WEEK ONE

Understanding the process of racial identity development is important for self-awareness, relationship-building, and work for equity. We are, all of us, wonderful mash-ups of identities, and experiences and we invite you to reflect specifically on where you are in the different stages of racial identity development. Challenge: Watch: Race and Reality 1:32 min Transcripts Race Ethnicity, Nationality and Jellybeans 2:52 min The Myth of Race 3:07 min Leading with Racial Justice 3:31 min Read: Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Race Additional Resources (OPTIONAL): Watch: What it takes to be Racially Literate 12:24 min Read: How to See Race

Are you seeing and addressing how racism operates at different levels? Dr. Camara Jones, says that in order to address racism effectively, we have to understand how it operates at multiple levels. Often what people think of first and foremost is interpersonal racism. Only seeing this level means that we fail to see the full picture that keeps the system of racism in place. Think about how you typically think about and see racism operating in your life, work and community. Are certain levels more obvious than others? If you are addressing racism in your work and life, do you tend to be focused on one level more than another? Might you consider focusing on other levels or partnering with those who do (social workers doing trauma work, for example, or community organizers working to change policy, or culture workers making new narratives)? What might this look like? Take time during your day to observe the levels of racism that are alive in the spaces you move through. Some of those levels might be visible and some quite hidden and “embedded” in other systems around you. Challenge: Watch: Moving the Race Conversation Forward 4:38 min Non-racist vs. Anti-racist 2:15 min A Conversation with my Black Son 5:05 min Read: Racism vs. Prejudice: What's the Difference? A Theoretical Framework and a Gardener’s Tale A Nation Built on the Back of Slavery and Racism Additional Resources (OPTIONAL): Watch: Structural Racism Explained (7:25 min) Allegories on Race and Racism 20:31 min Read: Racial Identity Theory, Critical Race Theory, Targeted Universalism, Anti-Racism, and Racial Capitalism Learn more about colorism and ways to confront 400 years since slavery: a timeline of American History From Birth to Death

Work for racial justice in our various systems must include naming and de-centering whiteness, white privilege, and white superiority/supremacy. One way to do this is to understand that there is a continuum of White superiority that is not simply about what may come to our minds as the most extreme forms. Additionally, having privilege can give you advantages in life, but having privilege is not a guarantee of success. Privilege does not mean economic advantage, instead it is the ability to freely navigate the world in a way that is not available to people who are not white, able-bodied, cisgender, etc. Don't forget to fill out your reflections log! Challenge: Watch: Debunking The Most Common Myths White People Tell About Race 3:47 min The Privilege Walk Watch 3:59 min Bell Hooks on interlocking systems of domination 4:07 min Read: The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture (website) (PDF) White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Additional Resources (OPTIONAL): Watch: Racial Divide in Disability Rights 3:33 min Authors Robin DiAngelo & Ibram X. Kendi on how to become aware of privilege 6:30 min Read: Uprooted: The 1950’s plan to erase Indian Country White people assume niceness is the answer to racial inequality. It's not. Bryan Stevenson on What Well-Meaning White People Need to Know About Race

Often what gets the most attention are overt behaviors that reveal our prejudices and demonstrate discrimination. It is important for all of us to reflect on our own unconscious biases and become aware of microaggressions that are a part of our everyday lives--whether as the actor, witness, or on the receiving end. Challenge: Watch: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them 17:53 min Dr. Derald Wing Sue -- Microaggressions 2:20 min Doll Test 5:27 min Transcripts Additional Resources (OPTIONAL): Watch: What Kind of Asian Are You? 2:00 min The Power of Labels to Change Your Story 15:25 min Peanut Butter, Jelly and Racism 2:26 min Read: 21 Racial Microaggressions You Hear on a Daily Basis Race and Work in 2020: Combating Microaggressions and Bias in the Remote Workplace

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. People of color suffer worse health outcomes than white people, even when controlling for income and other factors. Healthcare and genetics make up only 20% of what determines our health outcomes. History, racism, and the environments in which we live, learn, play, and pray have much greater impact on our health than you might think. Challenge: Watch: The US Medical System is Still Haunted by Slavery 8:49 min Dr. Camara Jones Explains the Cliff of Good Health 5:18 min A Conversation About Growing Up Black 5:21 min Read: What is Health Equity? A Definition and Discussion Guide Systemic Racism is a Public Health Crisis infographic Black women in California need more than short-term solutions for maternal health disparities Additional Resources (OPTIONAL): Watch: Change the Odds for Health 17:44 min How Racism Leads to Health Issues 2:54 min Read: California once targeted Latinas for forced sterilization ‘Health equity tourists’: How white scholars are colonizing research on health disparities The Social Determinants of Health Equity Framework

Congratulations on making it through to the end of Week One! Take a moment to identify any specific feelings that come up for you while doing this Challenge (refer to the Feelings Wheel) What comes up? What messages do these feelings convey? Forward a resource from the Challenge to a colleague, friend, family, or loved one.

Over the weekend, we invite you to find some quiet time (if possible and desirable) to get centered and to consider the past week of your participation in the Challenge. If there are challenges you missed, use this time to get caught up. Check in with yourself. What do you sense/feel? How are you physically? Intellectually? Emotionally? Spiritually? What are these sensations telling you? Please make sure you fill out your reflections log for the week.