Facing the White Shadow How to Tame Your Racism and Become a True Ally to People of Color

Facing the White Shadow: How to Tame Your Racism and Become a True Ally to People of Color is for White people who are just starting the work of understanding their racism and also for those who have been doing the work but still experience anxiety and wonder what they might be doing wrong. Many White people often feel feel overwhelmed, ashamed, and confused about how to be trustworthy antiracist allies to people of color. Facing the White Shadow is a self-help book that guides White readers to understand and manage their own racism. Readers learn how to be vigilant and talk back to their internalized racism---their White shadows--- so they can enjoy authentic and mutually satisfying relationships with people of color. No more tensing up at work when race is discussed. No more fear of being misunderstood by friends or called out or cancelled on social media. Filled with relatable stories, exercises, and solid advice, this book offers a compassionate framework for White readers without minimizing the devastating effects of racism on people of color. The book is a unique collaboration between a preeminent Black couple and family therapist who is also a longtime trainer in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a White journalist who has reported on issues of racial, social, and economic justice for decades.

Marlene F. Watson, PhD, LMFT is the Director of Training at the Ackerman
Institute for the Family in New York, Emerita Associate Professor of
Counseling and Family Therapy at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and
author of the critically acclaimed book Facing the Black Shadow. She was the
first-ever couple and family therapist to receive the prestigious Robert Wood
Johnson Health Policy Fellowship. She speaks internationally on issues of race
to professional and general audiences and was awarded the American Family
Therapy Academy's 2009 Distinguished Contribution to Social Justice award.
She was also a columnist for Heart & Soul Magazine, dedicated to the health
and wellness of African American women. She is a licensed couple and family
therapist and maintains a private practice in the Philadelphia area.
Laura Markowitz is a National Magazine Award-winning feature writer,
contributing producer for Arizona Public Media, and a book writer and
editor. Her articles, radio series, and TV productions focus on social justice
and systems change. She is coauthor of Voices On The Economy: How Open-
Minded Exploration of Rival Perspectives Can Spark New Solutions to Our
Urgent Economic Problems (VOTE 2023), coeditor of The Art of Psychotherapy
(Wylie, 1999) and The Evolving Therapist (Guilford, 1992), and former editorin-
chief of the award-winning magazine for LGBTQ people and their loved
ones, In the Family.