Lineage line
Format:
Group exercise
Time:
20min
Required materials:
None
Summary:
This is a strong exercise that is useful for closing a day and particularly helpful for groups dealing with grief or loss. In the exercise, participants are asked to acknowledge and connect to the people who have supported them in the past, support them now and will support them in the future.
Key explanation points:
- Ask all participants to stand up in a circle.
- Ask them to honour and recognise everyone who stands ‘behind them’ – those people who struggled before them in the past, who brought them to where they are: family, leaders, other activists, historical figures.
- Then everyone who stands with them, supporting and inspiring them today.
- Then everyone who will come next, following after us – those we support and cherish.
- A facilitator explains that this reminds everyone that they are never alone – these are the people who stand behind us and with us.
Facilitation notes:
This exercise can be very emotional and inspiring, as it is an acknowledgement of all the people in our lives who have supported us, which includes those who are no longer physically with us. Facilitators need to frame this as honouring everyone who has touched our lives as activists, and to keep the overall mood positive and uplifting, without negating the emotions that arise from recognising our ‘lineage’.