> Compiled through multiple strategic prompts referencing my studies at Naropa University. These lessons are based on research and writings from Adrienne Maree Brown and Joanna Macy with research rabbit holes at the bottom. --- ## 1. Watch this video: - Before you get started, please watch the following video on [microaggressions from the NYT.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_85JVcniE_M) --- ## 2. **What Is a Microaggression?** _A slow harm in fast spaces: Listening beneath the surface of structural dissonance_ In our rush toward productivity and achievement—whether in the workplace or the classroom—we often miss the quieter wounds, the subtle snubs, and the slight tone shifts that mark a person as “other.” Microaggressions are the splinters of systemic inequality, carried in the mouths and actions of people who often don’t mean harm. But the pain lands anyway. **A microaggression** is a subtle, often unintentional comment, question, or behavior that reinforces stereotypes or exclusion, especially toward members of marginalized groups. They aren’t always overt insults. Sometimes they’re framed as compliments. Sometimes they wear a smile. But over time, they erode a person’s sense of safety, belonging, and worth. As writer and somatic healer _adrienne maree brown_ reminds us: > “Things are not getting worse, they are getting uncovered. We must hold each other tight and continue to pull back the veil.” Microaggressions are moments when the veil slips—when the deeper truths of structural racism, sexism, ableism, or classism show up through the cracks of an “inclusive” environment. And they aren’t just intellectual concepts. They live in the body. _Joanna Macy_, in her work on **The Work That Reconnects**, teaches that deep ecological and societal healing begins when we allow ourselves to feel the pain of disconnection. She writes: > “The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.” Naming microaggressions is not about creating conflict. It’s about interrupting the patterns that fracture our collective body. It’s about restoring integrity to the spaces where we live, learn, and build. --- ### **Examples from the Professional Workplace** #### **1. “You’re so articulate.”** Intended as a compliment, this often implies that the speaker is surprised a Black or Indigenous colleague speaks well. It reveals an assumption about intelligence based on race. #### **2. Interrupting or “mansplaining”** A male colleague repeatedly interrupts a woman mid-sentence in meetings or rephrases her ideas as if explaining them. Over time, her contributions are erased from the room’s memory. #### **3. “Where are you _really_ from?”** Asking an Asian-American or Latinx colleague this question may seem like curiosity, but it communicates that they don’t truly belong—regardless of how many generations their family has lived in the country. #### **4. Assuming pronouns or misgendering** Refusing to ask or respect a colleague’s pronouns can act as an identity erasure, especially for trans or nonbinary team members. --- ### **Examples from Academic Settings with Students** #### **1. Group Project Marginalization** A Native American student is consistently talked over during group discussions or assigned only to “cultural” contributions instead of technical ones, reinforcing colonial stereotypes. #### **2. “You must be on scholarship.”** A low-income student or student of color is assumed not to be able to afford tuition—implying that their presence is exceptional or undeserved. #### **3. “Let’s not get political.”** When a student raises concerns about racial inequity or colonialism in the curriculum and is told to keep the discussion “on topic,” it delegitimizes their lived experience. #### **4. Exoticizing Names or Stories** A professor laughs or stumbles theatrically over a student’s non-Western name—or asks them to “shorten it.” This signals that the student’s identity must be trimmed to fit dominant norms. --- ### **Why It Matters** Microaggressions aren’t about bad people doing bad things. They’re about inherited scripts playing out without reflection. They’re what happens when our mouths move faster than our healing. When our institutions claim inclusion but haven’t metabolized their histories of exclusion. To interrupt microaggressions, we don’t need shame. We need **brave listening**, **slower speech**, and a willingness to stay in relationship when discomfort rises. In the words of _adrienne maree brown_: > “We are not separate from each other, or from the Earth. Our survival is mutual.” And from _Joanna Macy_: > “The most radical thing any of us can do at this time is to be fully present to what is happening in the world.” To be fully present to microaggressions is to begin the slow, sacred work of composting domination—one conversation, one breath, one restored connection at a time. --- ## 3. **Reflection Prompt** > **“Think of a time when you felt excluded, silenced, or stereotyped—whether intentionally or not. What impact did it have on your sense of self or your willingness to participate?”