Education for Liberation

D R . W A R R E N
B L U M E N F E L D
warrenblumenfeld@gmail.com

D R . WA R R E N J .
B L U M E N F E L D
“An essential tenet of
liberation is having the
freedom to define oneself.”

AGENDA
• Bobbie Harro – “Cycle of Socialization”
• Bobbie Harro – “Cycle of Liberation”
• Suzanne Pharr – “Liberatory Politics”
• Barbara Love – “Liberatory Consciousness”
• Allyship
• Nancy J. Evans & Jamie Washington – “Steps Toward Becoming an
Ally”
• Iowa State University Students – “Principles of Community”
• Pat Griffin & Bobbie Harro – “The Action Continuum”
• Rheua Stakely – “Action Strategy Planning Sheet”

“CYCLE OF SOCIALIZATION”
Bobbie Harro
Professor Emeritus
Springfield College

SOCIALIZATION
The lifelong process by which we inherit and
reproduce the dominant norms and frameworks
of our society and learn to accept them as
“common sense,” as “normal,” as “natural.”

CYCLE OF SOCIALIZATION
BOBBIE HARRO
• The Beginning: Born into the world, limited information.
• First Socialization: Taught and modeling on a personal level
by parents, relatives, teachers who help to shape our norms,
values, roles, rules, etc.
• Individual & Cultural Socialization: Reinforced by social
institutions: schools, media, religion, law, business, language,
science, government, etc.

CYCLE OF SOCIALIZATION
BOBBIE HARRO
• Socialization Enforced by: rewards and punishments, privilege,
persecution, discrimination, empowerment.
• Results for “targets” (members of subordinated groups):
silence, anger, dehumanization, guilt, collusion, ignorance, self-hatred,
crime, violence, horizontal violence, internalization of patterns of
power.
• Possible actions or inactions: do nothing, promote status quo, OR
raise consciousness, interrupt, educate, take a stand, question,
reframe.

“CYCLE OF LIBERATION”
Bobbie Harro
Professor Emeritus
Springfield College

1. WAKING UP
•Entry point, intrapersonal shift
at the center of how we feel
about ourselves.
•Critical Incident or Slow
Evolutionary Process
•Some “Cognitive Dissonance”

2. GETTING READY
•“Consciously dismantling and
building aspects of ourselves
and our world views based on
our new perspectives.”
–Introspection
–Education
–Consciousness Raising

3. REACHING OUT
•“Seek experiences outside
ourselves to check our reality
and to expose ourselves to a
wider range of difference than
we had before.”
•Engage in Dialogue, Debate
•Challenge Status Quo
•Speak Out

4. BUILDING COMMUNITY
• Interpersonal Connections
• “Dialoguing with people who are
like us for support – people of
the same social identities as us
on this issue of oppression,
• AND Dialoguing with people
who are different from us for
gaining understanding and
building coalitions”

5. COALESCING
• In coalition with others
• Challenge Systems of Oppression
– Refuse to Collude, Challenge Dominant
Privileges
– Organize
– Shape Actions
– Lobby Key Stakeholders
– Raise Funds
– Educate Others
– Take Public Stands
– Recruit Others

6. CREATING CHANGE
• “Using our critical analysis of the
assumptions, structures, rules, and
roles of the existing system of
oppression, and our coalition power, to
begin transforming the system.”
• Imagining new ways of living and being
• Aligning more closely with our
philosophy of a socially just, diverse,
and equitable society and world.

7. MAINTAINING
• Remaining vigilant to maintain, enhance,
strengthen, and modify when needed our
changed self-awareness and social
consciousness.
• Celebrate our successful effort at
changing the system, no matter how
small or large.
• This process says to the larger world,
“Look, this can work.You can change
things by dialoguing and working
together.”

