A New Era of Boundary Setting

In "A New Era of Boundary Setting," Shay Orent from sister chapter IMPACT Boston says that "being able to set clear boundaries now is more important than ever in order to PROTECT ourselves and our community." 

She writes about what has and hasn't changed, examples of ways we can model good boundary setting, and reminders why effective boundary setting is so important now. Check out "A New Era of Boundary Setting."

Thank you, Shay!

IMPACT and Empowerment Self-Defense Online

Until we are able to resume our in-person classes and workshops, IMPACT and Empowerment Self-Defense Organizations are offering some online programs that you may be interested in.

IMPACT Bay Area

Online Intro to Personal Safety (Free)

Wednesday, April 1, 8-9 pm CT

Register here

Online Verbal Strategies for Boundary Setting and De-escalation (Free)

Thursday, April 2, 8-9 pm CT

Register here

IMPACT Boston

Online Assertiveness & Boundary Setting Workshop (Free)
Thursday, April 2, 3:00 - 4:30 CT
Open to adults of all genders 18 years and older

To join

Culture of Safety (Chicago)

How to Stay Sane and Healthy in a Remote World

Saturday, April 4, 2-3 pm

Register

Defend Yourself (Washington D.C.)

Active Bystander Skills for Stopping Anti-Asian Hate

Basic Boundaries During the Pandemic

Dealing with Too Much Togetherness

For more information

Strategic Living (Seattle,Washington)

Self-Defense 101 (6 week course)

For more information

Update March 31, 3:30 pm: Due to COVID-19, IMPACT Chicago programs and workshops have been canceled through April 30 following Governor Pritzker’s extension of stay-at-home & school closures. As official information and guidelines are updated and affect our program offerings, we will send updates to program participants and to our entire community via email, on our website, and through our Facebook page.

What Can Empowerment Self-Defense Lessons Offer Us During a Pandemic?

Sister IMPACT Chapter Prepare in NYC offers insights into "What Can Empowerment Self-Defense Lessons Offer Us During a Pandemic" and how protecting public health is a form of self-defense because it keeps us all safer.

• Safer physical boundaries might be the highest expression of love as we heed the call to implement social distancing measures

• Verbal and physical boundary-setting is a life skill for a variety of challenging situations

• Flattening the curve to slow the spread, protect the most vulnerable, and to ensure that our healthcare workers and institutions can respond at capacity, requires each of us to enact and sustain a new set of boundaries in the interest of public health.

In the full blog, Prepare identifies IMPACT Core Principles and how they apply to physical distancing and COVID-19. 

You can find the full blog HERE.

Thank you, Prepare!

Say Something Superhero

Say Something Superhero Field Guide: A Manual for Eliminating Interpersonal Violence is a project of Safe Passage, Inc. in Northhampton MA which draws upon the anti-violence work of Lynne Marie Wanamaker, ESD Instructor and co-founder of the Empowerment Self-Defense Alliance (ESDA).

It can be awkward being a "Say Something Superhero," that is, bringing attention to behavior  (and by doing so to yourself) that you would like to see changed. Check out the manual for details (link above) but here are some highlights:

• Know that you can make a difference

• Acknowledge the awkward

• Know your objective

• People are watching

• Expect feelings

• Remember: You didn't invite the icky

• Connect with like-minded others

IMPACT Chicago Response to Coronavirus

Update: May 13, 2020
We continue to monitor the spread of COVID-19 and are keeping a close eye on official information and guidance from the CDC, the State of Illinois, and the City of Chicago. We will fully comply with Governor Pritzker's Restore Illinois plan for re-opening, as well as any requirements issued by the City of Chicago's COVID-19 Recovery Task Force. We are committed to providing a safe space for participants and staff in our programs. 

As of now, IMPACT programs and workshops have been canceled through June 30. As official information and guidelines are updated and affect our program offerings, we will send updates to program participants and to our entire community via email, on our website, and through our Facebook page.
 
If you have any questions, please contact us at info@impactchicago.org or send us a message via Facebook  and your inquiry will be routed to the best person to answer your question.
 
Additional Resources from the Chicago Department of Public Health:
Get the Facts: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
What you need to know about COVID-19 (English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese)
What to do if you are sick with COVID-19 (English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese)
Stop the Spread of Germs Poster (English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese)
Symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Poster (English, Spanish)

Gender Inclusivity at IMPACT Chicago

IMPACT celebrates diverse gender identities and expressions, and affirms the rights of people of all genders to feel safe and respected. Our instructor team includes people who identify as women, men, and non-binary. While we are continually working to improve the inclusiveness of our programming, there are also limitations of some of our current courses and aspects that may not feel like a good fit for everyone. You can find specifics about our various programs HERE.

