Summary
Workshop Number: 101
Leaders: Katie Green, Whittier Mikkelsen
Who May Register?: Open to All
Worship/Worship-Sharing: 25%
Lecture: 30%
Discussion: 40%
Experiential Activities: 5%
Who May Attend?
part-time attenders welcome (can come any session)
One 4-hour session: Saturday 2/1 (1-5pm Eastern / 10am-2pm Pacific) Participants will hear personal stories crafted by storytellers Katie Green and her daughter Whittier Mikkelsen. Katie’s stories are based on childhood observations and experiences that taught her about racism. She believes that early learning is the hardest to extinguish. Telling our stories, while lovingly and…
Workshop Description
One 4-hour session: Saturday 2/1 (1-5pm Eastern / 10am-2pm Pacific)
Participants will hear personal stories crafted by storytellers Katie Green and her daughter Whittier Mikkelsen. Katie’s stories are based on childhood observations and experiences that taught her about racism. She believes that early learning is the hardest to extinguish.
Telling our stories, while lovingly and tenderly owning our experiences, enables us to shed racist attitudes and move to become anti-racist. Whittier was born with cerebral palsy. Like people of color, people with disabilities have had to battle against centuries of biased assumptions, harmful stereotypes and irrational fears. The stories that Whittier tells of growing up and aging as a disabled person provide a deeper understanding of the courage and vulnerability of being different. Participants will have time for personal reflection and journaling.
Because stories beget more stories, we will want to share their own experiences and realizations. A bibliography will be available. This workshop centers on personal experiences.
Leader Experience
Katie Green has been telling stories and leading workshops for over 30 years. Past Clerk of Worcester Friends Meeting (Massachusetts), she is an AVP facilitator, and has been working on social issues for most of her life. Whittier Mikkelsen is a social worker. She has worked in hospital emergency rooms and was an advocate for accessibility issues in California. When increasing pain and loss of mobility interfered with work, Whittier took up writing and photography. She is a professional photographer. Her book is due to be published in 2025.