A “storytelling” fellowship in Milwaukee is forcing a “meaningful dialogue” about white privilege and oppression, courtesy of national endowment grants and the state of Wisconsin.

“We’re racist because we live in a racist society,” Megan McGee, founder of Ex Fabula, told OnMilwaukee.com. “The thing that makes you a good person, if there is such a thing, is the fact that you are learning and growing and being human, instead of just trying to deny the whole thing.”

McGee took a YWCA course about “Unlearning Racism” shortly after launching Ex Fabula in 2009 and was inspired to meld race issues with the group’s work “strengthening community bonds through the art of storytelling.” She said the topic of institutional racism – “one of the biggest, nastiest, deadliest problems out there” – didn’t seem like something people wanted to talk about, so Ex Fabula had to force the issue.

The race conversation “was just not one that was happening organically,” McGee told the news site.

In November, “Ex Fabula Fellows” began “dismantling racism by exploring and interrogating the ideas of whiteness and privilege” through the group’s Community Conversation Series. At the city’s Turner Hall Ballroom this month, the conversation continued with more Ex Fabula Fellows and other “storytellers.”

White speaker Kerri Grote talked about how her experiences with her gay uncles and half-black niece compelled her to speak out about gay marriage and white privilege.

“The shame of it has nothing to do with me being white. I can’t change the color of my skin, nor is anybody asking me to,” Grote said, according to On Milwaukee. “The shame that I feel, felt, about white privilege is about being silent. And, that is something I can change.”

“Grote is one of 21 people involved in a new storytelling fellowship focused on privilege and oppression that hopes to help create a citywide conversation about race,” the site reports. “Ex Fabula … plans to hold at least 10 more performances involving the fellows.”

Funding for the important work comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as Wisconsin Arts Board, and Wisconsin Humanities Council, according to the Ex Fabula website.

“I’d like to have more events; I’d like to have another fellowship; I’d like to get every single person in the Greater Milwaukee Area actually talking about this, because I don’t think it’s happening right now,” McGee said.

The all white Ex Fabula crew provides some interesting information on its website for anyone not convinced white privilege and race issues are a huge problem in Milwaukee.

“Milwaukee is the country’s most segregated urban area; Wisconsin is the worst state at protecting African American children, the place that incarcerates the highest percentage of African American men, and more,” according to the site.

There’s also other handy resources for further exploration:

• Read an example of a story that reveals privilege and oppression (such as “My downstairs neighbors”). This story is a selection from “The Racism We All Carry”, an essay by Roxane Gay that appears in her collection of essays, Bad Feminist.
• Take Harvard University researchers’ online tests to explore subconscious bias.
  Click “I wish to proceed” and then select a test such as “Race” or “Skin tone”.
• Peruse YWCA of SE Wisconsin’s list of “Racial Justice Resources”
• Check out Rid Racism Milwaukee’s calendar of events
• Coming SOON! Audio and video stories from the fellows!