We all live within an illusion of consent that continues to oppress us.
We exist within systems of oppression that use violence, rape, land theft, torture, and coercion.
These systems hide behind a veil of “consent” that limits our choices and convinces us to conform to a culture that only serves to protect money and those who have it.
These systems exist externally in our nations, cities, and communities. But they also entrap us in our relationships, thoughts, and selves.
When we don’t examine and question these hierarchical systems, we inevitably default to the ones who hold power, rank, and privilege.
Decolonizing and Unsettling Consent
with Dr. Roger Kuhn and Adam Nicholson
3 Sat. sessions - Feb 8, Feb 22, Mar 8
8 AM - 4 PM CT
on Zoom
REGISTER HERE
Consent is not enough to hold our communities and relationships within integrity.
To find fulfillment, joy, and integrity we must untangle ourselves, our beliefs, and our actions from the colonial systems of oppression that create and maintain harmful power dynamics.
When we are unconscious, unaware, or unwilling to regard of the impact of colonization and settler mentality, we can come to agreements of consent that are outside of integrity.
It is in this state that we use consent as a tool of manipulation to hurt, take advantage, and harm others (even those we love).
Yet, we believe there are alternatives. This class is an invitation to explore and re-examine the ways in which we practice consent, create communities, and hold our relationships.
This class is a space to…
question our practices of consent as they are held within ongoing settler systems
shed the discomfort of processing privilege
create a love- and heart-centered community that questions, antagonizes, and blasts through old patterns, behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs that are not held within integrity.
shine a light on our own complicity in maintaining models of consent that are woven into systems of oppression
offer new avenues to think, feel, and act about how we create relationships, groups, and communities within models of consent that are untethered from colonial constructs.
become grounded and aware of what we’re going to gain and lose in order to be within integrity.
model how spaces can be created and maintained in ways that honor our bodies, desires, and limits
gain new perspectives on what integrity and consent mean to you.
You will leave this class with new perspectives on how you want to be in relationships that are disentangled from colonial and capitalistic systems.
You will refine what integrity means to you and how you want to create and maintain it in your life.
This class is experiential and you will be invited into embodied practices to notice, feel, and share. You always get to choose how you participate.
An important part of this class will be experienced with a triad of other participants. You’ll be asked to meet on your own triad outside of class for listening turns. And you’ll also be in collaboration with your triad during class as you co-create, imagine, and dream of new agreements of consent together.
This is for people who are
just starting their journey or well into it. We want to create a collaborative space where we can learn and be present from one another.
interested in questioning how practices of consent can result in manipulation, gate-keeping, violence, hurt, harm when we do not question the systems and power dynamics present in our groups and relationships
ready to deeply question themselves and their own complicity and victimization within systems of oppression.
curious about the intersections of consent, social justice, and decolonization/unsettling.
curious about how models of consent can be expanded into groups and communities without replicating or maintaining the threads of the systems of oppression they exist within.
What’s going to happen
Over 9 weeks we are going to experiment, question, and explore the ways in which we can decolonize and unsettle ourselves, our practices of consent, and our relationships.
We have a map for our process but we are also holding this as an emergent and fluid process. As facilitators, we are here to create the space and hold the group accountable to the agreements and rules.
Triads – each participant will be included in a triad for the duration of the class. We’re inviting each triad to meet at least once for listening turns and reflections.
You’ll also be with your triad more toward the end of our class to co-create, imagine, and dream of new ways to be within consent and integrity in your relationships.
Here is an outline of what we plan to explore.
Session 1 — February 8
Creating community, agreements, setting the container
Problematics of consent & agreements
Power dynamics and the body
Session 2 — February 22
Groups, communities, and colonial oppression
Conflict, curiosity, unlearning, and compassion
Safe enough to be vulnerable and present
Session 3 — March 8
Asking for what you want, asking for limits
Imagining and dreaming a new way with your triad
Integrating, debriefing, and closing
The facilitators
Dr. Roger Kuhn
Dr. Roger Kuhn is a Poarch Creek Two-Spirit Indigiqueer soma-cultural sex therapist, sexuality educator, writer, activist, and musician.
Roger’s work explores the concepts of decolonizing and unsettling sexuality and focuses on the way culture impacts and informs our bodily experiences.
He is a community organizer of the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit powwow, and a board member of the Two-Spirit & Native LGBTQ+ Center for Equity. His first book, Somacultural Liberation, is available in both paperback and audio. His music can be streamed on all digital platforms.
clinical practice website & music and performing website
Adam Nicholson
Adam (they/them) is a facilitator, consent educator, and coach based in Tennessee.
Their 1-1 and group work center around how we can create, negotiate, and maintain heart-centered groups and relationships with clarity and ease.
Adam’s work brings a unique focus to the power dynamics and systems that impact conflict and obstacles in our relational spaces and believes that fulfillment, ease, and settledness can only come when we bring awareness and curiosity to them.
They are influenced by many teachers and thinkers including Paul Muller Ortega and his guidance within the Shaiva-Sakta, contemplative lineage of tantra; Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent; Resmaa Menakem’s Somatic Abolitionism; and many other teachers who center social justice, integrity, and the importance of our responsibility to ourselves and our communities.
“I met Roger in 2020 after seeing his work online and inviting him onto my podcast. The conversation we had was life-changing and transformed the trajectory of my work and the questions I was asking. Since then Roger and I have become close friends. He’s someone I trust completely and love deeply. Roger brings so much heart, wisdom, and shininess wherever he goes and I adore him for that.”
Understanding decolonizing and unsettling
In this class we will be exploring the concepts of decolonizing and unsettling; however, each person’s work may differ.
Decolonization is inherently tied to the land and those bodies who have been impacted either through invasion of the land or the forced servitude to work the land for others. In the lands we now call the United States, decolonization impacts Indigenous people (including Indigenous people of what is now referred to as Latin America and Canada) and Black people (including those who identify as African American).
Unsettling is tied to those who have immigrated to the continent of North America and who benefit from the genocide of the Indigenous people and the indentured servitude of slaves.
Your responsibilities in this class
To take responsibility for your desires and limits.
To notice what you need to show up with vulnerability and authenticity.
To bring awareness to the power dynamics within you and the group.
To be curious, willing to unlearn, and able to hold compassion.
To ask for what you need to feel trust and safety.
To engage with the course content as it applies to your lived experience.
To be present as you are able (physically, emotionally, and energetically).
Applications, registration, and payment info
A group like this requests your time, energy, presence, and money.
These all represent barriers to entry and if you’re someone who lives in a body that is traditionally marginalized and intentionally exploited, those barriers are usually greater.
While we do our best to create and hold groups that bring awareness to power, privilege, and rank – we know we alone cannot dismantle systems of oppression that exist in our cultures, groups, and interpersonal relationships.
In an effort to ease at least one of those dynamics, pricing is based on a sliding scale.
$400 - for folks at or below a living a wage
$500 - can afford occasional treats
$600 - stable income or access to financial support
$700 - stable income and able to put some aside in savings
$800 - have investments and can afford travel/vacations
REGISTER HERE
After you submit your application, Adam will be in touch with you about payment, registration, and next steps.
Class is limited to 50 participants
50% of the seats are reserved for BIPOC, trans, and disabled folks
10 seats are reserved for folks indigenous to these lands and connected to their communities in what is now called the United States, Canada, and Latin America