Gain practical skills to protect yourself in daily life
Not sure what to do when you see someone say or do something hateful?
Take our workshop, Be the Change: Skills for Stopping Hate, to learn how to recognize when an uncomfortable or dangerous situation is taking place.
Then gain simple, effective techniques to respond, depending on the situation. Without making matters worse.
Chances are you’ve heard people say hateful things.
Harassment and attacks on people based on identity — such as Black, Indigenous, and people of color; women, nonbinary, and LGBTQ+ people; immigrants and people with disabilities — are common.
If you’ve seen or heard harassment, microaggressions, or worse, you may have wished there were more you could have said or done.
These incidents are upsetting.
Chances are you’d like to do your part in changing the world too. But thinking about this can feel overwhelming.
Where should you start? What can you even do?
You’re looking for a way to be part of the solution.
Interrupting problematic behaviors when you see them is a concrete way to create change.
It’s a way to provide relief and support to others in the moment.
It’s also a way for you to put your values and beliefs into action.
The impact you’ll have goes beyond just the one incident. It helps break the cycle of oppression.
Studies show that taking action reduces harm — and changes culture.
The thought of interrupting hate might make you a little nervous.
Thoughts like … What if I make the situation worse? What if I’m misreading what’s happening? Can I actually do this? Will I be safe?
That’s totally understandable.
Especially when the behavior might be alarming to witness. And awkward if you know the person who’s doing it.
Thankfully, interrupting problematic behaviors is a skill that you can learn.
Learn skills for interrupting hate with us
There are lots of ways to intervene, and you can pick the ones that fit you best.
Some are as simple as standing next to the person being targeted, asking a distracting question, or checking in afterward.
You don’t have to be athletic, fight back physically, or put yourself in harm’s way. You don’t even have to put together a convincing argument.
In our Be the Change workshop, you’ll find out how to recognize when an uncomfortable or dangerous situation is taking place.
Then you’ll learn simple and effective techniques to respond, depending on the situation. Without making matters worse.
Here’s what some our 35,000+ students have to say about learning these skills with us:
“This workshop was a good reminder to push myself into that uncomfortable place and do something rather than not doing anything and therefore be complicit.”
“This training was great in preparing me to think through options. So it is not one size fits all. The practice is invaluable and builds confidence.”
“In this time of racial injustice, as a white person this training gave me the tools to put my beliefs into practice so I can take action when I see racial intolerance occuring.”
“Gaining new tools and options to respond was critical. The best thing from this workshop was the 3 Ds to use to increase the safety of the person being targeted.”
“After taking the intervention class, I feel a lot more confident that I could deescalate a dangerous situation.”
In this workshop, you’ll learn:
- How to tell if someone’s being harassed
- How to assess if it’s safe for you to step in and help
- How to safely bring the temperature down when a situation is heating up
- 5 steps to take to help get someone out of harm’s way
- What to say if you hear someone saying something hateful — or otherwise oppressive.
We center your needs
This program is inclusive to all identities and trauma-informed.
All our in-person classes are held in wheelchair-accessible spaces.
Feel free to let us know if you have any questions, if you need ASL or Spanish interpretation, or if there is anything else that would help make it possible for you to participate.
All of our classes have a handful of flexible fee spaces for those who can’t afford the full fee. Just get in touch; we don’t want money to be an obstacle to you getting the skills to protect yourself.
Have questions? Contact us.