(un)learning at the intersections of friendship and vulnerability
SpitFire Press is dedicated to fostering a more loving and just world
Curation and Editing by Jeanette Sheehy – Design by Tina Windsor
Volume 1 & 2 – Join Our Network of Readers
- Volume 1: Urgency
- Volume 2: Defensiveness, Denial & Perfectionism
- Numerous contributors rooted in social justice work
- Moving articles aiming to dismantle white supremacy culture (WSC)
- Physical pamphlet with access to digital volume
Learn about Volume 1 and why we started with Urgency. Our hope is to help us develop the tools and skills so we can do this work in a sustainable way that avoids burnout and supports our bodies and hearts as we do challenging and important work.
In Volume 2 we dive into trickier more difficult emotions and experiences – Defensiveness, Denial and Perfectionism. We build on the trust we built in Volume 1 and sit with articles and contributors that evoke more challenging responses. We wanted to look at these response next because they are what came up for us and they create barriers to listening, to building friendships, and to undoing the violence of white supremacy culture.
We’ve built a loving containter in which do to this work – come unlearn with us, its kind in here.
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Before we dive in…
We encourage you to use SpitFire as a place to practice slowing down and taking notice; notice how your body feels and what emotions and thoughts emerge as you read.
After each article there are reflection questions to help us ‘spiral in, spiral out’, a practice River and Jeanette use to de-center ourselves – moving away from individualism toward interdependence and solidarity.
First we spiral into our personal/internal experience giving it space and time to be acknowledged and understood. Then, once we’re grounded, we spiral outward toward relationships of care and action. Through this practice we can cultivate solidarity and the joy that comes from connection.We invite you to spend some time with these pieces and feel your feelings.
Be kind to yourself and the contributors as you listen to their words.
Spiral in, Spiral out.
River & Jeanette
SpitFire Editors and Contributors
What is Empire? Empire encompasses both the historic and present day processes of Imperialism and colonization and the resulting systems of violence and oppression; including capitalism, the carceral state, white supremacy culture, racism, heterosexism, ableism, eugenics, misogyny, whorephobia, transphobia, fatphobia, rape culture, kid oppression, and more. The structures that uphold Empire range from the concrete (like police, RCMP, prisons, class divisions, nation-states, the World Bank/International Monetary Fund/World Trade Organization, etc) to the conceptual (like productivity, scarcity, urgency, and more) to the interpersonal (tone policing, defensiveness, ‘don’t rock the boat’ syndrome, what-about-ism, bothsides-ism, and many many more). Over time we will tease this apart more in depth, but for now this is a good place to start.
