Cognitive Psychology can Inform your Anti-Racist Practice

In Part 1 of this e-book, student authors’ work is presented in sets of three essays, each aimed at answering the unit questions [How did that get into my head? What is it, that’s in my head? How do I control what’s in my head?] as they pertain to racism. The first chapter is authored by a student of color, who shares with us reflections on what it was like growing up in Portland, OR, in a mixed-race family. Her reflections bring to fore why we need to do more to change our culture. Following this personal accounting are 4 collaboratively written essays written to not just answer the questions above, but also to provide readers with sound, empirically based advice for how to make positive changes in your own frames of reference, to help you improve your anti-racism practices. That is, in our class discussions we considered that being anti-racist is a practice, much like yoga is a practice. Both are difficult, but with regular work and dedication we improve. While each collaborative team studied the same course content, each team personalized their writings in different ways. You are sure to learn something new from each chapter inclusion.