This past week I’ve been spending time reading articles, watching a Ted Talk, and watched the movie Just Mercy.

The Good Trade is a website that produces pieces on a variety of themes including sustainability, feminism, and the arts, among others. I resonated with author Kayti Christian and her piece, The Danger & Inherent Privilege of Neutral Politics. In it she points out the role privilege has played in her own politics. Much like Kayti, I mostly followed the lead of my parents when it came time for me to vote. Even now, although my views have grown and changed and developed, and I don’t blindly follow my parents’ views, I don’t do much research myself. And the inherent privilege in that is that I don’t really have to do much research because policy and law, for the most part, supports me and my freedoms as a cisgender, straight, white person. I am learning that I need to educate myself on items on the ballot, on candidates and their true goals and track records, and on the holes and gaps in our justice system, especially for those that are marginalized.

Another article featured on The Good Trade is entitled What it Means to Center Ourselves in Conversation, written by Emily Torres. You’ve likely heard about what it means to be a good listener, and that we typically listen in order to respond, so we don’t really pay attention. Good listening means you hold space for the other person to speak and share, and you don’t bring the conversation back to you and an experience you had.

Emily takes this further and looks at it through the lens of privilege and race by explaining that centering ourselves in conversation usually results in us (the person of privilege) becoming defensive and derailing the other person (who has not experienced the same privilege) in order to protect our fragile ego and sense of self. Again, it’s a way of listening to reply, rather than to comprehend or learn something new. As a white feminist, I’m learning so much about the role that I play, the privilege I have, and the need to decenter myself and listen to and learn from women of color.

Luvvie Ajayi is an author and speaker. I recently watched her 2017 TEDtalk on getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Luvvie talked about acting as a domino and encouraging others to follow suit, to shake up the status quo.

This weekend I’ve started reading Thick, by Tressie McMillan Cottom. More thoughts on that in next week’s Weekly Roundup once I’ve finished it!