Building Bridges Seminar: What is Racism?
BBI4RR's seminar will provide a training and learning environment that will focus on anti-Black racism. This workshop will include presentations, experiential activities, and dialogue to encourage deep understandings of individual and systemic racism. This training meets people where they are and empowers deep reflection on ways that participants might change themselves and their communities. The seminar works to build opportunities for honest sharing and discussion, in order to build a strong and trusting environment where people can navigate racial conflicts and events meaningfully.
Building Bridges Communication Circles
Communication Circles involve facilitating small groups for discussion, sometimes together and sometimes in small groups based on participants' racialized identities. We want to meet people where they are and move forward. Individuals and small groups will be guided to look inward and deeply reflect, in order to understand and eradicate internalized racism that has developed for centuries as intrinsic and unconscious bias. We will focus on individual behaviors, attitudes, and emotions as we learn and grow. Reflection and dialogue help in understanding why and how racism is experienced, and distinguish between historical and individual racism. These discussions provide a safe, supportive place to talk together about what it means to live in contemporary society, and to push all of us to see racism as a commonality, and to understand that all people are racialized. Communication Circles offer support for developing one’s power and confidence, as well as strong community connections, in order to work toward creating meaningful and lasting change--individually, collectively, and communally. The purpose of these discussions is ultimately to delve deeper into the impacts of racism and to learn how to navigate racialized conflicts and to support efforts to achieve unity.
Building Bridges Advocacy Groups
These will be created to continue dialogue and development of actions to eliminate racism. Each group participant chooses the area in which to engage their energy. Groups may be further divided based on activities and actions to be taken. Examples of possible topics include: 1) service to, or communicating with, someone in political office; 2) attending city, county or state government meetings to advocate for their chosen cause; or 3) promoting anti-racism or racial reconciliation in their community. BBI4RR would support those leaders in the community or facilitate action groups through training and/or follow-up mentoring. Support, encouragement, and unity of purpose for each participant are the keys to ensuring that racism is eliminated in our society.
Goals for Racial Reconciliation
- Assert accurate history to understand how systemic racism has been embedded in our culture and acknowledge the need for change.
- Enabling reflection and interpersonal communication that will advance individual and communal changes.
- Actively eliminate the barriers, structures and policies that sustain systemic racism. Create equity, and justice, as well as reconcile past wrongs.