Lets Talk About Race

A few weeks ago I attended a training provided the Department of Justice for training on how to conduct a community dialog on race. The training just happened to occur right after the Trayvon Martin verdict and as I was also addressing some personal issues in my life having to do with race. Our facilitator for the training, Knight Sor, shared that he and his colleagues meet up regularly to have lunch and just talk about race. A casual lunch between a few colleagues has turned into a regular occurrence to talk about race.

As I sat through the training I thought about what Knight was saying. As much as I fancy myself a cosmopolitan kind of gal, I have found that when it comes to thinking about race I know MY thoughts, MY beliefs and MY history. My perceptions, beliefs, ideas and history are mine but that doesn’t mean that I cannot learn what others have lived through.

There are four phases to the workshop and while taking notes the four phases seemed to provide great conversation amongst the attendees of the workshop. As the workshop wrapped up, we all continued to chat but as time ran out and we all headed to our respective homes and lives, I thought that if I wanted to keep the conversation going I had to do something and this series of blog posts inspired by the phases came to be.

My vision is to offer people a place to write about race however positive or negatively it may affect you. I am not naive enough to think that there may be some very vocal people who disagree but, as I shared with a friend, I fear staying exactly where I am more than I fear people pushing back. That said, I invite you all to take a look at the proposed schedule and link up if you are able. This series would run throughout the month of August and writers and bloggers are welcome to participate as they are able.

The topics and timeline:

August 9th:
1. Who Are We?
-Sharing personal stories from your perspective about race.

August 16th:
2. Where are we?
-Highlighting different experiences and perceptions about the kinds of problems/challenges you think society is facing regarding race.

August 23rd:
3. Where do you want to go
-Thoughts about possible change.
What are the main changes that need to happen to increase understanding & cooperative action.

August 30th
4. What will we do to make a difference?
-Ideas and concrete steps we can take to face the challenges of race related issues.

Please consider sharing your story about race and join in on the conversation. It’s not always easy. its not always pretty but it’s necessary.

-r

Want to join in on the conversation?

Link up below!

Grab the button for your blog: