Four Corners

Instructions

  • The room is divided into categories for each of the room’s four corners (e.g. favorite colors, animals, occupations, places, etc.)

  • The caller labels each corner for participants (e.g. this corner is elephants, this corner is giraffes, this corner is dogs, and that corner is cats)

  • Participants move into the corner that most aligns or resonates with their interests

  • Participants within each corner discuss their reasoning and experiences amongst themselves before a few from each corner share with the entire room 

Praxis (why + theory):

This exercise is best executed when the group has some familiarity with each other. I typically structure the prompts in such a way that they move from surface-level (e.g. favorite corners) to more vulnerable (e.g. biggest anxieties). 

When conducted with tailored prompts/labels for each corner, the activity can generate intimate conversations. When provided with an adequate amount of time, participants frequently begin to excavate the “why” behind their choice to join a specific corner. 

I appreciate adrienne maree brown’s description of the “why framework” in their blog post about transformative justice–the “why” brown identifies is the same “why” that I have witnessed participants explore with each other. brown writes: 

‘Why?’ is often the game changing, possibility opening question. That’s because the answers rehumanize those we feel are perpetuating against us. ‘Why?’ often  leads us to grief, abuse, trauma, mental illness, difference, socialization,  childhood, scarcity, loneliness... Also, ‘Why?’ makes it impossible to ignore that  we might be capable of a similar transgression in similar circumstances.

In our respective corners, we learn that there are storied reasons behind our preferences. Sometimes, our reason is revealed through someone else’s story. Regardless of our own “why,” we are challenged to witness our peers’ and be confronted with the tensions that arise as we realize that the distance between our concerns is usually not as vast it initially seemed. 

My favorite memory of this activity was with Spelman College Section, National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) circa 2015-2016. The four corners were labeled something like house parties, kick backs, balls, and block parties. I was in the “kickback corner,” but when we got to the “why” behind those in the “house party,” a big ass twerk circle broke out as participants explained the joy and freedom of shaking their asses.  

During our NCNW bonding workshops, we always ended with Four Corners, and classifications as the last prompt:

  • Freshmen: what do you wish you had known coming in? 

  • Sophomore: what did you learn as a freshmen?

  • Junior: can you share some of your reflections?

  • Senior: what legacy would you like to leave ?

Tears almost always ensued as juniors reflected on their relationships to graduating seniors, and those seniors weepily shared their love and gratitude for the honor of leading this [organizational] family.