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.
4 I’S OF OPPRESSION ACTIVITY
- Provide group with this worksheet to jog their memory about the 4 I’s. This is a view only link, but you can create a local copy if you want participants to physically fill it out.
- Create breakout groups of 3-4 people and provide the following instructions before they get into groups:
- Find a facet of oppression where your entire group experiences privilege (e.g. the entire group are cis-gender men or White or do not have a disability). Alternatively, if there is a person with a marginalized identity that would like to share about their experience, that is welcome.
- Fill out the first three I’s of oppression (ideological, institutional, interpersonal) for that facet of oppression. Do not discuss the internalized portion. This is deeply personal work and will be covered more in the following lesson.
- Debrief:
- Ask: Was there anything particularly challenging about filling out the 4 I’s? (encourage participants to ask each other for help or support)
- Have each group share 1 example from each “i” of oppression
- Remind participants that this is an imperfect framework, so some ideas and examples may not fit perfectly into the 4 I’s.
- Ask: Are there any takeaways from filling out the 4 I’s of oppression?
