Two Wives and A Spark

"For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. Racism and homophobia are real conditions of all our lives in this place and time. I urge each one of us here to reach down into that deep place of knowledge inside herself and touch that terror and loathing of any difference that lives here. See whose face it wears. Then the personal as the political can begin to illuminate all our choices." Audre Lorde

In today's episode of Two Wives and A SPARK, we (Rachel and Lia Rosen) make a contrast between what our childhood was like and how one of us felt like that childhood was stolen from her. Lots of food for thought in this episode.

We are trying to create a world that we haven't seen; one that does not exist yet: one without racism. We describe what we've experienced since we have been together and how we see race as a couple.

Resources mentioned:

• Waking Up White, by Debby Irving
• White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo
• To learn more about the phenomenal Audre Lorde, you can visit this link and check out the National Museum of African American History and Culture

If you're curious, here's more information on S.P.A.R.K. products and services.

We'd love to hear from you!

Let's connect on Instagram or via email ([email protected]).

And check out our site: www.twowivesandaspark.com

Hey y'all. It's Lia. We've had a lot of pain surface yet again in this country. There's lots of pain that is always going on in this country. But when it takes over the media outlets and social media becomes even more heightened in the lives of those of us who are usually carrying consciously and subconsciously pain that happens in this country every day.

This week I went back to my roots and did a little bit of writing. And I just thought I would share it with you.

"Community isn't always synonymous with warmth and harmony. Politeness is often a veneer for understanding when in reality it masks uncovered territory, the unspeakable pit that we turn from because we know the pain and anger that can dwell there. It is important to remind ourselves that real community is forged out of struggle. This is the crucible from which a real community grows." Linda Christensen

Welcome to the first episode of Two Wives and A SPARK! In today's episode, you will meet us, Rachel and Lia Rosen, founders of S.P.A.R.K. We are in an interracial lesbian marriage and are very aware of how much race influences everything, so we're excited to share who we are, how we met, and also share our story and "why" for this work.

We're bringing two racial lenses to this conversation: Rachel as a white woman and Lia as a Black woman. Professionally we have been working in education for over a decade, and we actually met working at the same middle school tens years ago. Now we both facilitate conversations about racial equity, inclusion, and antiracism all the time. Lia is a school leader in Austin, Texas, and Rachel is a DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) Strategist and Facilitator.

We're sharing some of the conversations we have daily in hopes that it sparks a more nuanced conversation with others.

One of the things we talk about is the S.P.A.R.K. acronym, which reminds us to show up to these conversations with intentionality:

• Show up authentically
• Pause and listen
• Ask; do not assume
• Respect diversity
• Kindly expect messiness

If you're curious, here's more information on S.P.A.R.K. products and services.

We'd love to hear from you! Let's connect on Instagram or you can email [email protected]

Launching April 20th