“So I do workshops on what in the industry called Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Although I have a lot of issues about those terms, but essentially I do workshops that create spaces where folks can talk about issues of white supremacy and basically any oppression, homophobia, gender roles, things that we now call diversity, equity, and inclusion, but I like to think of as issues that are actually affecting us so much deeper than that.

I think a lot of times when people seek me out to book one of those workshops, it's because they think that they want to help their company become more diverse or help their company become more inclusive. And I guess what I'm realizing is that the issue with that framework is that it actually makes us only think about how we're helping others and not really thinking about the impact that these issues are actually having on ourselves. And what I have noticed in these workshops is that the people who do the deepest work on this and actually create the biggest changes and make the best impact are people that are wanting to learn about oppression and white supremacy and all these systems. Not just to help others and not just to make their company more diverse or more inclusive, but also because they're realizing that these systems are also making them feel less free, even at the same time that they might be benefiting from it, right? And at the same time they're noticing that even with that privilege, something about this system still does not feel good and does not feel right. That dismantling that system would not only help the people who are not benefiting from it but would also help themselves and would also free themselves. I try to teach people about how these systems work and how imbalanced power systems affect not only the people with the least amount of power but also the people with the most amount of power and how everybody is suffering under that system. And how dismantling the system, changing the system, and finding a different way to live without those imbalances in power ultimately makes everybody feel free.”

Amanda E. Machado is a writer, public speaker and facilitator whose work explores how race, gender, sexuality, and power affect the way we travel and experience the outdoors. She has written and facilitated on topics of social justice and adventure and lived in Cape Town, Havana, Mexico City, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, and other cities. She has been published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Guardian, New York Times, NPR, and other publications. She is also the founder of Reclaiming Nature Writing, a multi-week online workshop that expands how we tell stories about nature in a way that considers ancestry, colonization, migration trauma, and other issues.

www.amandaemachado.com

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