“Loving yourself is a political act. We are taught not to love ourselves, and from that place we are easily manipulated...Love yourself so much that this love changes the world.”  --Rita Shimmin, UNtraining co-founder

UNtraining White Liberal Racism


We explore what it means to be white, bringing awareness to white conditioning and privilege that we did not choose as children, but that we can take responsibility for as adults.

NEW Phase 1 Groups start Feb 2025

LEARN MORE & APPLY!
Deadline Dec 15


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People of Color UNtraining


We explore how to communicate authentically and compassionately with each other about issues of race,  and how to heal the effects of trauma resulting from being the targets of racism.

Email pocgroup@untraining.org

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Beyond Black and White: Being Chinese in America


We explore the interface of internalized racism and our own cultural conditioning with others of Chinese descent to bring healing for ourselves and others.

Special  event for Chinese group alumni
Oct 6: Day trip to Locke, California - once home to the largest rural Chinese community in America. Register here

To be informed when new groups are offered, sign up here

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Jewish and White in America

We will explore together the complexities of Jewish and white identities—target and privileged—with openness, intensity, and deep respect.

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THIS PILOT PROGRAM IS  NO LONGER BEING OFFERED



Community-Led UNtraining Oral History Project Launches! 

mari and cliff, project producersHarnessing the power of story to celebrate the UNtraining’s community-based, radical self-exploration as a critical approach to achieving social justice. Check out the brief documentary on the UNtraining and its impact—this is a taste of the kinds of personal narratives this project will highlight. Mari Amend and Cliff Mayotte (left) are the producers. Watch video here

What Participants Say

The UNtraining changed my life. It helped me move past shame and start to look at how I could drive change - for myself, for those around me, and for my community. It gave me an incredible amount of hope and made it possible for me to be a true support and co-conspirator with BIPOC colleagues and friends.”

 Doing this work in community is one small and incredibly important aspect of disrupting the ways in which white supremacy separates all of us, especially us white folx from each other, preventing us from collectively recognizing, understanding, and healing our white conditioning.

I learned to be more real and to experience and manage many different feelings and reactions simultaneously. I am much more able to stand in your shoes, whoever you are, because I learned to stand in my own.

The support and compassion that existed in the group, as modeled by the facilitators was amazing and freeing. I got an opportunity to begin a deeper journey into my relationship to white privilege and racism.


UNtraining in the Media: Articles, Blogs, Interviews

Social Justice  - What's in it for White Men?

Post on Good Men Project by UNtraining teacher Gregory Mengel, April 2019

"UNtraining Cultural Conditioning" - New Economy Now Podcast with Guests Ro Horton and Swan Keyes, Interviewed by Erin Axelrod, Dec 2022

In this episode, they discuss the far-reaching effects of cultural conditioning, white people's resistance to recognizing their racism, and the process of “UNtraining” racist programming. Ro and Swan share their personal transformation journeys, and what led them to this line of work -- and more.

From White Supremacism to Justice: The Role of Education in Moving "Good White People" from Denial to Responsibility

A research paper by Lisa Sandoval, UNtraining participant, and candidate for Master in Public Administration, Spring 2019

Going to the Root: How White Caucuses Contribute to Racial Justice

Article by UNtraining assistant Alex Vlasic in The Arrow, A Journal of Wakeful Society, Culture & Politics, July 2019


Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People

Article by UNtraining participant Kelsey Blackwell, in The Arrow, A Journal of Wakeful Society, Culture & Politics, August 2018

UNtraining on "Talk It Out Radio"  KPFA 94.1 FM
Sun. Oct. 14, 2018 

Co-founder Robert Horton and senior teacher Kathleen Rice interviewed  by host Marlena Willis.

ARCHIVED: LISTEN HERE


Making the Invisible Visible: Healing Racism in Our Buddhist Communities

Personal statement by UNtraining founder Robert (Ro) Horton. Their section starts on Page 9.  August 2000


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