Can We Chat?

CAN WE CHAT ABOUT RACE

Can We Chat is a facilitated group discussion process designed to advance and deepen conversations about systemic racism and social injustice. Different than a classroom design with students and an instructor or a staged presentation with an audience, Can We Chat? focuses on the personal experiences, perspectives and inquiry of individuals in the group. These interactions allow people to process thoughts and feelings as well as increase their understanding of issues without fear of being condemned, dismissed, or rebuked.

Key features of the Can We Chat? model include communication coaching and resource sharing. Participants especially value the chance to meet in small groups to discuss a prompting question related to race and then share key observations, thoughts and feelings with the larger group. Special effort is dedicated to connecting historical events and perceptions with the current issues of the day. Sample discussion topics include Ferguson, redlining, white privilege, immigration, racial inequities, implicit bias, COVID-19 and the impacts of George Floyd’s death. Each session is designed as a standalone experience and generates a meeting summary to be archived by the host client.

Objective

Develop capacity to normalize discussion of race in the workplace, and, anywhere.

Process

A series of sessions, thoughtfully designed to create a safe, engaging and enriching space for both large and small groups of employees to voluntarily explore diverse viewpoints and experiences on race. Conversation topics are framed with the understanding that information and perspectives related to race have strong and varying degrees of emotional investment and impact. Lang & Associates facilitators shape opportunities to cultivate collective understanding, foster peer-to-peer support, and practice both critical thinking techniques and communication tips for deepening dialogue.

Initially conducted in-person, Can We Chat? sessions are now exclusively delivered online.

Guiding Principles

Lang & Associates Can We Chat? facilitators are dispute resolution experts and, different than trainers or presenters, function as the neutral caretakers of the Can We Chat? process and purpose. Specifically, as a mixed race team, they bring to bear a depth of knowledge, skills and experience mediating disputes, assisting individuals and organizations in thinking together, and supporting more effective and meaningful ways to communicate and learn.

By anticipating potentially contentious or emotionally-charged exchanges, the Can We Chat? facilitators assume responsibility for creating and enforcing discussion guidelines, offering useful communication tools, and embrace conversation as an opportunity to clarify and validate participant viewpoints.

Production and Products

Can We Chat? agendas are distributed well in advance of a session, and include a variety of optional pre-session resources for review prior to the session. Each invitation emphasizes objectives focused on a race-based topic related to History, Culture, Education, Health, Social Justice, Environmental Justice, Art, Media, or Current Events.

Recent sample topics of conversation: “How to Talk About Race,” "Structural Racism," “White Privilege,” “Race and the Media,” “Racism: A Public Health Crisis,” “Race and Allyship,” “Race and Voting Rights,” and “Race and the Holidays.”

Facilitators follow a detailed PowerPoint program to view resources and direct participants with a specific prompting question prior to breaking into small discussion groups. Key observations from those conversations are later shared in a large group setting, recorded, and included in a meeting summary to be archived by the client.

Because Can We Chat? sessions can be intense in content and emotionally-triggering, each meeting concludes with a brief feedback poll and a Positive Note related to recent advancements—both large and small—toward achieving racial equity.

Can We Chat? conversations are explicitly designed to provoke new thoughts, exchange different viewpoints without judgment, and stimulate enough curiosity to help us better understand, keep talking, and move forward.

Can We Chat? Model is Adaptable to a Variety of Topics and Issues

Originally designed to address issues of race and all its complexities in the workplace, the Can We Chat? discussion series model can be adapted to other topics and issues. Different than a training exercise, Can We Chat? draws on the interests and experiences of its participants to determine what is important for them to convey, absorb, and apply based on a particular subject. The space is created and controlled for each person—whether highly informed or quietly naïve—to be part of an experience that potentially builds the confidence and capacity to constructively engage in difficult conversations.