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Audience: This was originally created for a group of Christians from different racial backgrounds within a church setting.
Format: 1 page handout
Description: This is an assignment prompt for students to write their own racial autobiography for sharing with a group. This prompt was made in tandem with another handout: Listening to the Stories of Others.
Notes: This activity is an adaptation of a Racial Autobiography task published in the book Courageous Conversations about Race by Glenn Singleton and Curtis Linton, 2005.
General Facilitator Notes:
When I lead this activity, I have a rule that you must share your story in order hear the story of others which means that I, as the facilitator, often share my own Racial Autobiography when I describe the assignment. This also serves as a model on how someone may go about writing their autobiography, as well as a practice round on how to respectfully listen and ask questions.
After each person shares, I open it up for a few minutes if anyone has any clarifying questions. The person sharing is not required to answer any questions they don’t want to.
If the autobiography is typed 2-3 pages, it usually takes around 15 minutes per person to share. The only problems I have had with this is when people do not pre-write their autobiographies, they tend to talk endlessly and go way over time. After having this happen in the past, now I would not allow someone to share if they have not pre-written their autobiography. And I would use it as an opportunity to talk about privilege and why that person felt the option to not pre-write it when everyone else followed the instructions.