The 12 Steps to Anti-Racist Recovery

Our 12-step program outlines a clear path to unlearn, challenge, and dismantle white supremacy in ourselves and our organizations. These steps are a personal journey and a communal effort rooted in a commitment to transformation.

OUR FOUNDATIONAL STEPS

The 12 Step Antiracism Recovery Model

Step 1: Acknowledging White Supremacy

Admitted we were powerless over white supremacy - that our culture had become unmanageable.

Step 2: Trusting in Shared Conscience

Came to believe that a collective conscience greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Step 3: Surrendering to Shared Conscience

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the collective conscience as we understood it.

Step 4: Courageous Self-Examination

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves and our collusion with oppressive processes.

Step 5: Practicing Openness

Admitted to our collective conscience, ourselves, and another human being, the exact nature of our participation in white supremacy.

Step 6: Embracing Transformation

We’re entirely ready to transform our behaviors that support white supremacy.

Step 7: Seeking Education and Diverse Voices

Humbly sought education, support, and diverse voices to unlearn our misshapen beliefs and thinking.

Step 8: Identifying Those Harmed

Made a list of all persons we had harmed, intentionally or not, and became willing to restore our relationships (to others, ourselves, and the world).

Step 9: Committing to Reparations

Made direct amends and reparations to such people wherever possible, except when doing so would injure them or others.

Step 10: Maintaining Personal Inventory

Continued to take personal inventory and, when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

Step 11: Enhancing Understanding of White Supremacy

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious understanding of white supremacy culture, praying only for increased awareness of our agency to create change.

Step 12: Cultivating a Conscious Community

Having had a spiritual awakening due to these steps, we tried to carry this message to our communities and practice these anti-racist principles in all our affairs.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

The Sarahs began their individual careers in addiction counseling and have always held reverence for their clients who have sought recovery. They believe the 12-steps is a divinely inspired road map that has transformed countless lives to freedom from addictions of all kinds. 

We believe our country’s history of white supremacy is much like an addiction that should be treated with not only practical behavioral changes, but also spiritual remedies. 

We recognize with humility how our 12-step model is an adaptation of and derivative from the 12-step program and, in particular, the contributions of Alcoholics Anonymous. 

12-step-based recovery programs have been crucial to both Sarah and Sarah’s personal healing journeys. We appreciate the importance of holding sacred the steps of those with whom we’re in fellowship. 

To cite this work:

Buino, S. & Suzuki, S.The 12 Steps of Anti-racist Recovery.2023.

FAQ

We are glad to share these steps with you and encourage you to consider how you might build fellowship and community using these steps. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions that can help you get started.

  • The Sarahs collectively focus their work on organizations but also provide consultation and supervision individually. Visit their respective websites to learn about individual services.

  • The Sarahs received wisdom from the late Derrick Dawson, who aptly said, “There are no right ways to do this work, but there are wrong ways…” That being said, our work is focused on recovery, not shame. We expect mistakes to be made (and have probably made them all ourselves!), and we aim to guide your organization to integrate your values and practices.

  • We’re certainly not the boss of you, so you can do whatever you want. Our recommendation is to allow the wisdom of the sequential steps to guide the process.

  • Book a discovery call to see how we put this work into action and how we may support your journey.

Engage with us today and begin your journey towards anti-racist recovery.

Whether you're an individual or an organization, we're here to provide guidance and support through every step of the process. Together, we can contribute to a more equitable and inclusive future.