on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Rev. Dereca Blackmon
Participate in powerful processes to explore privilege, power, bias, and an inclusive mindset — to envision a future of real justice and discover your path from solidarity to action.
Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
What would racial justice look like to you?
What if racial justice meant that devastating and deplorable acts of violence and inequity against People of Color would never happen again?
Imagine — really take a moment to envision a world in which centuries of killings and oppression have truly come to an end. A world in which there is NO imbalance of power — neither individually nor in the systems within which we all operate.
Now, imagine that YOU personally have taken activesteps to dismantle the systems that have allowed systemic racism to persist... that YOU personally have made a quantifiable difference.
The world around us is finally hearing the call to abolish racial polarization for good. The importance of finally declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday from this year forward cannot be underestimated. Yet, there’s still SO much work to be done.
Many of us who are passionate about civil rights and unshakable love, peace, and equity are trying to figure out what our own role is… and what we can do to truly enact change. We’re being called to do what’s ours to do.
Are you ready and willing to answer that call? Not only to talk the talk of anti-racism, but to do what it takes to walk the walk?
If so, we welcome you to join us on a path from allyship to solidarity to action — an educational, revelatory, highly experiential, inner-to-outer journey to support your self-discovery and profound awakening, and to help you launch into your role as a changemaker — with spiritual love as its core essence.
Join an exciting 5-module course with Rev. Dereca Blackmon — a remarkably engaging speaker, facilitator, active spiritual leader, and national expert on diversity, equity, and inclusion...
... as she guides you into a deep practice of allyship from a place that’s rooted in history — and shows you how to embody its principles.
She’ll begin with a deep dive into the differences and significance of key terms — including privilege, power, bias, and an inclusive mindset...
... and, without blame or shame, guide you through a series of potent experiences that will help you build a foundational understanding of your own orientation to these central concepts — and how they show up in your life.
Aligning Your Desire for Justice With Vision & Action
A lot of people are talking about race these days. AND, despite our good intentions, most of us — in ways that are well below our conscious awareness — contribute to the painful and continuing history of racial injustice and inequity. It can show up, for example, in how we use language, in our inadvertent microaggressions, and in the societal systems embedded in our way of life.
In this dynamic program, Dereca will offer you the tools you need for self-exploration, so you can see your own blind spots. And, as these truths are revealed, you’ll develop an understanding and a way to work with your own privilege to strengthen and uplift the voices of the unheard.
With her powerful, wise, loving, and truly captivating leadership, Dereca will help you discover what allyship is for YOU — which only you can define for yourself. Then, through critical thinking, analysis, and experiential activities and visualizations, you’ll be invited to develop a comprehensive vision of a racially just world, gain the capacity to articulate what that looks like...
... determine your plan of action to help make that vision a reality... and start forging a path to radical change.
Dereca will show you how to move from being a bystander to embodying the responsibility of an upstander... how to stop reacting against racism, and begin doing something tangible to heal it.
As an optional yet integral aspect of this course, you’ll have the opportunity to work on a project that directly correlates to your beliefs about racial justice, and provides you with a means to apply them.
Throughout this program, Dereca will engage you in conversations to foster inspiration and encouragement around the project you choose. It will be up to you to decide how you want to engage — what makes most sense to you, your lifestyle, and your learning. And, you can do this work on your own or in pairs or small groups with your co-participants.
Your project might be based on what’s happening in your community... such as what kind of action your spiritual centers, schools, or political groups are taking to transform racism.
You might want to join or organize a book club, or step out in your community to ask questions and have tough, revealing conversations. Maybe, you’ll choose to get involved (or more involved) in a movement, organization, or social justice issue you feel passionate about.
It’s up to you. The goal is to take the principles of solidarity that you’ll be working on throughout the five modules of the course... and, always with love, enact them in the real world.
As this deeply important program unfolds, you’ll:
- Understand the principles of an inclusive mindset... and how to implement them in practical ways
- Identify the differences and significance of key terms like bias, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity
- Explore your social identities, grasp what privilege really is, and identify your own
- Start to apply the principles of cultural humility in your own life
- Look at various forms of power and consciousness
- Develop a profound understanding of the impacts of structural racism on yourself and your communities
- Cultivate a tool for responding to injustice when you witness it
- Explore the importance of centering marginalized voices
- Contextualize oppression and see why justice requires collective liberation
- Analyze the strategic role of solidarity, allyship, and coalition-building in movements for racial and social justice
- Create and articulate a vision for racial justice
- Have the opportunity to identify a project that puts your vision of solidarity into action
If you’re reading this, it’s likely you already consider yourself an ally, but you’re looking for refinement and direction to activate that integral aspect of your spiritual being. It’s likely that you’re already yearning to combat bias and advocate for justice in a meaningful way. This course is offering you that chance.
