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The Optimistic Anthropologist Volume 37
Dobar dan from Sarajevo!
AUGUST 2021 | VOLUME 37
Dear ,
Dobar dan sa Sarajevo! (That's "hello from Sarajevo!" for all you folks who don't speak Bosnian!) Last month I took the leap and started studying Bosnian in addition to my work commitments. By the end of the day, my brain gets tired, my face muscles get sore, and I struggle with making certain sounds and remembering so many vocabulary words and grammar rules!
I share this anecdote because the way I feel learning a new language feels analogous to what I often observe my clients and students experience while we are building new practices and cultures and processes for positive and equitable social change. The work can feel awkward, frustrating, and overwhelming for a long while before we start getting in the groove.
Many of us - and I include myself in this – have been educated, trained, and rewarded for individual achievement that values efficiency, “right answers,” focusing on solutions and specific types of expertise (likely those prioritized in systems and institutions shaped by white supremacy and capitalism) over relationship-building, learning, and collaborating with people who bring a range of voices and experiences into the work. Like learning a new language, social change work requires time and effort as well as a willingness to take positive risks and receive and incorporate lots of feedback to improve.
The second way that my experiences learning Bosnian mirror the work of building new practices, cultures, and processes for social change is that in both we often have no sense of the progress that we're making until someone reflects it back to us. My partner points out that 4 weeks ago I knew 5 words of Bosnian and now I can express ideas in full sentences and know 100s of words. My teacher reminds me that I can speak in the past, present, and future and how my interest in learning and willingness to practice (I’m even now attempting to speak to people in Bosnian) has led me to cover a ton of material.
In the work of social change - whether your passion is for ending poverty, dismantling racist structures, addressing climate change or some other complex and powerful issue of our time - the work starts at home, in ourselves. It can be challenging and slow, and can offer moments of breakthrough and delight and connection.
And along the way, we all need people who love us and teach us and support us to help us see how far we've come and to keep us going.
I've been told that learning to speak Bosnian fluently will be lifelong work and as a non-native speaker, I’ll still make mistakes. The same is true for the work of positive and equitable social change. As one of my teachers
likes to say,
"we're always in the process of becoming, we never become."
Be well, do good, and keep eachother safe,
P.S.
I always welcome your feedback, a
,
or chance to catch up about work you have brewing. Feel free to
for the fall!
LATEST
GOOD READ! THE POWER OF PLACE: TRAVEL TO EXPLORE STRUCTURAL RACISM AND HEALTH DISPARITIES
Back in April 2019,
. I was honored to be part of the team helping to figure out how to
tell the story of the experience and evaluate its impact on all who participated.
Which is why it's very exciting to share with you all that two years later, some of my colleagues from that experience led by former UCSF PLUS Director Dr. Jyothi Marbin published the article
in the journal
. The article makes a compelling case for how thoughtfully designed immersive learning experiences like this one can have long-term impacts on participants' understanding of systemic racism, commitment to speaking up and acting, and cultural humility.
THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE BUS: JOBS, RFPS, AND FELLOWSHIPS FROM JUNE/JULY 2021
Folks we know are recruiting for a lot of cool things! Each month, we share
, a monthly-ish round-up of job, consulting, and fully- funded fellowship and accelerator opportunities that people and organizations connected to Optimistic Anthropology are recruiting for.
(our list reaches ~1300 great people!)
STAY AT THE GARDEN APARTMENT AT OPTIMISM HOUSE DC STARTING OCTOBER 1!
is a colorful and quiet place for people who are visiting DC for a week or more to call home while they engage in activism, conferences, travel, work, or study.
and book your stay of 7 days to 3 months through
or by
!
GOOD LISTENS FROM JUNE/JULY 2021
We love music, podcasts, and audiobooks! And we see connections between all kinds of culture and the work we do. Here's what we have been listening to and watching during the last couple of months!
Dish City [Podcast Series]- Dish City started in 2019 with the question, "what we can learn about Washington, D.C. through its iconic foods?" The first season was a charming exploration that question and then the team pivoted in 2020 to covering the impact of the early months of the pandemic. Now in season 3, they are looking at the impact of delivery culture on restaurants, couriers, and diners. All worth a listen.
The Memory Palace Episode 182: The Surfmen. [Podcast Episode] - Host Nate Dimeo encourages listeners to go into episodes of his history storytelling podcast cold and let the story take them where they may. This episode clocks in at 18:25, and like many of TMP's episodes shares history of people who were marginalized and overlooked doing extraordinary things.
Snap Judgment "The Census Powwow" [Podcast Episode] - Cheyenne Brady knew next to nothing about the US census when she was given the job of counting everyone on her reservation. Writer Julian Brave Noisecat follows her through the ups and downs of the 2020 census, culminating in the first-ever Census Powwow.
Through the Cracks Season 1- [Podcast Series] Through the Cracks investigates gaps in our society and the people who fall through them. In the first season, journalist Jonquilyn Hill focuses on the story of 8 year old Relisha Rudd who disappeared from a homeless shelter in DC in 2014 and wasn't declared "missing" for 18 days.
Untold Killing "Commemoration Episode: Rebuilding Lives" [Podcast Episode] in commemoration of the July 11th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, survivors reflect on the challenges of life after genocide and the struggle against genocide denial. Particularly relevant context because the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina just declared genocide denial illegal in the country.
ABOUT OPTIMISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
helps organizations and cross-sector collaborations trying to solve some of the world's toughest problems build their cultures and processes to "learn into" the answers to two critical questions:
1) How did our current reality come to be? and
2) What will it take to shape a positive, just, and equitable future?
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