A special virtual workshop exploring racism, healing, and trauma comes to the Peterborough Town Library next Wednesday. Participants will learn how to recognize how racism creates trauma in individuals and society, the signs of trauma from racism, how to better understand institutional racism, and develop personal healing-centered strategies. The workshop is intended for justice activists and advocates, and service providers of vulnerable populations and communities of color.
Wednesday’s workshop is the latest in what Library Director Corinne Chronopoulos sees as a long-term commitment to racial justice that started in the wake of Peterborough’s town listening session last summer. The library’s involvement as an organization came after several years of Assistant Director Mary Hubbard’s work on the subject, which included a book group that ran for several years, Chronopoulos said. Early on, the library’s stakeholders emphasized that if the library was going to take on racial justice work, they’d have to be committed to enduring initiatives and not just do one-off projects, she said. Action started with a staff training, then a board training. Board members cast a policy that addresses equity earlier this year. This fall’s Big Read discussions of “I’m Still Here: Black dignity in a world made for whiteness” by Austin Channing Brown attracted 60 people – that’s a lot for that kind of an event, Chronopoulos said, and 40 people attended a session on race earlier in March.
There are 50 people signed up for Wednesday’s workshop, she said. Facilitators Brandon Lee of Training 4 Transformation and local Ivor Edmonds of SAGA Monadnock focus on confronting bias, humanizing collective experiences and transforming traumatic events into healing opportunities. Part of the program will be conducted via affinity groups. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, March 24 at 6 p.m. More information and registration can be found on the library’s website.