On Standing In Solidarity
This is a revolutionary time and the revolution begins within.
Within me. Within you.
We must do our inner work, friends.
The momentum of our outer work will be carried by it.
I first wrote these words in Spring 2020 but they bear repeating again and again. May you feel the actions beneath them here in this community too.
ON STANDING IN SOLIDARITY
I will continue to be explicitly committed to being anti-racist in my heart, life, and business. Always, in all ways.
I have been implicit and silent in this commitment for far too long.
I am standing with my BIPOC siblings and all souls who are speaking up against injustice, hatred, and systemic racism.
I want more for our global community than genuine inclusion. I want courageous anti-racism.
I will choose discomfort. And I will remain here.
I am standing with the courageous souls having hard conversations & doing necessary work. With the souls who are transforming empathy into energetic fuel to continue to push back against the structures and false beliefs that have fortified this inequality & injustice.
I stand with all souls who are looking their shadows and fears directly in the eye and illuminating all that doesn’t work within ourselves and our world.
I stand with so many fellow LGBTQIA+ siblings in recognizing that I have been wrong in my false belief that my queerness somehow means I slightly understand what it means to be BIPOC. I don’t. It’s time to acknowledge where I have been wrong. It’s time to know better.
I stand with those who listen, learn, unlearn, educate themselves, and take action. Ally will not be the noun I give myself to make myself feel better — instead, it will be the verb I choose to embody with deeper awareness & action.
ABOUT THE COURAGE PRACTICE
The Courage Practice community is committed to being a courageous, safe place of genuine inclusion and anti-racism. No harm of any kind will be accepted in any of the spaces we create or occupy. Being willing to be uncomfortable for what really matters will be relentlessly encouraged. We will share and encourage others to share from a place of deep conviction.
We will not be silent—courage is meant to be actively practiced here. Silence and implicit support contributes to confusion and upholds systemic racism in our communities.
Coaching and energy healing is about transformation. This is what we do here. True transformation and the evolution of our consciousness is why this intuitive work matters and how it changes lives. As such, racial healing, justice, & reconciliation hold a central place in this work and must be woven into the bedrock of our business values, development, and everyday practices. If I am not paying attention to equity and actively working for it here at The Courage Practice and in my own life, I am contributing to the very system that creates inequity and oppression.
OUR COMMITMENTS
TRUST & SAFETY: Every space The Courage Practice creates or occupies will be safe & sacred to all our BIPOC siblings. We will protect our community from racism, hatred, harm, & indifference by prioritizing safety & trust for all its members by building trust through action. Ally will be a verb (not a noun) here.
CHAMPION BIPOC LEADERS, CREATORS, TEACHERS, & HEALERS: We will actively support, champion, or feature BIPOC teachers, creators, businesses, brands, and voices in our spaces and community.
CORE VALUES: We are currently rewriting our community core values to be explicitly anti-racist rather than focused solely on inclusion.
EDUCATE OURSELVES: We are currently and will continue to invest in BIPOC educators and coaches to learn, unlearn, and grow in this necessary work. We will not ask BIPOC to labor for us in our education. We desire to ally in an effective and culturally competent way. There is no arrival — this education will continue and evolve forever and we’re here for it.
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT: We coaches at The Courage Practice will not teach what we have not experienced. We will instead guide clients toward BIPOC voices and businesses to support and invest in for deep learning and development as we collectively work to dismantle the racism within us, our systems, structures, and global community.
ENGAGE IN GENUINELY INCLUSIVE EVENTS ONLY: We will decline all invitations to speak or attend events that do not actively feature or encourage BIPOC voices in an equitable way.
TEAMWORK: As The Courage Practice grows, we are committed to ensuring our team includes BIPOC leadership, mentorship, talent, as well as diverse collaborations or partnerships.
ACCESSIBILITY: We are dedicated to ensuring we provide a variety of accessible offerings here at The Courage Practice. We will focus on creating spaces that foster equitable outcomes for all.
RESOURCES: We are actively updating our website and bookstore to include key resources featuring BIPOC voices and experiences to support our client community with continual education and learning directly from our BIPOC siblings. If you are looking for a place to begin, we recommend The Great Unlearn by Rachel Cargle.
GRATITUDE TO ALL OF YOU HERE IN THIS COMMUNITY
I won’t always get this right. I have already been too quiet. I will make more mistakes too. I’m sincerely grateful for your patience, accountability, and kindness while I show up imperfectly and continue to actively cultivate The Courage Practice as a genuinely inclusive and equitable place.
With love, courage, & justice for all,
Tonyalynne