It might seem that a lot of the conversations that we had about privilege, land acknowledgements and racial politics have been forgotten, co-opted or pushed to the wayside since 2020, but that’s not entirely true. There are some people out there still working, thinking and trying to find valuable ways to create more equity in our modern world.

On this episode of Braver New Worlds, Nathan talks with writer, facilitator, and author Hilary Giovale about what it can look like for white descendants of American settlers to engage honestly with the history they inherited—and to move from shame and defensiveness toward healing, relationship, and repair.

Hilary’s own journey began when she discovered a family genealogy documenting her ancestors’ arrival from the Scottish Highlands in 1739, their receipt of land grants, and their ownership of enslaved people. She describes the discovery as a “life assignment” and traces how it led her into ancestral work, storytelling, grieving, questions of place, and eventually the writing of Becoming a Good Relative: Calling White Settlers Toward Truth, Healing, and Repair.

Our conversation explores the defensive reaction many people have when confronting painful history, important reframes for how to confront it, and the possibility of reconnecting to our place in history in the process.

Hilary shares her own advice towards making personal reparations, entering existing community work quietly and humbly, and growing these actions as practices so they can become less like individual acts and more like a way of life.

Nathan and Hilary also discuss reparative philanthropy, wealth redistribution, ancestral memory, and the possibility of learning from Indigenous leadership without becoming appropriative. Hilary closes with a hopeful observation: even when the political climate feels discouraging, a grassroots groundswell of people is continuing this work.

Links

• Guide to Making a Personal Reparations Plan
• Becoming a Good Relative book page
• Decolonizing Wealth Project
• Article about peak name change
• Website: https://www.goodrelative.com/
• Events: https://www.goodrelative.com/events
• Book: https://www.goodrelative.com/book
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hilarygiovaleauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hilary.giovale/

Hilary Giovale is a writer, community organizer, facilitator, and white American settler who lives on Indigenous land in Flagstaff, Arizona. As an active reparationist, she seeks to follow Indigenous and Black leadership in support of human rights, environmental justice, and equitable futures. She is the author of the award-winning book Becoming a Good Relative: Calling White Settlers toward Truth, Healing, and Repair, now in its second edition. Learn more about Hilary’s work here: https://www.goodrelative.com/