Jessica Manning: Discussion on Crafting and Politics

In Pennsylvania, Ivey talks with Jessica Manning who works at the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit which helps provide services to kids and families through school. Providing resources helps her see the crafting community as a movement within a movement. She is a mentor who much like CheyOnna, wants to interrogate further the white crafting community. 

Manning said that the micro aggressive actions of her fellow white crafters make her feel that they think they are exempt from participating in the conversation about racism in this country, “There uncomfortableness with our blackness. You benefit from it. You tell people of color how we should behave…You got to get dirty. Because every time that we say anything, we get called angry black ladies. Wake up. Do the work.”  

Manning is also interested in being more trauma-informed when engaging in talks about racism. She thinks that being informed about your own personal triggers and traumas help make for healthier discussions about systematic racism, 

She said, “Don’t shut down the conversation and how do we talk about that. Be aware of the trauma and triggers.” 

Even so, she hopes that the energy after these months after George Floyd’s death does not petter out before the election in November. She is worried that activism throughout the last couple of months will get drowned out, “I want to believe what is happening now is different. But history has taught me otherwise. There is always that wait a minute. That trauma.”  

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