The world premiere of Making Whiteness Visible, a film by CIIS alumna Shakti Butler (PhD, Transformative Learning and Change) was held on October 7 at the First Congregational Church of Oakland.

Through up-close and personal stories of personal transformation, Butler’s film explores the processes by which white activists are coming into consciousness and working intentionally with other white people, as well as people of color, to build a more equitable society. Participants talk about being unconsciousness about their learned and internalized sense of white supremacy. They share what was required—what actions they took—to move through the common first stages of denial, defensiveness, guilt, fear and shame into making solid commitments toward ending racism.

The film weaves art, theatre, movement, photographs, spoken word, video archives, and music to amplify the stories of richly varied experiences. In addition to creating an informative social media piece that catalyzes powerful dialogue and supports learning and change for all people, the film is intended to provide a harbor for white people to begin or continue the internal transformation that white allies must undertake to undo race-based oppression.