“LIBERATORY POLITICS”
Suzanne Pharr

Liberation is an ongoing political project with continually
renewed dialogue and a struggle against all the types of
oppression, all the barriers preventing large sectors of the
population from attaining access to economic resources and
social justice. Suzanne Pharr includes several factors as
essential in liberatory politics:

• Helping individuals to fulfill their greatest potential by
providing truthful information along with the tools and
skills for using it, supporting their autonomy and self-
government, and connecting them to life in community
with others;
• Fostering both individual freedom and mutual responsibility
for others;

• Recognizing that freedom demands people always be able
to make their own choices about their lives;
• Creating a politic of shared power [power with] rather
than power over;
• Learning the non-violent skills of compromise and
mediation in the sometimes-difficult collective lives of
family and community – in organizations, the workplace,
and governing bodies;

• Developing integrity in relationships through understanding
that the same communal values – generosity and fairness,
responsibility and freedom, forgiveness and atonement –
must be maintained not just in personal relationships but in
the workplace, social groups, and government bodies;
• Treating everyone as a valued whole person, not as
someone to be used or controlled;

• Maintaining civility in our relationships and being
accountable for our behavior;
• Seeing cultural differences as life-enhancing, as expanding
possibilities;
• Placing a broad definition of human rights at the center of
our values: ensuring that every person has food, shelter,
clothing, safety, education, healthcare, and a livable income.

Suzanne Pharr believes that this liberatory politics will come
about as a society:
“When we grasp the value and interconnectedness of our
liberation issues, then we will at last be able to make true
coalition and begin building a common agenda that
eliminates oppression and brings forth a vision of diversity
that shares both power and resources.”

“LIBERATORY CONSCIOUSNESS”
Barbara Love
Professor Emeritus
University of Massachusetts Amherst

“All humans now living have internalized the attitudes,
understandings, and patterns of thoughts that allow
them to function in and collaborate with these
systems of oppression, whether they benefit from
them or are placed at a disadvantage by them.”
Barbara Love

1.AWARENESS
• Developing a critical facility to perceive fully the
depth and substance of our cultural and political
environment
– Attend to the details
– Overt & Covert meanings in language, in
ourselves and other people’s behaviors and
thoughts.
• “It means making the decision to live our lives
from a waking position.” To be “woke.”

2.ANALYSIS
• Having the means to reflect, examine, and posit what is happening
as we make meaning from our perceptions
• Providing us with practical options for actions

3.ACTION
• Determine if action is required: by us as individual(s), collectively, or
supporting others.

4.ACCOUNTABLE / ALLY-SHIP
• Subordinated and dominant groups joining as allies “across and
between ‘role’ groups.”
• Serving together as Liberation Workers.

ALLY / ALLYSHIP
• Several meanings,
1. Someone who joins with another or others for a shared purpose
or goal.
2. Sometimes refers to a person from a socially dominant group with
the privileges granted to members of these groups, and who uses
these privileges to ensure a freer, more equitable, and less
oppressive society for all.
3. Another way of viewing an ally is as one who figurately stands up
(an “upstander”) to social inequity and who promotes social
justice.

QUALITIES OF GOOD ALLIES
Reflective Question
•Take a few moments and compile a list
of the emotional and behavioral
qualities of good allies.

EMPATHY
•The ability to figuratively walk in another’s shoes,
•The ability to understand another’s feelings and
social positionalities,
•The ability to treat another how that person
wants to be treated (the Platinum Rule) and
not necessarily how you want to be treated (the
Golden Rule).

“STEPS TOWARD BECOMING AN ALLY”
NANCY J. EVANS & JAMIE WASHINGTON
1.Awareness: of self and the similarities and differences with the
person or community to which you are to be an ally.
2.Knowledge/Education: about the people, issues, identities, and
cultures to which you are to be an ally.

