Back in the day
I had a friend called Harry Cumberbatch.
He was in a group I once facilitated
it went like this::
I asked people to talk about their feelings -
it is a powerful exercise - try it.::
This is an experiential group exercise I used::
I asked people to talk about their feelings::
1 About their first name.
(I have a story & feelings around the story of me
being ‘Pip’)
2 Their feelings about their surname.
(I remember clearly one woman who carried around her ex husbands name
when they had been long divorced -
AND hated that surname )
Harry's surname is was his family name passed down generations.
It was a name he had lived with all his life.
His surname was via his fore-fathers like most people.
But it was not their choice of name
but chosen by a plantation owner
whose name was ‘Cumberbatch’ -
meaning every human he ‘owned’ as a slave
was named ‘Cumberbatch.
His family had been bought into slavery.
He carries around with him -
wherever he goes =
SLAVERY ……….
I was once a racist and never knew.
I had to learn
others had to teach me.
I want to share my journey here as weeks pass.
I hate racism
