Critical Conversations use poetry as a springboard to increase belonging and inclusion in the workplace.
Critical Conversations facilitates workplace dialogue on lived experiences reflected in poems. The process invites participants to engage in transformative discussions without requiring those most violently and directly affected by racism to share or retell their stories.
Each session is led by two trained and racially diverse facilitators. Sessions include exploration of a theme related to racial justice through discussion of contemporary poems and guided writing practice. No prior poetry experience or education is needed.
Sessions can be conducted online via Zoom or in-person. Special rates are available for non-profit organizations.
This process supports coworkers in empathetic listening, deepening connections, and expanding a sense of interconnectedness and understanding. CPC staff will work with you to determine the most appropriate workshop focus, learn about any workplace language parameters, and coordinate scheduling and logistics.
Each session includes:
- Two trained facilitators for virtual or in-person workspaces
- A pre-reading and concepts packet, including shared terminology and an introduction to anti-oppressive practices
- Recordings of authors reading their poems
- Time for guided individual reflection, peer sharing, and group conversation
- Access to the Continuing Practice Guide to support ongoing individual, paired, and small group work
Single Session (online only)
Through this 90-minute introductory online session, two facilitators guide up to 50 participants through a process of individual reflection, peer sharing, and full-group discussion based on two contemporary poems.
Multi-session Options (online or in-person)
The full Critical Conversations series includes three or four customizable sessions, each focusing on a different topic related to the impact of race on work communities. These two-hour sessions are designed for up to 15 participants.
Ready to start having Critical Conversations at your workplace?
Email marty@poetrycenter.org to learn more.
Session Descriptions
What’s in a Name?
In this session, we will explore the power of names – our names and the names of places that we encounter daily. How do names connect or disconnect us from each other? What role does race play in those interactions and intersections?
The Presence of Harm, the Possibility of Healing
White supremacy is a system that threatens the wellbeing of everyone. The damage ranges from subtle to fatal, and in this session we will explore the continuum of harm. How can we re-humanize ourselves and each other within a dehumanizing system? How do we define, find, or offer safety?
You vs. Me, Us vs. Them, Me vs. Me
A sense of belonging is essential to human development and wellbeing, but what happens when group identification becomes exclusivity? In this session, we will explore experiences of belonging vs. otherness. What do we deprive ourselves of through the exclusion others? What harm do we inflict intentionally or unintentionally upon those outside our self-identified groups?
Shadow Indicates the Presence of a Light
Celebration and stubborn insistence on hope are key to refusing despair, particularly during times of great upheaval or change. Hope is essential to the shared survival of the human species. In this session we will discuss experiences of survival, thriving through adversity, and the triumph of love and belief in the face of daunting odds.