Internal Liberation

We cultivate a community of white men* who contribute to more life and cause less harm. We face the reality that white manhood has deadened and twisted us all in various ways while practicing new ways of being human together. This work leaves us feeling freer, more connected and resourced. We practice together, not just for the sake of our own humanity, but also to build our capacity to support the global struggle for racial and gender justice.

We gather online monthly on the fourth Monday at 8:30 PM EST. Find registration information for our next gathering on the events page.

^{*While this space focuses on the socialization, conditioning, and experiences of white men, all gender and racial identities are welcome. We use the practice of affinity spaces to focus on healing, learning, and accountability for white men.}

Basebuilding & Outreach

Increasing the capacity, scope, and reach of this network and bringing more white men into this network, but most importantly bringing more men into the broader movement for racial and gender justice, by supporting People of Color led organizations, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) local chapters, and other feminist organizations. Not only do we want to bring more white men into the network, but we want to personally invest in each person who joins and build relationships that will form a community based on liberation. This work includes both personal outreach and online organizing through social media, content creation and distribution, political education, email campaigns, and press communications. Base Building is also responsible for developing and coordinating local OWMCL organizing strategy and infrastructure.

Racial & Gender Justice in Sports

White supremacy, toxic masculinity, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and all other forms of oppression permeate and define the world of sports. Sports are sites where many white men are conditioned to reproduce patriarchy and white supremacy. To address that problem, OWMCL has a program that promotes and advocates for racial and gender justice in sports. This project is a forum to have honest conversations about these dynamics and to create different ways to make sports into a safe, empowering, and just space for all and that the power of sport can help break down systems of oppression. It is also an important strategy for outreach because most white men come into contact with sports one way or another.

Policy Advocacy

State and federal policies are pillars that uphold, reinforce, and strengthen the white supremacist, patriarchy. To combat white supremacy and patriarchy, we must coordinate advocacy efforts to advance policy initiatives that promote gender and racial justice. OWMCL has a policy advocacy committee to empower us, as a collective, to address these issues, and to develop our collective and individual confidence and comfort to engage in policy advocacy. Policies that undermine gender and racial justice are enacted on a regular basis, so we must effectively mobilize for gender and racial justice at a policy level.

Youth Programming

While OWMCL works with white men who have been socialized into white supremacist patriarchy since childhood, it’s important we also support children and teenagers in understanding systems of oppression and liberatory alternatives. White supremacy and patriarchy shape children’s developmental experience from a very young age, so our work towards collective liberation must also begin during these formative years. OWMCL’s Youth Programming aims to help children and teenagers unlearn and confront white supremacy, patriarchy, and other oppressions. We also provide adults, who work with young people, the tools to engage with young people on these issues. Initially, we are sharing useful resources. Over time we hope to expand to create additional programs and materials.

Reading Circle

Our reading circle gathers the second Monday of every month to discuss a book or set of articles and how they apply to our lives and work for collective liberation. In the past we have read bell hooks’ Feminism is for Everybody, Angela Davis’ Freedom is a Constant Struggle, My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem, Mediocre by Ijeoma Oluo, The Purpose of Power by Alicia Garza, Sara Ahmed’s article The Nonperformativity of Antiracism, Kindred by Octavia Butler, The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee, Loving by Sheryll Cashin, Becoming Abolitionists by Derecka Purnell, and The Will to Change by bell hooks, and Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon. We gather on the 2nd Monday of every month. Find registration information on our events page.