What You’ll Discover in These 5 Modules
In this 5-module transformational intensive, Dereca will guide you through the fundamental wisdom and powerful processes you’ll need to explore your understanding of race... envision a future of real justice... and discover your path from solidarity to action, so you can contribute to the dismantling of systemic racism.
This course will feature step-by-step teachings and experiential practices with Dereca. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to discover your path from racial solidarity to action, so you can contribute to the dismantling of systemic racism.
Module 1: Understanding the Foundations of Solidarity
In this opening module, you’ll explore the foundations of solidarity through the framework of an inclusive mindset, which involves being brave, humble, and dedicated. You’ll learn what it means to center marginalized voices... understand the differences between diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity... and create a shared language around bravery.
In an experiential activity, you’ll be invited to share some of your preconceptions around solidarity and inclusivity — both in theory and in practice — to help you grasp just how deeply nuanced conversations about race are.
Dereca will guide you in a discussion about the different kinds of allyship and solidarity — to reveal what solidarity really means to YOU. And, she’ll introduce the optional project that will enable you to move beyond talking the talk, and start walking the walk.
At the end of this module, you’ll be able to:
- Define the components of an inclusive mindset
- Explain the difference and significance of diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity
- Understand the meaning and importance of centering marginalized voices
- Discern your personal definition of solidarity
- Begin to identify a project that puts solidarity into action
Module 2: Compassionately Exploring Your Social Identities, Biases & Privileges
Standing in solidarity with other groups requires that you first know yourself. In this session, Dereca will guide you through an active reflection exercise to see how your social identities shape your experience in the world. You’ll look at the uncomfortable P-word — privilege — and the key characteristics of power and consciousness.
You’ll also examine, and then create shared definitions of words like bias, prejudice, discrimination, and oppression... which, like much of language, hold different definitions among different audiences and in varying contexts. Dereca will help you see how these words impact your lived experiences.
In addition, you’ll understand how naming bias when you see it is an integral aspect of solidarity... as is the practice of cultural humility when your biases impact others.
In this class, you’ll:
- Explore your social identities
- Define the key characteristics of power and conscious
- Discern the differences between bias, prejudice, discrimination, and oppression
- Understand the theory of cultural humility
Module 3: Recognizing Structural Racism & Responding to Injustice
Your experience of solidarity is strongly shaped by the environment. This module will begin with an overview of the impacts of structural racism. You’ll dive into an experiential practice designed for you to use as a tool in responding to acts of injustice when you witness them.
As Dereca stresses the importance of centering marginalized voices, you’ll discuss a frequently misunderstood debate — appreciation versus appropriation. To close the session, she’ll offer several case studies to explore as resources for solidarity.
In this powerful class, you’ll begin to:
- Understand the impacts of structural racism on yourself and your communities
- Implement a tool for responding to injustice
- Examine case studies of solidarity across time and cultural contexts
- Discern the difference between appreciation and appropriation
Module 4: Knowing Your Goals — From Allyship to Solidarity to Action
Arguably the most difficult and the most defining quality of solidarity is the willingness to move beyond discussing allyship, and into practicing it. Dereca will frame this session’s conversation about action by reviewing the components of an inclusive mindset.
She’ll then walk you through a variety of strategies for implementing solidarity... and you’ll have the opportunity to seriously reflect on personal actions YOU can take in service of solidarity.
During this module, you’ll discover:
- Various strategies for solidarity
- The definition of solidarity as Oneness
- A guided personal analysis of the ways you can enact solidarity in your community
- The fire triangle framework and your role in the heat, fuel, and oxygen that creates change
Module 5: Imagining a Future of Justice & Bravely Advocating for Change
This is probably not the first time you’ve explored issues of racial justice, and you have a lifetime ahead of you to keep learning. To close this course, Dereca will share practical ways you can continue to evolve your practice of cultural humility... to bravely advocate for change... and to never stop striving to be a better ally.
You’ll participate in a small group analysis of solidarity within major social movements, and close with a visioning for justice exercise that will enable you to dream proactively rather than reactively.