“STEPS TOWARD BECOMING AN ALLY”
NANCY J. EVANS & JAMIE WASHINGTON
3. Skills: “This area is the one in which people often fall short
because of fear, or lack of resources or supports.” “Skills” needed here
include communication and social organizing which can be learned ‘by
attending workshops, role-play certain situation with friends,
developing support connections, or practicing interventions or
awareness raising in safe settings – for example, a restaurant or hotel
out of your hometown.”
4.Action: the most important stage, which can be “the most
frightening step.” Action is a requirement for initiating change.

“PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY”
DEVELOPED BY STUDENTS AT IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
Diversity is journey that is continually evolving where different challenges are
faced, and solutions are sought.At Iowa State University, our journey is
mapped by six Principles of Community.
1.Respect: We seek to foster an open-minded understanding among
individuals, organizations, and groups.We support this understanding
through outreach, increasing opportunities for collaboration, formal
education programs, and strategies for resolving disagreement.
2.Purpose: We are encouraged to be engaged in the university community.
Thus, we strive to build a genuine community that promotes the
advancement of knowledge, cooperation, and leadership.

3. Cooperation: We recognize that the mission of the university is enhanced
when we work together to achieve the goals of the university.Therefore, we
value each member of the Iowa State University Community for their insights
and efforts, collective and individual, to enhance the quality of campus life.
4. Richness of Diversity: We recognize and cherish the richness of diversity
in our university experience. Furthermore, we strive to increase the diversity
of ideas, cultures, and experiences throughout the university community.

5. Freedom from Discrimination: We acknowledge that we must strive to
overcome historical and divisive biases in our society.Therefore, we must
commit ourselves to create and maintain a community in which all students,
staff, faculty, and administrators can work together in an atmosphere free from
discrimination, and to respond appropriately to all acts of discrimination.
6. Honest and Respectful Expression of Ideas: We affirm the right to and
the importance of a free exchange of ideas at Iowa State University within the
bounds of courtesy, sensitivity, and respect.We work together to promote
awareness of various ideas through education and constructive strategies to
consider and engage in honest disagreements.

THE A C T I O N C O N T I N U U M
PAT GRIFFIN & BOBBIE HARRO
Supporting Oppression >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Confronting Oppression
Pat Griffin Bobbie Harro

• Actively Participating in Oppression:
Telling oppressive jokes, putting down people from target groups,
intentionally avoiding target group members, discriminating
against target group members, verbally or physically
harassing target group members.

• Denying, Ignoring:
Enabling oppression by denying target group members are
oppressed. Does not actively oppress, but by denying that
oppression exists, colludes with oppression.

• Recognizing, No Action:
Is aware of oppressive actions by self or others and their harmful
effects but takes no action to stop this behavior. This inaction is
the result of fear, lack of information, confusion about what to do.
Experiences discomfort at the contradiction between awareness
and action.

• Recognizing, Action:
Is aware of oppression, recognizes oppressive actions of self
and others and takes action to stop it.

• Educating Self:
Taking actions to learn more about oppression and the
experiences and heritage of target group members by reading,
attending workshops, seminars, cultural events, participating
in discussions, joining organizations or groups that oppose
oppression, attending social action and change events.

• Educating Others:
Moving beyond only educating self to questions and dialogue
with others too. Rather than only stopping oppressive comments
or behaviors, also engaging people in discussion to share why
you object to a comment or action.

• Supporting, Encouraging:
Supporting others who speak out against oppression or who are
working to be more inclusive of target group members by
backing up others who speak out, forming an allies’ group,
joining a coalition group.

• Initiating, Preventing:
Working to change individual and institutional actions and
policies that discriminate against target group members,
planning educational programs or other events, working for
passage of legislation that protects target group members from
discrimination, being explicit about making sure target group
members are full participants in organizations or groups.

ACTION STRATEGY PLANNING SHEET
I AS AN INDIVIDUAL MY GROUP /TEAM / PEERS MY SCHOOL / INSTITUTION
WITHIN
ONE
MONTH
WITHIN
SIX
MONTHS
WITHIN
TWO
YEARS
By
Rheua
Stakely

Education for Liberation

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