124: We Can Do Hard Things, with The Opt-In (Part II)

Dear White Women

As we’re still in our summer of action, we had a conversation lately behind the scenes to ask ourselves: are these episodes actionable enough? And we really believe that to make all of this work sustainable, sometimes it has to be in the little things. It has to be in which link you send to your friend about a book you’re recommending - Amazon or Bookshop? - and it has to be in looking deep within yourself and looking around to build a more diverse community. But sometimes it’s also about doing work - social activism, DEI work in your organizations, and the groups you’re a part of.

We’re back with Part 2 of our fabulous conversation with Kelly and Aurora of The Opt-In to look at all different forms of activism, ways to think about where we’ve collectively been and where we are in this realm, and suggestions for courses and people to look at. And fundamentally the message is: we can do hard things. This isn’t even one of the hardest things we’ll do in our lives, but it may be what has the most lasting impact - not only for ourselves but for our kids. Remember: it’s seemingly little things and little choices that make lasting, much larger changes in our communities and our world.

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What to listen for:

• How The Opt-In thinks about social activism, in both corporate and social spheres
• Why and how women have been doing tough things all along, and how women have the innate ability to do hard things
• Small ways in which we can shift our mindset and our actions to lead to bigger change
• Organizations and people Kelly and Aurora suggest we look at to do this work

About Aurora:

Aurora Archer, an Afro-Latina, hustled up the corporate ladder to the executive suite, and yet still experienced the same implicit bias, microaggressions, and overt racism as her parents, who spent their lives working as domestic help while raising Aurora in Texas. After 25 years of marketing awards and promotions, Aurora realized there had to be a better way to use her talents without sacrificing her true self and health. She wisely identified the white supremacist cultural conditioning at the center of the problem, and Aurora set her sights on transforming our culture, from the inside out, one tough conversation at a time. In 2018, Aurora partnered with her white best friend Kelly Croce Sorg to form The Opt-In, and continued the journey of intentionally supporting Kelly and their white podcast listeners, learning community, corporate clients and others to learn with accountability the racial literacy, stamina, and introspective skills they need to help dismantle white supremacy within themselves and all aspects of their lives.

About Kelly:

Kelly Croce Sorg, an expert in white womanhood, grew up über-privileged as the daughter of an NBA team owner. Her father lived the rags-to-riches story of the white American Dream, and her mom, a homemaker, raised the kids while her dad focused on numerous entrepreneurial ventures. After college, Kelly’s adult life looked a lot like those of her white friends and family. Ask most white women her age, and they would tell you Kelly had it all yet she constantly sought self-improvement. It wasn’t until her bestie, Aurora Archer, gifted Kelly the book White Fragility she realized she wasn’t as “woke” as she thought she was, and after numerous heart-to-hearts with Aurora, Kelly opted into examining her white identity as a way to claim her own humanity. She is now co-founder of The Opt-In, where she continues to learn while engaging in the uncomfortable, but necessary, conversations about race with her co-host Aurora, in what she calls a love letter to her white friends and family, advocating that they can all do better, herself included.

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