October 2025: Living the Elements of Practice

As the seasons turn and we move deeper into fall, many of us are feeling the shift—shorter days, cooler nights, busier schedules. It’s a natural time to settle into routines. And with that settling, it can be easy to let anti-racism slip quietly to the back burner, especially when there is a lot of competition for our attention among the headlines.

But anti-racism isn’t only about how we respond when the worst happens or when the headlines tell us we should care. It’s also about how we show up everyday. That’s why this month we’re leaning into the CWC’s final Element of Anti-Racism Practice: Live the Practice.

Living the practice is about weaving anti-racism into the way we move through the world—through big choices and small habits, in how we learn, how we connect, and how we care for ourselves and each other. It’s especially important to understand and not lose sight of the way racism is informing the current political climate. We’ve spent 2025 looking at the other eight elements of anti-racism practice, which include:

• Acknowledging & understanding whiteness

• Sharing stories

• Exploring new perspectives & continuing to learn

• Embracing the feelings that arise

• Giving grace (to ourselves and to others)

• Finding our purpose

• Recognizing & inviting joy

• Building community

  
  

To spark our reflection in the second half of the gatherings this month and wrap up our exploration of the 9 Elements of Anti-racism Practice, we want to go back to the quote from Malcolm X that has served as the foundation for CWC from the beginning:

"I tell sincere white people, 'Work in conjunction with us—each of us working among our own kind.' Let sincere white individuals find all other white people they can who feel as they do—and let them form their own all-white groups, to work trying to convert other white people who are thinking and acting so racist. Let sincere whites go and teach non-violence to white people!"

We'll use the folloowing questions to help us explore the ways we can sustain our anti-racism practice within the context of Malcolm X’s quote above:

1. When do I notice myself slipping anti-racism to the back burner? What helps bring it back into focus?

2. Which part of “living this practice” feels most natural to me right now? Which part feels most challenging?

3. How am I living Malcolm X’s invitation to work with other white people?

4. What stories—my own or others’—might I share to help keep the practice alive in everyday life?

5. How do I keep learning in ways that don’t just increase my awareness, but also transform how I live and how I live in community with others?

   
   

We hope you’ll join us for a gathering this month and share your thoughts about this month's theme or anything else that is on your heart or mind. Whether this prompt sparks something deep or feels a little abstract, your presence in the conversation matters. Come join us, bring your perspective, and let’s keep practice practicing together.

“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of anti-racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. It’s the only way forward.” – Ijeoma Oluo, author