Maureen Walker > Quotes

“Disruptive empathy is a process of engagement that facilitates movement toward a level of open-heartedness and open-mindedness that can take in all that appears to be ‘utterly other’ -- even when, or especially when, the ‘Otherness’ appears in ourselves. … [W]e have to loosen our attachment to the narratives about self and other. We must be willing to be surprised and accept the part of ourselves we previously found embarrassing or shameful.
(p. 66)”
― Maureen Walker, When Getting Along Is Not Enough: Reconstructing Race in Our Lives and Relationships

“We all carry around a Model Me identity of how we want to be seen in the world. Capable, smart, attractive, and yes, empathic are all qualities most of us aspire to embody...a fixed and idealized image. ...

The Not Me we all carry around is a cartoonish devil that sits on our sholder, making us say or do the things we might otherwise find distasteful. It's the voice that says or does things about which we're likely to feel embarrassed or ashamed. When the Not Me voice emerges -- usually out of nowhere -- is when we need to listen carefully."

(pp. 66-67)”
― Maureen Walker

“Disruptive empathy is...[when we] “take in all that appears to be ‘utterly other’ -- even when, or especially when, the ‘Otherness’ appears in ourselves” (Walker, 2020, p. 66).”
― Maureen Walker, When Getting Along Is Not Enough: Reconstructing Race in Our Lives and Relationships