Racial Equity

Racial Equity- 

Education, Content and Activism

**Fighting For Racial Justice Resources**

 

Access a comprehensive compilation of resources, organized and outlined, covering a multitude of aspects within how each person can engage in fighting for racial justice.

Click HERE to access the guide! 

Environmental Justice and Racial Equity 8-Part Course

Join us for any or all of the sessions within our Environmental Justice and Racial Equity 8-Part Course! This course dives deep into the topic of racial equity, specifically in its inextricable relation to environmental justice. The course will be moderated by our organizational coordinator. The content for each part of the course will be released at the beginning of the week, and optional, suggested discussion groups will be held towards the end of the week to discuss it. The plan for the course sessions are as follows: 

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND RACIAL EQUITY 8-PART COURSE PLAN: 

Part One: Introductory simulation- Environmental Justice Through A Racial Equity Lens Simulation- June 22-26

Access Recording HERE and Presentation HERE

Part Two: Public Health: Access Recording HERE and Presentation HERE

Part Three: Social Policy- Criminal Justice System- Access Graphic Novel Guide HERE

Part Four: Generational Trauma

  1. Economic disadvantage
    2. Lack of reactive, strategic and essential diversity
    3. Lack of representation and visibility
    4. Discrimination

Part Five: Policy Change- Committee Formation, Legislation, Existing and Necessary Work to Counteract Racial Disparities

Part Six: Creating Cultural Competent Spaces for Conversation Around Racial Equity

Part Seven: Political Action on Environmental Racism

Part Eight: Toolkit for Racial Equity and Environmental Justice

Part One:

Part One: Environmental Justice Through A Racial Equity Lens is an interactive simulation with player cards that give each person an identity, family and circumstances. The simulation covers global warming, the effect of climate disasters on minority and indigenous communities, housing, different aspects of generational trauma, breaking down bias, redefining representation and visibility, reactive, strategic and essential diversity, and more.

 

ACCESS SIMULATION HERE
RECORDING

Part Two:

Part Two: Public Health dives deep into the racial disparities within public health, the healthcare system, and specifically as they are related to environmental racism. Part two is a zoom call where content will be presented in storytelling format, a collage-like compilation of smaller videos, images, art, news articles and slides, with the purpose of weaving together smaller narratives to reveal a larger story which represents a larger, often unseen and unjust systemic order. We conclude with a powerful activity and discussion in which individuals are invited to move beyond their indoctrination within these systems, and instead invoke their imagination to design solutions on all fronts- artistic, scientific, historical, medical, etc.- that carry the potential for a systemic shift in public health. 

 

ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE

 

RECORDING

 

Part Three: 

Part Three: Social and Environmental Policy dives into the requirements of adequate social and environmental policy, the American Dream and what it is built on, and how we can work to heal the deep rifts in policy as we know it today. In partnership with the Kaufman Interfaith Institute, attendees will view the film ’13th’ by Ava Duvernay and attend the discussion group event here.

 

ACCESS SUMMARY HERE

Part Four: Generational Trauma

Within generational trauma, there are four aspects: economic disadvantage, lack of reactive, strategic and essential diversity, lack of representation and visibility, and discrimination. We will explore each of these deeply, delve into the work of Ta-nehesi Coates in his book, ‘Between The World And Me’ and explore ways of understanding our own inadvertent contribution. 

 

ACCESS PRESENTATION HERE
ACCESS RECORDING HERE

Part Five: Policy Involvement

Using Michigan’s Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Disparities and others as a blueprint, we explore how committee formation, legislation, existing and still necessary work is being done to counteract racial disparities on several different levels throughout history, including: slavery, convict leasing, mass incarceration, environmental and social disparities .

Part Six: Creating Culturally Competent Spaces for Conversation Around Racial Equity

We discuss Tarana Burke’s amazing work, dive deep into her writing and thinking patterns, and discuss methods of engaging with people of privilege who refuse to acknowledge their individual ingrained racism and stop inadvertently contributing to this larger pandemic of systemic racism. It is the responsibility of people in privilege to do the educating so this burden does not fall to people of color. 

 

 

Part Seven: Political Action on Environmental Racism

Individual, Communal, and Corporate- these are the levels at which political action must be taken on environmental racism. How are activists of color shaping the means for and designing this action, and what is the role of people in privilege in supporting this? 

Part Eight: Toolkit 

At the conclusion of this course, we review the entirety of the content and access the resources for action within this toolkit, which synthesizes integral resources drawn from several locations, including the Racial Equity Toolkit by MDCCR.

 

To learn more about racial justice initiatives WMSEJN supports, 

CLICK HERE