Arnab Banerji

PDF of Prof. Banerji's Article | Prof. Banerji's Reflection

Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation: The Story Circle Experience

Written by Arnab Banerji

Dr. Gail Christopher notes that the United States is one of the only countries in the world that despite its inherent anti-human foundational ethos have never attempted to systematically address the many layers and levels of systemic biases inherent within it. Dr. Christopher’s brainchild, the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) initiative, modeled after the Truth and Reconciliation commissions in other countries, is an important intervention to begin the transformative process in the United States towards racial healing. The TRHT work addresses five areas: Narrative Change, Racial Healing and Relationship Building, Separation, Law, and Economy. Out of these five, Narrative Change and Racial Healing and Relationship Building are foundational pillars on which the remaining three are supported. Drawing on her experience in health care policy, Dr. Christopher has designed an approach she calls the Rx Racial Healing. This signature approach of the TRHT work brings together a diverse group of people “in the safe, respectful environment of a racial healing circle.” The facilitators of the healing circles encourage (but never force) participants to share stories in pairs, using “tailored prompts and questions that elicit stories of empowerment and agency.” Storytelling, Liz Medicine Crow of the First Alaskans Institute reminds us, allows us to look deeper within ourselves to find spaces that facilitate personal and effect societal transformations. Stories can also help us recognize and appreciate our common humanity and jettison the idea of human hierarchy. Story circles allow participants to cultivate the qualities of empathy building and critical analysis. Since individual perspectives reflected in stories are a sum of a distinct human experience, they expose participants to a variety of perspectives and create spaces for self-examination of assumptions and biases. Incidentally, empathy and perspective taking are essential skills for the success of a liberal education. More so in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions underlying the educational mission of our university. Being empathetic and respectful of all perspectives while being agents of change are also enshrined in the three pillars of the LMU mission. It is therefore not a surprise that our university successfully applied for and recently inaugurated a center to facilitate Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation for our community. Over the next year, the TRHT center, under the guidance of its director, Dr. Ariane White, plans to collaborate with an increasing number of campus units to facilitate Rx Healing Circles and encourage folks to integrate this programming into their units to advance our university’s anti-racism goal. Dr. Gail Christopher says, “The process of looking back and moving forward requires that all people hone their abilities to both understand and begin to see themselves in the experiences of the perceived other. Racial healing circles, when effectively implemented, can enable this capacity.” We hope that as we emerge out of mandated and self-imposed social distancing and into a world that continues to be fueled by divisive rhetoric, we will be able to find in the Rx Racial Healing Circles moments to connect with each other via our innate humanity and join forces to advance towards healing and transformation.

The Center for Teaching Excellence will be hosting two sessions: one on March 29 and another on April 5 where you can experience the story circle and train to facilitate a session for your own unit. We hope to see you there!