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Welcome to Heart-Head-Hands: Everyday Living for Justice

You’ll find here an educational space focused on feeling, thinking, and doing (that is, everyday living) for justice.

Through blog posts and research writing, through e-courses and writing groups, through coaching and speaking, there are many ways to learn, create, and connect.

Statement to Affirm Black Lives Matter

The work of everyday living for justice is always and unequivocally intended to affirm that Black lives matter, to dismantle whiteness and white supremacy, and to work against anti-Black racism and structural violence.
 
As I attempt to discern what’s called of me at this moment (June 2020), I’m thinking again (and always, as everyday practice) about my role as a white educator, facilitator, writer, and researcher. I make mistakes and do harm, while striving toward racial justice. Accountability is important, and I’m in this work long haul. This means that I’m grateful for feedback, criticisms, suggestions, and more. I don’t expect you to reach out, but I’m also open and listening.
This head-shot shows Beth (a white woman with brown hair, wearing a floppy hiking hat) smiling, seated by the ocean as the sun sets.
Beth Godbee, Ph.D. | Educator and Writer

Why Heart, Head, and Hands?

As an educator, I take, as a starting point, that our fully embodied selves matter in the world. We can’t just think our way out of the incredible injustices, dehumanization, violence, and wrongdoing that characterize everyday life. We must feel and act, too.

We need our heart, head, and hands for envisioning and enacting a more just world. We need deep commitments to justice and an attitude of “try-try again” for striving to live out these commitments—both in everyday moments and for the long haul.

This vision guides the work you’ll find here, but don’t let BIG thinking fool you. There’s lots of attention to small matters, too. Weaving the mundane and material with deeply relational, ideological, and spiritual matters, this is a space for you. A messy, imperfect, human space. A space for making commitments, striving, learning, and unlearning.

Recent Posts

This image shares the quote: “It’s lifelong work to unlearn whiteness … And as lifelong work, this is everyday work: work in the moment and work over time”—in black font against a light orange textbox and white border.

Unraveling Whiteness: A Call for More Courage

I’m thinking about whiteness—the structure, ideology, and everyday enactments—as I try to process (yet again) how white people weaponize whiteness. My heart is hurting with rage and grief from recent events, explained in these articles from The Root: “‘There’s an African-American Man Threatening My Life’: Karen Calls Police on Black Man for Asking Her to Leash Her Dog” “Outrage in Minneapolis after Black Man Dies in Custody Following Brutal Police Arrest: ‘I Cannot Breathe!’” “Minneapolis ... Read more ...

This image shows vegan + gluten-free mac and cheese—a mix of creamy cheese and pasta (yellow) and spinach and jalapenos (green) in a light green bowl.

Mac and Cheese with a Kick: 4-Ingredient Vegan and Gluten-Free Twist on This Favorite Comfort Food

Mac and cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods, so when I became vegan in 2013, I began adapting familiar recipes. Some ways of making this favorite food are more complicated, but this 4-ingredient recipe is simple, straightforward, and smile-producing. In the pandemic, I’m cooking at home daily, even as my energy fluctuates day-to-day. This means that I sometimes want to stretch myself, try new recipes, and spend hours in the kitchen. On these days, cooking feels like an expression of ... Read more ...