first meeting and then, as per Layla F. Saad’s suggestion, participate in the subsequent circles, offering light facilitation as the discussion moves amongst the participants. 

Everyone is encouraged to purchase the book "Me and White Supremacy", by Layla F. Saad in hard copy or electronic format.

There is no limit to the number of participants. There is a 50$ fee to cover administrative costs. According to Layla F. Saad request, the facilitators volunteer their time to run the program. 

People who wish to offer dana can support True North Insight’s fund for racialized teachers by making a donation.

Commitment and prerequisites

  • Please buy a paper copy or an electronic copy of the book. 
  • Read the chapters before each circle and answer the questions at the end of the chapters before each meeting. This will require about an hour of preparation before each meeting. 
  • Do not miss more than 3 sessions out of the 18. 
  • Participants who miss a meeting agree to read the chapter covered in the meeting and answer the questions. 
  • Be open to the possibility of facilitating one or more sessions. 


Before registering, we encourage you to think about the commitment you're making: is it something you both want to do and can do?

Facilitators

Jacqueline Celemencki, PhD. (she/her/elle)

Jacqueline has been teaching mindfulness-based yoga and working with youth since 2003. Merging her academic training in critical race studies in education with over twenty-five years of yoga practice, Jacqueline is driven by her commitment to social justice for underserved youth, through yoga service work. She is the Executive Director of Santovas Foundation which provides free, trauma-sensitive, mindfulness-based yoga and meditation programs to youth in Quebec, and is involved in all aspects of the organization, including teaching youth participants at our partner facilities.

Seth Shugar

Seth has been a therapist and life coach in private practice for fourteen years. He specializes in working with couples, but also works with individuals and families. In addition to being well-trained in a variety of evidence-based psychotherapeutic models, he has also been meditating for thirty years, and has had the good fortune to practice under the tutelage of Pema Chodron, Pascal Auclair and Loch Kelly. He was a professor at Marianopolis College for 14 years (where he taught courses on “Protest Literature” and “The Literature of Social Transformation”) and is a proud papa of two.