AUDACITY
A 6-MONTH COLLECTIVE REBELLION
FOR PEOPLE WITH MARGINALIZED IDENTITIES
Hi, precious soul. Can we talk about “self-liberation” for a sec?
We’ve all heard the catchphrases: Step into your power. Dismantle your internalized oppression. Reclaim yourself from capitalism and colonialism. But what does it actually MEAN? Especially on a random Wednesday morning, when all you can think about is what you have to get done, and who needs what from you, how to avoid your neighbor’s obnoxious microaggressions, and how to somehow be enough without being too much…all while the giant committee of inner critics that lives in your head is being especially loud?
For those of us that are forcibly marginalized because of who we are, who we love, or how our minds and bodies function, we’ve spent a lifetime learning to get by - shrinking, masking, code-switching and dismissing the value of our own internal experiences. And at the same time, we’ve learned to measure our worth through what we offer: being hyper-competent, “our impact”, constantly advocating for other people’s well-being, or holding ourselves responsible for other people’s reactions, responses and emotional needs.
We spend a lifetime practicing self-abandonment,
so we can’t imagine what it’s like to feel whole, free and centered in our own story.
If you’re here, reading this, you haven’t given up yet. You’re probably a seeker; though a part of you feels worn down and weary, another part of you keeps reaching for a sense of self that feels more whole, and more rooted in the real you and your inner callings. It’s time we bridge the gap between abstract and romantic notions of self-liberation and the practical realities of existing in this fucked up world, so you can actually get free.
What will it take to truly, radically show up on your own terms in a world that demands your perpetual compliance, even as you continue to navigate discrimination, oppression and grief for the injustice of it all? What will you need to let go of, and what will you need to reclaim?
That’s what we’re going to help you figure out, if you’re ready to commit to yourself.
Yeah? Read on!
AUDACITY is right for you if…
You’re excited to be in an intersectional space where you’re surrounded by other marginalized people, without your identity being reduced to a single marker.
You’d describe yourself as a (too) high-functioning person with one or more marginalized identities
You’re tired of intellectually critiquing systems of oppression while still feeling like you’re still full of constant self-doubt
You know you want to show up for yourself in some different ways, but you’re struggling to figure out how to realistically do it
You simultaneously feel excited about stepping into your power, and kinda terrified of what might happen if you do
You wish you could trust yourself more deeply.
You’re ready to stop reflexively abandoning yourself - no more overriding your own instincts, putting on a mask, being responsive to other people’s needs before you even make contact with your own inner voice, holding yourself responsible for other people’s choices, or looking back at prior moments and saying I don’t feel good about what I did / didn’t do.
You’re ready to stop using self-criticism as a motivational tactic (how’s that working for you?) and turn towards a more rich, curious, embodied, genuinely liberatory way of changing.
You’d like to experience inside-out change, not surface-level BS about your mindset. Mindset doesn’t dismantle oppression.
You’d like to be deeply supported and guided through experimenting and exploring for yourself. You don’t just want to rehash intellectual and theoretical conversations; you can get that shit from a book.
You’re done with trying to navigate this alone. You’re ready to be with other people that get it and to give yourself the support you deserve.
So HERE’s a thought - what if, for once, you’re not
the only marginalized person in the room?
Ready for the details?
LET’S GO
Audacity is a
6-month Group Rebellion
for marginalized people ready to make a relentless commitment to emerging into your truest, fullest self in a world that has trained you to stay small.
You’ll do this in an intimate, curated cohort (capped at 10 or fewer) - all people who also have marginalized identities.
In our 6-hour kickoff and weekly 90-minute calls, we’ll use a combination of teaching, internal reflection exercises, and conversation to help you revisit and more deeply understand the subtleties of your own internalized oppression, and then powerfully and gently begin to change.
Our space is imbued with vulnerability, laughter, honesty, love, intention. You’ll experience what it’s like to be safe to unmask, to actually show up as you are - a rare gift for those of us that too often have to shape-shift to keep dominant-identity people comfortable. You’ll also experience the right to fully claim who you are and what you’ve experienced without minimizing it, comparing it, or qualifying it.
Together, as individuals and a cohort, you’ll grieve the things you’ve had to do to survive (and the ways they still live in you), and then learn how to forge a new path where you move to the center of your own lives, embrace your internal power, and show up on your own terms - all while navigating the realities of oppression and discrimination.
