Worship the Written Word

I can easily say that Worship the Written Word as a white supremacy characteristic has bugged me since high school. I love to learn and challenge my own assumption or perspective on things. Most often times, I would absorb information and weave it into my way of thinking and speaking. When it came to homework, I couldn’t be bothered for some classes. Like chemistry class, I knew the material, but the homework did nothing to help me learn it. It was just an annoyance. I would get A’s on my tests and F’s for my homework. The teacher complained that if I just did my homework I’d have an A in the class and not a C. I countered that if you didn’t put so much emphasis on homework I’d also have an A. I also argued that it’s clear that I knew the material so why am I punished in my grade. “Those are the rules.” That was the bottom line for my teacher.

Funny enough, this was the same teacher (white woman) that once asked me if my mom sold drugs because I had her pager on me and it went off in class (vibrated) one time. My dad was in the hospital at the time and my mom worked at the hospital in the IT department. I walked out of the classroom and wen straight to the principal’s office. I demanded that she be held accountable (fired) for her racist comment. To me “those were the rules” when it came to being a teacher and behavioral standers of teachers. She kept her job, never missed a day in the classroom. We ended up having a parent teacher conference where the teach apologized and the principal seemed satisfied. To this day, I’m not satisfied. Worshipping the written word was fine when it came to punishing me for homework. However, for punishing a teacher for a racist comment, the written word had some flexibility and grace.

As I explore this white supremacy characteristic, I can already feel the impact on me and the raw emotions due to this characteristic. I can also sense that this is so engrained in how I was raised and the expectations on me that I had to have used it against others and that feels terrible.

Worship of the written word shows up as:

• if it’s not in a memo, it doesn’t exist
• if it’s not grammatically “correct,” it has no value
• if it’s not properly cited according to academic rules that many people don’t know or have access to, it’s not legitimate
• an inability or refusal to acknowledge information that is shared through stories, embodied knowing, intuition and the wide range of ways that we individually and collectively learn and know
• continued frustration that people and communities don’t respond to written communication; blaming people and communities for their failure to respond
• those with strong documentation and writing skills are more highly valued, even in organizations where ability to relate to others is key to the mission
• those who write things down get recognized for ideas that are collectively and generationally informed in a context where systemic racism privileges the writing and wisdom of people in the white group
• academic standards require “original” work when our knowledge and knowing almost always builds on the knowledge and knowing of others, of each other
• claiming “ownership” of (written) knowledge to meet ego needs rather than understanding the importance of offering what you write and know to grow and expand the community’s knowing

Antidotes to worship of the written word include:

• take the time to analyze how people inside and outside the organization get and share information
• figure out what actually needs to be written down and come up with alternative ways to document what is happening; encourage creative ways of documenting or recording or reflecting what you are learning and what you feel you know
• work to recognize the contributions and skills that every person brings to the organization (for example, the ability to build relationships with those who are important to the organization’s mission)
• make sure anything written can be clearly understood (avoid academic language, ‘buzz’ words, acronyms, etc.)
• develop your skills individually and collectively to gather information through different ways of knowing
• identify when circumstances require documentation on others’ terms and bring transparency to how you respond (legal documents, funder applications, government forms, etc.)
• dedicate time to practicing and honoring other ways of knowing and expression: oral storytelling, embodied learning, visual and movement art, silence, meditation, singing, dancing (thank you Cristina Rivera Chapman)
• practice listening; because our culture doesn’t value oral traditions or storytelling wisdom, we are out of listening practice or remembering how to hold a spoken word with weight (without having to write it down) (thank you Cristina Rivera Chapman)
• acknowledge and honor diverse and interconnected sources of wisdom
• ​honor the value of collaborative and collective knowledge
• appreciate when others learn from and expand on your knowledge and writing; see yourself and position yourself as one person in a stream of knowing and learning

Self-reflection exercise

a. What does this look like when you act towards worship of the written word?

I feel like this shows up most when it comes to work email and communication. I am in a position that needs to communicate to different communities across Colorado. I rely on written communication and don’t often think about another form of communication that could be leveraged.

b. What feelings do you have when you act towards worship of the written word?

When I send out written communication and later receive questions that was in the communication I get frustrated and my perceived lack of respect in reading and comprehending written communication. I also have thoughts of superiority because I wrote so well and people struggle with comprehending my great words. Of course this is all wrong and I’m the one that needs to reevaluate my attitude and behavior.

c. What policies and/or practices does your work/organization implement that reinforces or encourages worship of the written word?

Any form of government relies heavily on laws and rules to guide and structure the work. Many of these laws and rules were created from a singular perspective and end up being out of touch with reality. In general I think all rules and laws need a review for the impact that they have and need to be adjusted accordingly.

d. What actions can you take to go from worship of the written word to all forms of communication?

With work, we are in the process of reevaluation our overall strategic plan for communications. I can make sure to review that plan with this characteristic and antidotes in mind.

e. What benefits do you think you would get from applying more of the replacement characteristics?

Being able to connect and value the way people communicate across Colorado will be greatly beneficial to our work in substance use prevention.

Action Plan Statement

From now on when I feel the urge to act towards worship of the written word, I will reevaluate our strategic communication plan because it provides me with the ability to connect with more Coloradans across the state. I will also support my work/organization to address worship of the written word by addressing reevaluation of laws and rules that have negative impact of people. When I do act towards worship of the written word, I will give myself some grace, acknowledge the impact I had on others, and engage in repair work by learning how I upheld the characteristic and learn to lean into the antidotes.