In this closing session, you’ll be invited to:
- Imagine a future of justice that you can strive to enact through your personal commitment to solidarity
- Connect previous experiences of solidarity in major social movements to your vision
- Reflect on your personal practice of cultural humility
- Be guided in a deep meditative process to help you create your vision of justice and identify where you can implement actions of solidarity within that vision
The Achieving Racial Justice Bonus Collection
In addition to Dereca’s transformative 5-module virtual course, you’ll receive these special bonuses with leading visionaries and teachers to complement the course and take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.
Intersectional Allyship: Practicing Active Allyship
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Thomas Sexton
By putting his vision into action every day, Thomas Sexton (business operator, leader, and strategist) embodies the characteristics of a true ally. In this revealing conversation with Dereca, he shares his journey into active allyship and describes how it has evolved over time. They discuss the challenges that arise when you commit to allyship, and how to sustain your commitment when the going gets tough.
Avoiding Spiritual Bypass in Pursuit of Racial Justice
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Rev. Deborah Johnson
Lifelong social justice advocate Rev. Deborah Johnson brings her expertise in healing cultural and socio-political divides to bear in this enthralling conversation with Dereca. They focus on the importance of and methods for avoiding spiritual bypass as you pursue the kind of solidarity that’s grounded in history and across lines of difference. You’ll learn about the fire triangle — a framework for the process of change-making and the various roles we each play. Reverend Johnson also offers you a reflection on the aspect of visioning in cultivating a practice of allyship.
Feminist Solidarity
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Marta Hanson
Marta Hanson, a passionate advocate working at the intersection of organizational leadership and social change, practices allyship from a strong grounding in feminism. In this timely conversation with Dereca, she shares her journey to active allyship through that lens, and how it shows up in her work and life. You’ll discover some of the tricky aspects of balancing solidarity across differences... and the fire that keeps Marta going in her pursuit of justice.
Active Allyship in the Disability Community
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Teri Adams
In this open conversation about allyship with the disability community, Dereca and Teri Adams — Director of the Office of Accessible Education at Stanford University — begin by naming the mistakes people most often make in this area. Teri and Dereca then share positive examples of solidarity across ability differences. Finally, they turn inward with reflections on impactful moments of enacting allyship with other communities.
The Future of Allyship
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Farouk Dey
How has allyship changed, and where is it headed? Farouk Dey, a higher education and talent development executive, works on the future of equity in work and academia. In this enlightening conversation, he and Dereca discuss how the concept of solidarity has evolved over time... and what trends around allyship and inclusion are emerging. They close with an exploration in navigating authenticity and challenges, as we practice solidarity across lines of difference.
Beyond Blame & Shame: New Ideas for Healing Racism
Video Presentation From Dereca Blackmon
In this dynamic presentation from The Shift Network’s 2019 Visionaries Global Summit, Dereca Blackmon introduces new principles and practices developed in her spiritual activism and inclusion work — and tested by her team at Stanford University with over 20,000 participants. Explore key concepts like cultural humility, radical healing, and creating courageous conversations in which people can feel both safe and brave! Learn how to find hope for peace and justice in these perilous times of rising xenophobia.
What Graduates of Dereca’s Courses Are Saying...
“... I saw how this training touches the mind and hearts of all participants.”
I appreciated the tough and sometimes uncomfortable conversations around race, and the distinctions of bias, prejudice, discrimination, and oppression. As a Black faith leader with a mixed congregation, I saw how this training touches the mind and hearts of all participants.
— Rev. Carolyn Wilkins, minister and spiritual director, Inspirational Ministries
“Being in this course has expanded my awareness in areas that were my blindspot.”
Being in this course has expanded my awareness in areas that were my blindspot. It has helped me have more compassion for others and myself. It’s helped me stay in curiosity to continue to expand my capacity to grow.
— Lia Venet, Livermore, California
“I deeply resonated with Dereca’s way of phrasing challenging issues to communicate with others about...”
I deeply resonated with Dereca’s way of phrasing challenging issues to communicate with others about; her ability to create safety; plus inviting us to have courage to stretch outside one’s comfort zone was powerful modeling. Also the descriptions of diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity are ones I have been sharing with others.
— Deborah Owen-Sohocki, Broomfield, Colorado
“Rev. Dereca’s bravery theme completely opened the door for me.”
Rev. Dereca’s bravery theme completely opened the door for me. The week of our last lesson, I exchanged multiple emails with the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry asking how I can volunteer to help with group cross-racial meditations with their members. I am going to take their 25-hour volunteer training. There is ongoing discussion of how meditation will fit. Perhaps it will be “like a bridge over troubled water”?! Also, Dereca’s sister’s singing was BEAUTIFUL!!!