** > > Now, consider a time you may have unintentionally harmed someone else in a group setting—perhaps by interrupting, assuming, or not listening fully. What would it have taken for you to notice that moment in real-time? What would repair have looked like? - Step one: freewrite on this reflection prompt for 5 minutes. - Step two: enter it into ChatGPT or Claude and prompt the model the analyze your freewrite for a deeper reflection on this situation. - Step three: Ask it to create a situation of repair for microaggressions unintentionally done by you. - Step four: Follow up by asking the model to walk you through a healing exercise for microaggressions against you. --- ## **4. “Invisible Scripts” Unpacking** Step one: Students choose a dominant identity they hold (e.g., whiteness, maleness, citizenship, neurotypicality) and write 1 page on: - What messages did I receive growing up about this identity? - How might those messages show up in my assumptions about others? - What is one stereotype I am unlearning? Step two: Please run your dominant identity and the answers to these questions through the same AI threads as the previous assignment and ask the model to elaborate on your writings. Feel free to recycle the questions in this assignment in your strategic prompting. Step three: Copy and paste your prompts with corresponding outputs into a google doc and turn that in for credit for this assignment. --- ## Case Studies on Invisible Script Unpacking ### **🧠 Case Study 1: Whiteness (University Setting)** **Student Identity:** White cisgender female, raised in a liberal middle-class family **Invisible Script:** _“I don’t see color. Everyone should be treated the same.”_ **Unpacked Reflection:** Growing up, I was taught to treat everyone “equally,” but that often meant ignoring race altogether. I didn’t realize this was a form of avoidance until college, when I was on a group project with two students of color and kept redirecting the conversation away from their critiques of the reading—telling them we should “just stick to the assignment.” I now see that I was prioritizing my comfort and trying to control the tone of the discussion to avoid discomfort. That “colorblind” message I internalized as a kid actually taught me to ignore lived experiences that didn’t match mine. I’m now learning to listen more, even when it’s uncomfortable. --- ### **🏢 Case Study 2: Citizenship + First Language (Workplace Setting)** **Employee Identity:** U.S.-born, native English speaker, working in a global remote team **Invisible Script:** _“If someone can’t express themselves clearly, they probably don’t fully understand the topic.”_ **Unpacked Reflection:** In my remote job, I often find myself getting impatient when a colleague from Brazil or Vietnam takes longer to explain something or writes with grammar issues. I’ve caught myself assuming they don’t know what they’re talking about—when really, they’re fluent in technical skills but just translating on the fly. I grew up hearing that “good English = intelligence,” but I now see that’s a colonial lens. I’m working on slowing down my responses and checking my assumptions when someone communicates differently than I do. --- ### **🎓 Case Study 3: Neurotypicality (Academic Team Project)** **Student Identity:** Neurotypical student in a group project with a peer with ADHD **Invisible Script:** _“People who care about the work show up on time, stay organized, and keep their emotions in check.”_ **Unpacked Reflection:** In a class project, I found myself getting frustrated with a teammate who missed meetings, sent chaotic late-night texts, and seemed really emotional. I judged them as lazy or disorganized. But after they shared that they have ADHD and sometimes get overwhelmed by group dynamics, I realized I had internalized a productivity standard rooted in neurotypicality. I’m now trying to create more flexible collaboration processes and recognize that “caring” doesn’t look the same for everyone. --- ## Reading List ### 📚 **1. _So You Want to Talk About Race_ by Ijeoma Oluo** A clear, practical, and accessible primer for understanding race, privilege, and the ways racism operates in everyday interactions—including microaggressions. [Wikipedia Page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_You_Want_to_Talk_About_Race) --- ### 📚 **2. _Emergent Strategy_ by adrienne maree brown** Not focused solely on race, but provides a foundational approach to relational change, decentralized power, and deep listening—essential tools for interrupting harm and microaggressions within community and systems. [Emergent Strategy](https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/emergent-strategy/) --- ### 📚 **3. _Unmasking Microaggressions and the Messages They Send_ by Derald Wing Sue** A scholarly but accessible exploration of how microaggressions manifest in education, counseling, and daily life—and how we can respond. [PDF on Microaggressions](https://gsi.berkeley.edu/media/tool-recognizing-microaggressions.pdf) --- ### 📚 **4. _My Grandmother's Hands_ by Resmaa Menakem** Essential reading for understanding the somatic impact of racialized trauma on all bodies—Black, white, and police. Provides embodied practices to heal and disrupt internalized patterns of dominance and defensiveness. 🔗 [Buy or read](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34146782-my-grandmother-s-hands) ---