Matt LaVine

he/him/his

What do you do?

Equity Facilitator/Consultant

But what do you really do?

I work to disrupt and dismantle white supremacy by any means necessary. Another way to put that is that I work toward what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called "beloved community". I think one of the best ways toward this is to follow the advice of Ijeoma Oluo, who said "The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward." In previous work, I did this via teaching and writing--doing race equity work in academia. I felt like the individualism of academia made it very difficult to do community work, though--especially as a white man. So, coming to CEI has been wonderful for my own anti-racist journey.

And what’s your story? As in, what makes you tick?

As I alluded to, it's people--especially people in community-- that make me tick. The ways in which we can lift each other up, empower one another, celebrate life together--it's the best! When we can come together, recognize each other's inherent dignity, and do more together than we'd be able to achieve each one of us individually-- that's good stuff! So, you'll often see and/or hear me focusing on means of connecting together-- language, logic, creation, expression, music, dance, inquiry, etc.

What’s rewarding about working at the Center?

Where to start?! I get to work in a BIPOC-led community to disrupt and dismantle white supremacist patriarchal ableist heteronormative capitalism. I get to work on increasing love and reducing harm in the world. All in all, I feel like we get to live in to the wisdom of Lilla Watson and other Aboriginal elders who said, "If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."