— Joseph S. Shortlidge, Melrose, Massachusetts
“It is very rewarding to finally understand life from another perspective...”
I have been asked to write an article in the Jewish Journal about how I have spent my time sheltering at home. I’ve written about this course, what I’ve learned, and how it has influenced me. This is my first attempt at allyship. Also, I’ve talked with my Black friends in depth about what I’ve learned, and gotten feedback from them. It is very rewarding to finally understand life from another perspective and how white privilege (which I never saw in quite the same way I do today) has impacted all of our lives. It makes my heart sing! We don’t know what we don’t know. Now that I do, I am freed to speak this truth in a healthy, productive way. Dereca is a wonderful role model!
— Carol Gottesman, Hubbard, Ohio
“What I learned in this course is incredibly valuable and relevant irrespective of what country one may be living in.”
What I learned in this course is incredibly valuable and relevant irrespective of what country one may be living in. I have lived in New Zealand and the U.S., and I’m currently living in Australia, and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from and meet so many amazing people and teachers. Thank you to everyone who contributed so generously.
— Vera Zachariassen
“I loved the positivity of Dr. Dereca Blackmon!”
This course helped me understand the importance of challenging my own actions and those of my fellow white people. It gave me a new perspective on the current racial system in the U.S. and my own place in it, as well as firsthand knowledge of what other white people were doing to dismantle the current injustice. I also began to understand the terrible pain that racial injustice was causing for my Black brothers and sisters and all POC. I loved the positivity of Dr. Dereca Blackmon!
— Ruthanne Wing
“Dereca’s teachings and beautiful presence were exactly what I needed at this time.”
Dereca’s teachings and beautiful presence were exactly what I needed at this time. I have experienced the anger and cynicism of activism without spirituality and the lack of purpose (for me) of spirituality without activism. I have been seeking a focus for my commitment to allyship and community(s) to sustain it. Dereca brought it all together. She brought all of herself — mind and heart; spirit and action. So grateful for her and this course.
— Janet, Oakland, California
“Dereca moved me to be more brave.”
Dereca’s thoughtful, kind, nonjudgmental presence, rooted in her deep connection to spirit; her ability to offer examples from her own life experience to illuminate ways we all have prejudice — providing clear visual templates and readings for us to understand how we can uncover our own blind spots and identify areas of personal work to be done — and her very thoughtful, supportive answers to the questions posed by participants... have served as a model in both becoming anti-racist, and in discovering one’s own course of action to contribute to the dismantling of our institutions that are inherently racist, and moving fully to creating a world of peace, love, and inclusivity. Dereca moved me to be more brave.
— Sandra Lloyd, San Francisco, California
“I like having both the theory and the practical, which she delivered beautifully.”
I learned some positive and tangible responses that I intend to use in my learning toward a more anti-racist stance. The simple mantras, Be Brave, Be Humble, Be Dedicated are coat-hanger ideas for me, and Dereca explained some practical look-fors and how-tos that I can practice. I like having both the theory and the practical, which she delivered beautifully. I was definitely stretched by this content and will, as Dereca admonished, go on the journey.
— Beth Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Here’s What You’ll Receive
Five 90-Minute Class Sessions With Dereca Blackmon
Experience a unique opportunity to learn from Dereca Blackmon — speaker, facilitator, and national expert on diversity, equity, and inclusion — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session includes a streaming video option and guides you to discover specific skills and abilities to envision a future of real racial justice and discover your path from solidarity to action.
Five Transcripts of Class Sessions
In addition to the high-quality videos and MP3 audios, you’ll also receive the entire class transcription after each session is completed. You can then review, print, and highlight the most important insights and practices you were given.
Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
Between class sessions, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each lesson.
The Achieving Racial Justice Bonus Collection
- Intersectional Allyship: Practicing Active Allyship
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Thomas Sexton - Avoiding Spiritual Bypass in Pursuit of Racial Justice
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Rev. Deborah Johnson - Feminist Solidarity
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Marta Hanson - Active Allyship in the Disability Community
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Teri Adams - The Future of Allyship
Video Dialogue With Dereca Blackmon and Farouk Dey - Beyond Blame & Shame: New Ideas for Healing Racism
Video Presentation From Dereca Blackmon
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Develop Your Personal Action Plan for Achieving Racial Justice Through Allyship & Solidarity Online Training
We feel honored that Dereca Blackmon has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive online training. This is a unique opportunity to learn from a national expert on diversity, equity, and inclusion whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and transform ourselves and our world.
If you’re serious about contributing to the dismantling of systemic racism, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind training.
