Dr. Rita began writing just before George Floyd was killed; its publication date, 5/24/2022, falls on the eve of the second anniversary of his death
The book is designed to rewire our understanding of systemic racism and offer a practical approach to dismantling oppression
LOS ANGELES, May 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Dr. Rita Sinorita Fierro, Ph.D. is a white woman with dual Italian/American citizenship who has studied systemic racism for 30 years, across four continents. Dr. Rita channels this wealth of experience and academics into her powerful new book, Digging Up the Seeds of white Supremacy (Collective Power Media), to be released May 24, 2022 – the eve of the second anniversary of George Floyd’s death.
A coach and healing professional, she interweaves memoir with a robust discourse on race and culture to bridge the gap between the construct of racism and the practice of self-healing. Dr. Rita’s narrative is grounded in historical fact; she adds illustrations to visualize her message, personal practice notes, and "How To" guidelines to help readers embody antiracism.
Created via iPad, Dr. Rita’s drawings were conceptualized as graphic recordings to assist readers in digesting complex issues, further support visual learners, and pictorialize 500+ years of history across 10 systems. The tree image – "The Whole System: Roots to Branches" – functions as an infographic for the book’s thematic flow: the System with a capital "S," which brings all the single systems with a lower-case "s" together.
Dr. Rita says that when we act from fear, we’re upholding "the System." The progressive, liberal side of our culture continues to accumulate evidence of injustices – but we have not found our way to diffuse them. Analysis has led to paralysis. How do we use such evidence not to confirm what we already know, but to transform the racist systems that drive society – to change the world for the better, for everyone?
In the "Personal Practice" section of the chapter "Building Collective Power," she writes,
- "Connect with my body: Feel the fear. Feel it until it subsides"
- "Connect with others: share the challenge of living beyond fear."
- "How does it feel to live from trust instead of fear?
Later, she writes, "We must stop accepting that inequality, inequity, and injustice are normal and inevitable. We must engage in collective intellectual imagination about what it looks like to meet the needs of all."
At a time when misinformation is rampant, distrust of "the other" is epidemic, and rights are threatened daily, this book could not be timelier. Dr. Rita hopes that by following its lead, people can build collective power and co-create new seeds together – "an exercise in replacing fear with love."
About the author:
Dr. Rita Fierro Ph.D. is an intellectual artist, author, speaker, and radio host. For 30 years, she has studied systemic racism. Combining a coaching approach with evaluative thinking, she leads a consulting firm that assesses projects, social inequities, and provides processes that illuminate complexity for businesses, foundations, non-profits, NGOs, and the United Nations. Dr. Rita has a Ph.D. in African-American studies from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and a masters in Sociology from the University of Rome, Italy. She co-founded Home for Good Coalition so as to transform systemic racism by placing the voices of people who were traumatized by systems at the center of its work. Born in New York City, she lived in her family’s ancestral town in Italy from age 10 until her college years. Dr. Rita comes from a long line of traditional healers, and she is both a Reiki and family constellation practitioner.
Dropbox: images, excerpts, illustrations, etc:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r01yt4fa62ki8es/AAACXujVS2Avf9F-aT0Npaaia?dl=0
Dr. Rita interviewed for Life Her podcast
https://youtu.be/PK0JnCDncTA – Discussing: The Bridge Between Systematic Racism and Healing
Medium articles by Dr. Rita:
https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/being-white-in-racial-healing-work-7057d4024ad7
https://medium.com/@ritasfierro/white-people-aint-free-7ac633c875a9
Digging up the Seeds of white Supremacy
ISBN 978-0-5783786-3-3 (Hardcover)
ISBN 979-8-9858796-0-5 (Kindle)
ISBN 979-8-9858796-2-9 (Audio book)
ISBN 979-8-9858796-3-6 (Large-print hardcover)
ISBN 979-8-9858796-1-2 (paperback)
https://www.amazon.com/Rita-Sinorita-Fierro/e/B09ZXT9FFW
https://www.drritawrites.com/
Contact: Laura Grover:
336236@email4pr.com
or 310-994-1690
SOURCE Dr. Rita Sinorita Fierro, Ph.D.
