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In today’s episode of Next Economy Now, your host, Ryan Honeyman, sits down with Autumn Brown, mother, organizer, theologian, artist, facilitator, and worker-owner at AORTA, the Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance.
As a fellow worker-owned co-op devoted to strengthening movements for social justice, AORTA brings valuable cross-issue experience garnered over 10 years of seeing patterns and common mis-steps across organizations whose purposes are rooted in racial, gender, economic, environmental, and disability justice, trans and queer liberation, and anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism.
This discussion revolves around anti-oppressive facilitation for democratic process, the daily decisions we make, whether conscious or unconscious, and some of the assumptions underlying those decisions.
Autumn also reflects on the roles of the facilitator and shares some practical advice and techniques for those looking to use this important skillset as a means for furthering systemic change.
Tuning in, you’ll learn some of the key principles of facilitation and why Autumn believes it is a skillset that everyone can (and should!) develop, so make sure not to miss this episode!
Key Points From This Episode:
What has (or hasn’t) changed for Autumn since she was last on the podcast in fall 2019.
Find out why anti-oppressive facilitation for democratic process is an important topic.
The experiences that led Autumn to a career in facilitation.
Why she believes facilitation is a skillset that anyone can and should develop.
Some of the key principles of facilitation, including presence over preparation.
The importance of putting your ego aside as a facilitator and paying attention to the process.
Practical tips and tricks for facilitators; why Autumn says “access is magic.”
Using techniques like ‘weighted stack’ and skillful confrontation to address the group dynamics of systemic power and privilege.
Autumn explains why the politics of blame don’t work inside a democratic space.
Supporting people to feel they can take the risk of stepping into their power and inviting a level of shared responsibility.
How to identify when and how to address problematic behavior in a group setting.
Understanding that there is no such thing as a neutral facilitator; how to be multi-partial.
Autumn emphasizes that part of the journey is becoming comfortable with the power that you, as the facilitator, has to name dynamics.
Hear about AORTA’s Facilitate for Freedom Fundamentals Training and the initiative Autumn is developing within AORTA, The Whiteness Institute.
Tweetables:
“Having someone whose job it is to facilitate people making a decision together makes the work of democratic practice more obvious and transparent.” — @meansaggitarius [0:09:15]
“I believe that anyone can and should develop the skillset of facilitation. I don’t think it's one of those skillsets that should be held by just a few people. Everyone benefits from learning how to listen, and how to recognize patterns, and how to support people to come to consensus.” — @meansaggitarius [0:15:07]
“When we’re engaged in democratic practice, one of the things that we have to do is take full responsibility for what is happening in the room. The politics of blame don’t work inside a democratic space.” — @meansaggitarius [0:29:41]
“You have to do two things at the same time that may seem contradictory – one is get really comfortable with your own power, and two is practice a lot of humility around your role.” — @meansaggitarius [0:39:29]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Facilitate for Freedom Fundamentals Training
How To Survive the End of the World Podcast
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