If you’re ready to take the next step in evolving yourself, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
Your Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed!
Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed! If you don’t absolutely LOVE Develop Your Personal Action Plan for Achieving Racial Justice Through Allyship & Solidarity — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form 2 weeks from your date of purchase and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.
More Praise for Dereca Blackmon...
“Feedback was really strong — a few said Dereca should run for President!”
Dereca supported the successful launch of our Allies Academy as a part of our larger Diversity and Inclusion initiatives at LinkedIn. To support our launch, she delivered an interactive, highly engaging, and transformational education event that was broadcast to LinkedIn employees across the U.S. Feedback was really strong — a few said Dereca should run for President! It is clear that Dereca invested a great deal of thoughtful work and preparation into customizing the experience. Her coaching and guidance along the way was also top-notch. I highly recommend Dereca if you are looking to make an impact in the space of diversity and inclusion with a meaningful experience for your organization.
— Tyrona Heath, Lead for Agency and Partner Education at LinkedIn and President of LinkedIn’s Black Inclusion Group (BIG)
“[Dereca] creates safe spaces for courageous conversations, and never holds back...”
Dereca Blackmon is one of the most real, authentic, and powerful teachers that I know! She knows how to inspire, inquire, and invite you into spaces, places, and growth within yourself that is priceless and transformative. She is a powerful presence of boundless love, creates safe spaces for courageous conversations, and never holds back for the sake of your expansion.
— Rev. Karen Fry, minister, speaker, and teacher
“Dereca is one of the most insightful, charismatic, and intelligent people... ”
Dereca is one of the most insightful, charismatic, and intelligent people amongst Stanford’s far-reaching student affairs staff. Speaking to Dereca has the comforting effect of speaking to your mom, but with the sharp, cutting insight of all things related to race, class, and equity.
— Ibrahim Bharmal, human rights advocate, migration specialist, and writer
“I will recommend her to every institution I work at in the future...”
My very first week at Stanford, I heard Dereca speak and I knew that she was someone I wanted to have as an instructor and mentor. She is someone who meets people where they are at and does not shame them into caring about diversity issues, but rather guides them to the reasons why it is important to their lives and their own success. She is deeply passionate about equity and justice, and the practices [necessary for] creating that in the world through her connections with others. Without a doubt, I will recommend her to every institution I work at in the future for their diversity initiatives, and I hope to channel her in my life moving forward.
— Gabriela Nagle Alverio, consultant at Inclusion Design Group
About Rev. Dereca Blackmon
Rev. Dereca Blackmon is a passionate speaker, facilitator, and national expert on topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. For over 25 years she has consulted with a wide variety of corporate, educational, nonprofit, and community-based groups to facilitate “uncommon conversations” on issues of race, gender, class, and social justice. Her experiential training models cut through “diversity fatigue” and allow participants to engage in deep, authentic, and meaningful dialogues.
She served as the Assistant Vice Provost and Director of the Diversity and First-Generation Office at Stanford University, where she introduced groundbreaking work on authentic engagement, intergroup dialogue, and unconscious bias to over 30,000 students, staff, faculty, and alumni. She also taught several courses at Stanford, including Intergroup Communication with renowned cultural psychologist Hazel Markus, which typically has a waitlist of over 250 students.
Dereca co-led the effort to organize the Bay Area community response to the murder of Oscar Grant III by transit police. After mobilizing thousands of protestors and holding countless meetings and rallies, she began to question the strategy of organizing “against” rather than “for.” She entered ministerial school and has never looked back, becoming one of the nation’s leading speakers on spiritual activism.
Her training, activism, and youth development work have been featured in two books — Black Youth Rising by Dr. Shawn Ginwright, and Learning to Liberate by Dr. Vajra Watson — and cited in countless national forums, including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and The New York Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is your refund policy?
A: Your satisfaction with The Shift Network and this course is our highest priority! We offer a satisfaction guarantee for a full two weeks so that you can try out the course risk free. The deadline to receive a refund is two weeks from your date of purchase. To request a refund, please click here to submit your Refund Application Form. Your refund will be processed within five business days and we will send you an email confirmation when your refund has been completed. However, we’d love to have a chance to address and resolve your concerns first. If there’s something we can assist you with, please email us at support@theshiftnetwork.com, and we’ll be happy to help!
Q: How can I reach Customer Support?
A: Please visit our Customer Support Center, where you should be able to find the answer to your question or the solution to your problem. And if you can’t, you can submit an online request form and we’ll get right back to you.
