This lesson has two activities to further explore power. You can choose to do one activity or the other, or do both depending on the time you have. The identity signs activity is best used to support participants in being able to articulate their own relationship to the Power House and the 4 I’s of Oppression activity is best used to support applying the framework of the 4 I’s to a specific facet of oppression. Discussion questions for the homework are also included here for after the activity work.
IDENTITY SIGNS ACTIVITY
In person faciltiation:
Set up: Create identity signs that can be hung around the room. The signs should have the following identities (one identity on each sign): race and ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, age, ability. You can add more identities that are connected to an -ism or power structure (for example, immigration status, nationality, religious affiliation). You can also create an option that says, “none of these identities answer the question for me.”
Facilitation:
- Say:
- I am going to ask you a few questions about your identity and your job is to go stand by the identity that answers the question best for them.
- You will be talking in your small groups, so standing next to an identity means that you’re willing to participate in a conversation about this identity; you do not have to share your own personal story if you don’t want to
- You do not have to participate if you don’t want to share certain aspects of yourself; you can stand by an identity that you are willing to talk about today
- Ask the following questions; after you ask each question provide the groups time to talk to each other about why they chose to stand at that identity. Questions can include:
- What is one facet of your identity that you have to consider, even if you don’t want to?
- What is one facet of your identity that you never have to consider?
Online facilitation:
Set up:
- Create an anonymous poll (Zoom and Slido can both do this) that asks:
- What is one facet of your identity that you have to consider, even if you don’t want to?
- What is one facet of your identity that you never have to consider?
- For each question, provide multiple choice responses that include: race and ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, age, ability. You can add more identities that are connected to an -ism or power structure (for example, immigration status, nationality, religious affiliation). You can also create an option that says, “none of these identities answer the question for me.”
Facilitation:
- Orient people to the two questions and then launch the poll for each question. Share the anonymous results after each question.
- Before placing people into breakout room discussions, remind them of the following:
- You do not have to share your own personal story if you don’t want to
- Be mindful of what you share and how it may impact others in breakout rooms
- Place people into breakout rooms (it does not need to be based on how they answered) to discuss the following: What made you select the identities you selected in response to each question?
Debrief questions (in person and online)
- How did it feel to respond to these prompts?
- For identities that you have to think about, how long has that identity been top of mind?
- When were you first made aware of identities you have to think about? When were you first made aware of identities you don’t have to think about?
- What do you think accounts for our being more aware of some social group memberships and statuses and less aware of others?
- How might this activity support better understanding our own biases and how they’re connected to our identities?