Here’s the shape it takes:
We begin with our 6-hour virtual kickoff event!
6 months of WEEKLY 90-minute gatherings (full details further down this page), where you’ll be facilitated through:
- PHASE 1 (8 weeks): Understanding the old “agreements” you made with the world around you, how those agreements disguise themselves and result in internalized oppression, and identifying the ways they show up in your life/keep you from fully trusting yourself.
- PHASE 2: (4 weeks): Deciding exactly what you’d like to change in your own life, and how it would look to do that - using Meera’s Self-Liberation Framework!
- PHASE 3: (12 weeks) Experimenting with a completely new way of engaging with the world and your own power, even when that world remains oppressive and unjust. Engaging with concrete ideas, tools and concepts that allow you to move through your experiences with greater ease, intentionality, internal power and self-trust.
One 30-minute private coaching call with Meera between Phase 1 and 2, where we’ll make sure you’re feeling clear on your area of change and what it looks like!
EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, we build in:
- trauma-informed emotional safety: because we all carry personal histories, and oppression is also trauma.
- the practice of intertwining power with your messy, human truth: you can be powerful without being a perfectionist.
- room to slow down: let go of our culture of urgency; the biggest change can be unhurried and gentle.
- community-building: one awkward, anxiety-inducing icebreaker does not create community (HA). We’re going to do it the REAL way; leaning into humanness, a natural pace and slowly building trust together.
- the magic combo: an experience where you’ll feel supported AND challenged
- a no-gaslighting zone: a context where you NEVER have to prove that your identities or experiences of oppression are valid or real
- collaboration: a blend of education and facilitation - because even the most mind-blowing concept is abstract until you apply and adapt it to yourself
- nuance: room for you to be your full, multifaceted, human self alongside others courageous enough to join you
- expansion: who YOU are influences the experience we all have together, and that’s the whole point.
So who’s going to lead this thing?
In the world:
I like to joke that I only know how to exist at intersections. I’m a US-born Queer Woman of Color, the daughter of South Indian immigrants, suffer from still-undiagnosed chronic health conditions, have upper caste privilege, am likely neurodivergent, and come from a lineage of intergenerational trauma.
I also have a deep love of onions, belly-deep-laughter-as-resilience, our quirky rescue dog Choti, and my precious spouse, Eliot, with whom I’m in an interracial marriage.
Your primary leader:
Meera Mohan-Graham (she/her)
In the work:
Meera is a certified professional coach (you know this by now, you’re on my website!) that works with marginalized and multiply-marginalized people on what it looks like for each person to consistently show up for themselves on their own terms while continuing to navigate the realities of oppression and discrimination.
From over 750 direct hours of one-on-one work with marginalized people (BIPoC, LGBTQIA+ folks, people with disabilities), she has developed a new self-liberation framework combining existing knowledge on internalized oppression with her own new contributions to the topic across identities, and that’s the framework that we will use to steer the Group Program. YES!
Your supporting facilitator:
Dr. Eliot Graham (he/him)
In the world:
I’m a white, transgender man married to a queer woman of color (Meera!). I grew up in the bible belt, and moved through the world as a queer, gender-ambiguous person until I began physically transitioning at age 22. Since then, I’ve experienced the privilege granted to a white, straight, typically-abled man who passes as cis; reconciling that with my formative experiences as a visibly trans person and the present ways people I love experience discrimination, are things I think about often.
I also really love reading, eating, running, talking with Meera, and talking with Meera while eating.
In the work:
A former professor and current therapist, Eliot has a PhD in Education and a Masters in Counseling. In his current therapy practice, he works primarily with trans, gender-diverse and queer clients.
With 12 years of experience teaching college courses focused on racial inequality, Eliot is an expert in creating experiential learning spaces that are connective, collaborative and lead to insight and growth, and that’s the gift he brings to the planning of this group.
To the group, he will also bring his presence as a therapist, his identity as a trans man, and play a support and co-facilitation role. While the group will NOT directly delve into any personal trauma or other therapy-specific paths, Eliot will be able to provide guidance, safety and occasional education to support the changes you’re making.
Interested? Curious to know more? We’re so glad!
The current beautiful cohort of AUDACITY is set and our gatherings are in motion.
We haven’t set dates for the next one yet: please sign up below and we’ll let you know when we begin to build our next cohort!