I've been threatening to do a community read of Abolition of White Democracy for some years now, and the time is finally nigh. Georgia at Ithaca Writing Studio is gonna host, and I'm asking $30 for six meetups, $20 for the Writing Studio and $10 for me. I'm capping it at 10 participants for space and "let's take it easy" reasons and I'm asking for folks who are local, can commit to reading the book and coming to all 6 Monday evening meetings, and ideally are living that white democracy life. What do i mean? You check a majority of these boxes:
- you are a person of pallor (and not defensive or penitential about it)
- You have a liberal arts education with at least a BA
- You have a vehicle (maybe two, lease ok)
- You own your home (maybe two, with mortgage ok)
- you have investment accounts (IRA, 401k, mutual funds, CDs, etc)
- you have life insurance
- you are registered to vote as either a Democrat or a Republican
- You serve(d) on boards and/or commissions (foundations, PTAs, not for profits, city/county/state appointments, etc. mutual aid doesn't count)
- Relatively high earning (80k - 200k/year)
- Manager or C-suite for most of your career
- Broadly familiar with North Atlantic political and social histories and thinkers of race & class (especially W.E.B. Dubois, Karl Marx, Michel Foucault, James Baldwin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexis de Tocqueville, Malcolm X, et. al.)
I won't turn away anyone who wants to commit to the reading group (up to ten participants), but you will get the most out of this conversation if you're navigating racial capitalism without too much trouble. I can make a PDF of the book available for free and everyone should read it, and participants should be able to order copies through our independent bookstores and pay full price.
I believe white democracy is white people's problem because we built it with our ambitions and maintain it with our participation. I believe it's possible for white folks to unravel these genocidal structures, and there's no better time than now.
Bio: Ashley Cake was born and raised in Ithaca, NY and has been a lifelong service worker in the hospitality industry, most recently owning and operating The Watershed & The Downstairs. She is an award-winning labor and public safety advocate, serving on the boards of organizations from Ithaca Underground to Alternatives Federal Credit Union. In her academic career, Ashley has written and taught extensively on Enwhitenment European philosophy -- particularly Soren Kierkegaard and Lacanian psychoanalysis -- as well as comparative religion -- particularly American social justice and liberationist histories. Her current praxis seeks to work the critical junctures of abolition, emergent strategies of care and transformative justice, which is to say: Land Back & Reparations.
I've been threatening to do a community read of Abolition of White Democracy for some years now, and the time is finally nigh. Georgia at Ithaca Writing Studio is gonna host, and I'm asking $30 for six meetups, $20 for the Writing Studio and $10 for me. I'm capping it at 10 participants for space and "let's take it easy" reasons and I'm asking for folks who are local, can commit to reading the book and coming to all 6 Monday evening meetings, and ideally are living that white democracy life. What do i mean? You check a majority of these boxes:
- you are a person of pallor (and not defensive or penitential about it)
- You have a liberal arts education with at least a BA
- You have a vehicle (maybe two, lease ok)
- You own your home (maybe two, with mortgage ok)
- you have investment accounts (IRA, 401k, mutual funds, CDs, etc)
- you have life insurance
- you are registered to vote as either a Democrat or a Republican
- You serve(d) on boards and/or commissions (foundations, PTAs, not for profits, city/county/state appointments, etc. mutual aid doesn't count)
- Relatively high earning (80k - 200k/year)
- Manager or C-suite for most of your career
- Broadly familiar with North Atlantic political and social histories and thinkers of race & class (especially W.E.B. Dubois, Karl Marx, Michel Foucault, James Baldwin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexis de Tocqueville, Malcolm X, et. al.)
I won't turn away anyone who wants to commit to the reading group (up to ten participants), but you will get the most out of this conversation if you're navigating racial capitalism without too much trouble. I can make a PDF of the book available for free and everyone should read it, and participants should be able to order copies through our independent bookstores and pay full price.
I believe white democracy is white people's problem because we built it with our ambitions and maintain it with our participation. I believe it's possible for white folks to unravel these genocidal structures, and there's no better time than now.
Bio: Ashley Cake was born and raised in Ithaca, NY and has been a lifelong service worker in the hospitality industry, most recently owning and operating The Watershed & The Downstairs. She is an award-winning labor and public safety advocate, serving on the boards of organizations from Ithaca Underground to Alternatives Federal Credit Union. In her academic career, Ashley has written and taught extensively on Enwhitenment European philosophy -- particularly Soren Kierkegaard and Lacanian psychoanalysis -- as well as comparative religion -- particularly American social justice and liberationist histories. Her current praxis seeks to work the critical junctures of abolition, emergent strategies of care and transformative justice, which is to say: Land Back & Reparations.
If you use squarespace to pay for the reading group, there is a $2 surcharge