Addressing Stereotypes and Social Inequalities in the Self-Defense Classroom

A couple of years ago, I met a woman in a professional context for the first time who, after learning that I live on the South Side of Chicago, responded that she never goes there. “Aren’t you scared?” she asked, not waiting for an answer, before telling me that if she has to pass through the South Side, she goes by car. And, if it’s dark, she said, she doesn’t stop at red lights. “I figure if the cops pull me over, they’ll understand.”

I felt conflicting urges. Part of me, an indignant and incredulous part, wanted to argue, to draw attention to all the riches the South Side has to offer that she was missing. I had done this a thousand times before in similar conversations. On the other hand, I was also weary of this kind of casual racism. I wanted to simply shake her by the shoulders and make her see that the invisible walls that divide our city, one of the most segregated in the country, shouldn’t be respected. Those walls have been built, year after dreary year, by racist policies and appalling structural violence, and they have been fortified by the city’s residents. I wanted to upend her fortress mentality—one that separates “good” neighborhoods from “bad” neighborhoods—and all the fears that come with it. In the end, I didn’t do any of these things. Now I can’t even remember how the conversation ended, but it did, and quickly. It was not a learning moment for either of us; we both simply moved on, choosing to put our respective energies into a better interaction.

It is not uncommon in self-defense classes to encounter a version of the question: “what should I do if I end up in the wrong neighborhood?” The student’s feeling about what is “wrong”--about places and, inevitably, the people in them--reflects the same atmosphere of racialized fear that created our cities. Biased “commonsense,” in this case, may come to feel like intuition. What’s more, this kind of question is an anxious one. It seeks the false stability of a rule: “don’t be out after dark in X neighborhood, city, or country;” “don’t take public transportation;” or, incredibly, “don’t stop at red lights at night.” So, on one hand, the premise is not something that people committed to creating a better urban future would want to endorse by not refuting. And, on the other hand, the answer that it seeks—a rule of behavior based on fear—is both ineffective and antithetical to the broader goals of empowerment self-defense. What is an instructor to do?

One way to reorient the student, to begin from a different starting point, is simply not to repeat the language of “bad” and “good” neighborhoods. The goal of empowerment self-defense is to encourage people to participate in their own lives to the fullest and to expand their horizons. That, by definition, always involves embracing unfamiliar experiences. Language that recreates an atmosphere of fear curtails all of that rich possibility. Moreover, fear of what’s “out there” shouldn’t obscure what is closer to home. We know that gender-based violence most often happens in quotidian settings with people who are known to the target. Quickly shifting the starting point with both language and information can lay the groundwork for a deeper discussion.

              For over 30 years, IMPACT Chicago has grappled with how to communicate that stereotypes make people less safe while also adding to students’ self-defense toolkits. In the early days, lead instructors addressed the issue when setting up verbal scenarios for the first time or when students asked questions about “bad” neighborhoods. To minimize shaming students who said "wrong" or "bad" neighborhoods and to stress its importance, about 15 years ago lead instructors began to integrate their comments into the course introduction. I asked Chicago IMPACT instructor Rachel Marro to share how this is addressed in programs: "When teaching how to assess potential risk and danger, we emphasize that we get the most accurate information from someone's behavior and their response to our boundaries. Indicators like someone's clothing, language, or which neighborhood they're from do not give us information about their intentions. Reorienting ourselves to pay attention to behavioral red flags can help reduce fear about circumstances that may not actually be threatening, allowing us to engage in the world more freely. Simultaneously, it can help us pay attention to dynamics that may be unhealthy or threatening in circumstances where we've been taught to ignore those red flags-- in particular, with people who are familiar or similar to us."

This commitment to focusing on behavior and not stereotypes is reflected in IMPACT Chicago policy about suited instructor characters. It has long been the policy of IMPACT Chicago that suited instructors do not play characters outside of their own racial/ethnic affiliation.

Empowerment self-defense is a powerful method of individual transformation. Participants can begin to relax their grip on patterns of fear that they have learned over the years as they gain confidence in their bodies and in their voices. They can reenter the world each day with a greater sense of power and purpose. But empowerment self-defense also entails a commitment to creating networks of support among all people who are at risk for or have experienced gender-based violence. It is a social affirmation, one that recognizes that the problem itself does not discriminate and that the best response will crisscross the borders that otherwise divide us.

Priya Nelson

IMPACT Chicago Volunteer and Workshop Leader