Hamline Church

21 Day Anti-Racism Challenge

21 Day Antiracism Challenge

October 4 – October 25
Individual work with 3 optional Zoom  meetings

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd while in police custody – we as Christians are being called to stand against the sin of racism and do the hard work of dismantling systemic oppression that harms black and brown people in our country. Hamline Church takes this calling seriously. One of the most important first steps we must take is to do our own inner work – to recognize our own implicit bias and privilege, and better understand how we can be a part of healing and reconciling. We invite you to join with us in a 21 Antiracism Challenge. Each day we will engage in an activity that helps us become more anti-racist in the ways we think and act. 

The Challenge
  • Pick one of the resources listed every day for 21 days.
  • Diversify your understanding by doing some of each.
  • Track and reflect by using the planning tool - download it here
  • Share your reflections at the end of the challenge.
  • Pray for the places you are challenged and for those you are learning about whose lives may be different than yours.
  • Join us for conversations via a zoom meeting on any or all of the following days/times:

Watch

Racism is Real, A split-screen video depicting the differential in the white and black lived experience. (3 minutes)

Confronting ‘intergroup anxiety’: Can you try too hard to be fair? Explores why we may get tongue tied and blunder when we encounter people from groups unfamiliar to us. (5 minutes)

CBS News Analysis: 50 states, 50 different ways of teaching America’s past, Ibram X. Kendi reviews current history curriculum production and use across the U.S. (5 minutes)

The Disturbing History of the Suburbs, An “Adam Ruins Everything” episode that quickly and humorously educates how redlining came to be. (6 minutes)

What Kind of Asian Are You? Humorous two minute YouTube video that illustrates the utter silliness of the way many white Americans interact with Asian Americans. (2 minutes)

Birth of a White Nation, Keynote speech by legal scholar Jacqueline Battalora, offers a blow-by-blow description of the moment the idea of, and word for, “white” people entered U.S. legal code. (36 minutes)

13th, Netflix documentary by Ava DuVernay about the connection between US Slavery and the present day mass incarceration system. (1 hour, 40 minutes)

This is Us, Dr. Eddie Glaude explains why blaming current racial tensions on Donald Trump misses the point. (3 minutes)

Watch

How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them, TED Talk by Vernā Myers, encourages work vigorously to counter balance bias by connecting with and learning about and from the groups we fear. (19 minutes)

The danger of a single story, TED Talk by Chimamanda Adiche, offers insight to the phenomenon of using small bits of information to imagine who a person is. (18 minutes)

How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time, TED Talk by Baratunde Thurston that explores patterns revealing our racist framing, language, and behaviors. (10 minutes) 

Indigenous People React to Indigenous Representation in Film And TV, Conversation with a diverse range of Indigenous people by FBE about  media depictions of Indigenous people, Columbus day, and Indigenous identity. (15 minutes)  

What Being Hispanic and Latinx Means in the United States, Fernanda Ponce shares what she’s learning about the misunderstanding and related mistreatment of the incredibly diverse ethnic category people in U.S. call Hispanic. (12 minutes) 

Tyler Merrit Project: Before You Call (3 minutes)

Uncovering the Greenwood Massacre, nearly a century later 60 Minutes segment on the 1921 Tulsa Massacre (13 minutes)

Listen

Teaching While White, hosted by Jenna Chandler-Ward and Elizabeth Denevi

On Point Radio - Oklahoma To Incorporate 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Into Statewide School Curriculum, hosted by Guy Raz speaks with Dr. Mary T. Basset

Code Switch, hosted by journalists Gene Demby and Shereen Marisol Meraji

Black Like Me, host Dr. Alex Gee 

Scene on Radio – Seeing White Series, host John Biewen and collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika 

TED Radio Hour – Mary Bassett: How Does Racism Affect Your Health? host Guy Raz speaks with Dr. Mary T. Bassett, Director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University 

Here & Now – Without Slavery, Would The U.S. Be The Leading Economic Power? host Jeremy Hobson and author Edward Baptist

NPR Morning Edition – You Cannot Divorce Race From Immigration journalist Rachel Martin talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas

Pod Save the People, Activism. Social Justice. Culture. Politics. On Pod Save the People, organizer and activist DeRay Mckesson

BBC Radio 5 live - The Sista Collective hosted by Jessie Are-Phillips

 

Notice

Test Your Awareness: Do The Test, This video shows us the importance of paying attention, and how much more we see when we are looking for particular things around us.

Use each question below separately as one day’s challenge.

  • Who is and is not represented in ads?
  • What are the last five books you read? What is the racial mix of the authors?
  • What is the racial mix of the main characters in your favorite TV shows? Movies?
  • Who is filling what kinds of jobs/social roles in your world? Can you correlate any of this to racial identity?
  • Notice how much of your day you are speaking about racism. Who are you engaging with on these issues? Who are you not? Why do you think this is?