Empathy

Recently, I saw the movie Origin by Ava DuVernay. Based on the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. The movie is haunting and deeply troubling, in the way that we need to be troubled.

Origin tells the story of the time period of Wilkerson’s life beginning with when she got the idea for the book. We follow her through her research and to the conclusions she makes about how we move past a deliberate system of dehumanizing others in order to maintain a caste system.

I strongly recommend taking the time to watch the movie and read the book. I begin with these two recommendations on a post about empathy, because that is what Wilkerson names will be the way past dehumanization.

When we empathize with others, we affirm their humanity. Systems of oppression rely on a lack of empathy to maintain power over others.

Through my journey as a social worker, liberal faith leader and as an educator, I have had to learn how to build my own empathy skills. Yes, empathy is a skill and understanding how to offer empathy to ourselves and others is a way to build connection and community.

Communities that have been most impacted by systems of oppression tend to already be empathetic to others because of their shared experiences of marginalization. Black, Indigenous, People of the Global Majority, Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Disabled (among many others) folks are among the most targeted in the United States and around the world.

People who hold dominant culture identities have been conditioned not to have empathy for those with target identities. If you are thinking, “That’s ridiculous, I treat everyone the same.” Treating everyone the “same” is not feeling empathy. Our systems would be kinder and much more humane if those in power felt empathy for all.

I offer workshops on empathy skill building that are rooted in kindness and compassion for ourselves and others.