S3 E9: Bystander Intervention for Racism, Police Violence & Ending Harassment in All Its Forms

After a hiatus to organize and lead election activist events 7-days-a-week, we’re back! 

Our guest this week: Jorge Arteaga, the Director of Operations for Hollaback!—an incredible FREE bystander intervention training org whose mission began with stopping street sexual harassment and has expanded, to stop harassment in all its forms.

Jorge is also the originator of their training in Bystander Intervention to Stop Police Sponsored Violence and Anti-Black Racist Harassment, which he previews during our interview. 

In this episode:

• Hear Jorge’s powerful personal story
• Learn techniques to safely practice the 5 Ds of Bystander Intervention (Distract, Delegate, Delay, Document & Direct intervention), especially in the presence of police violence. 
• Find out about all the empowering free trainings Hollaback! offers 
• Practice a meditative exercise called Box Breathing, which can help reduce the stress and even trauma when performing bystander interventions. (We’ll also share this practice as a Podcast Extra you can tap into any time you need a reminder or a moment of Zen!)

If you don't know Hollaback! you'll love this org and their excellent trainings, which offer ways each one of us, whatever our identities, can show up as allies for others in trouble. Hollaback! has dedicated training modules to help intervene to stop workplace sexual harassment, LGBTQ+ harassment, street sexual harassment, online trolling, COVID-related Asian/American and xenophobic harassment and this fall they added a training in stopping voter intimidation at the polls! 

Hollaback! also offers advanced techniques for conflict de-escalation, a training to help examine and shift our implicit biases, and a beautiful training to strengthen our resilience to start healing from all 2020 has entailed. 

Learn more about Jorge and find links to resources on our episode page at bit.ly/hm2pod0309.

Subscribe now and catch the 10th episode of the #HealMeToo #AtHome Season 3 later this month on Apple and all the usual podcast platforms as well as on our YouTube channel — for insights, art and activism to meet the needs of now. 

Between episodes, you'll find us on all social media @healmetoofest and at healmetoopodcast.com.

The #HealMeToo Podcast is hosted and edited by Hope Singsen—the artist, creativity researcher and survivor-activist who founded the #HealMeToo Festival and Podcast in NYC in the Spring of 2019. 

Music Credits:
Lead vocal: Jovan Martinez sampling "It's a Love Thing" by The Whispers. 
Choral Improvisation recorded live at a #HealMeToo Festival & Podcast event, led by: Katie Down, Bonita Oliver, Jessica Lurie & Vanessa Marie.

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