During the Pandemic in the Summer of 2020 we had to stop all in-person gatherings, but we wanted to continue our work on social justice so we decided to use our newsletter to challenge people to join us to learn and do more to promote social justice in our community. 30 ways over 30 days!
Every day in the month of June we provided a simple, easy task for you to do. It may have been visiting a website, reading an article, watching a video or listening to a program.
We are providing the challenge here in it’s entirety.
Day 1 – Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.
Global Website: https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/.
Their 4 year Anniversary report gives a great overview of the organization. See the bottom of this page: https://blacklivesmatter.com/resources/
It is important to know that there is a lot of disinformation about BLM and we can help by knowing the truth. https://blacklivesmatter.com/black-lives-matter-global-network-defends-against-disinformation-going-into-2020/
There are many local chapters you can follow on Facebook, including BLM Minnesota, BLM Twin Cities, BLM St. Paul and BLM Minneapolis.
Day 2 – What It Means to be Black in Minnesota
Minnesota can be a tough place for professionals of color. Employees of color report living and working in Minnesota is a challenge. Meanwhile, the state is known for having some of the highest racial disparities in the country.
Listen to MPR’s Angela Davis lead a conversation about what it means to be black in Minnesota right now. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/12/07/davis-whats-it-mean-to-be-black-in-minnesota.
Day 3 – Racial Bias in the Media
Take the quiz and review this study on how black families are misrepresented in the news: https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/dangerous-distortion-considering-media-racial-bias
Keep an eye out for such biases, and use social media and direct communication to the media outlet to call them out when they occur. Send us examples if you have them!
Day 4 – My Story, My Truth
In January 2018, 20 men and women of color sat down at CTV Studios in Roseville to speak about a time when they have been personally discriminated against and the impact it had on their lives. The program was the work of our partner, Nyia Harris.
Many of the stories had never been told before. https://vimeo.com/266356453
Day 5 – White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
In addition to discussing white privilege, this article provides 50 questions to consider the daily affects that may be a result of white privilege.
Get it here: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack: http://convention.myacpa.org/houston2018/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf
Day 6 – The Beauty of Human Skin in Every Color
Angélica Dass’s photography challenges how we think about skin color and ethnic identity. In this personal talk, hear about the inspiration behind her portrait project, Humanæ, and her pursuit to document humanity’s true colors rather than the untrue white, red, black and yellow associated with race. What pantone color are you?
Day 7 – Mapping Prejudice
Racial covenants were legal clauses embedded in property deeds that barred people who were not white from buying or occupying land. Elders have known for decades that covenants were widespread.
All the covenants in Hennepin County have been mapped. To see a time lapse of when they were used, go to the middle of this page. If you or someone you know lives in Hennepin County you can look up the address and if a covenant exists, see the exact wording. https://www.mappingprejudice.org/
Ramsey County records have recently been digitized so volunteers are needed to help review them. You can do it easily from your computer and training is available. For dates and times, go to the Event page: https://www.mappingprejudice.org/Events/index.html
Day 8 – The Danger of a Single Story
Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. In this TED Talk, novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
Day 9 – Who Me Biased?
Who Me Biased? What does this have to do with peanut butter and jelly?
NYT/POV’s Saleem Reshamwala unscrews the lid on the unfair effects of our subconscious.
This is a series of 6 very short videos. Each is less than 2 minutes: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/pov-biased-lpclips/who-me-biased/
Day 10 – Harvard Implicit Bias Test
Now that you understand Implicit Bias, take the test!
The Implicit Association test was developed at Harvard to try and expose subconscious feelings that may affect the way we relate to people of different races. In the test, you have to make split-second decisions on a keyboard, sorting black and white faces, connecting them with different words.
You will select from a list of 15 tests — Race isn’t the only bias! For this Challenge, take the Race IAT (Implicit Association Test). Here is the link: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html . It will probably take 30-45 minutes to take the test.
Day 11 – Minneapolis Racial Equality Ranking
US News and World report ranked Minnesota #3 of the Best states, which is always a point of pride, however, it belies the fact that we rank nea the bottom for racial equity in many aspects.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/minnesota
Day 12 – Systemic Racism defined
Systemic racism affects every area of life in the US. From incarceration rates to predatory loans, and trying to solve these problems requires changes in major parts of our system.
Here’s a closer look at what systemic racism is, and how we can solve it.
Systemic Racism explained: https://youtu.be/YrHIQIO_bdQ
Day 13 – Police Complaints
The Communities United Against Police Brutality (www.cuapb.org) has spent years using data practices requests to obtain public records about formal police complaints.
If you review this list you will see how many officers have multiple complaints and how few of those complaints result in any discipline.
Department refers to the city. I do not believe this is a complete list. The City of Roseville website has a report on complaints, and those were not included here. http://complaints.cuapb.org/
Day 14 – Ask a Black Man
Beginning in 2017, Nyia Harris from Do Good Roseville facilitated 11 panel discussions for many under-represented groups. It began with the “Ask a Black Man” panel of 5 black men answering questions posed by the (mostly) white audience.
he next panel posed a series of questions to both black men and white men, and you can view that program here:
http://trms.ctv15.org/CablecastPublicSite/show/11804?channel=4
The entire series is available at https://dogoodroseville.com/ask-series/
Day 15 – What Does it Mean to “Defund Police”
What does it mean to defund the police? Does it mean police departments will be immediately eliminated with no replacement? Certainly this will be a big topic of discussion going forward.
This document presents one view of what it means to defund the police.
https://www.mpd150.com/wp-content/themes/mpd150/assets/faq_zine.pdf
This article is from MPD150. Their initiative is to shift the discussion of police violence in Minneapolis from one of procedural reforms to one of meaningful structural change.
Day 16 – What it Takes to Protect a Black Son
Have you ever heard of “The Talk” that black parents have to give their children, especially their sons? The world is an especially dangerous place for young black men.
Here is 7 minute interview with a black mother and son. Note that Representative Richardson is special to DGR because she participated in our “Women In Politics: Why I Run” program.
How a Black Mom Protects her son. https://tinyurl.com/yaxjdt6j
Here’s a 1 minute video of a young black man listing some of the rules he has to follow when he leaves his house: https://tinyurl.com/ybuzf23h
Day 17 – Tone Policing
Have you ever heard of Tone Policing? Perhaps you’ve even done it without knowing it? It’s a way to silence people when you don’t want to hear what they have to say and it’s a tool that comes with privilege.
Day 18 – How Easy is it to Learn Prejudice?
The Blue Eye/Brown Eye was an experiment performed by 3rd grade teacher Jane Elliot in 1968 on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
Its goal was to demonstrate what prejudice was to her class. This video is 5 1/2 minutes. https://youtu.be/X97JTH7UCq4.
Oprah repeated the experiment on her studio audience in 1992 after the LA riots. Though both of these were many years ago, they still ring true. This video is 33 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebPoSMULI5U&feature=youtu.be
Day 19 – Significance of Juneteenth
What is Juneteenth? Juneteenth commemorates the day that slavery was ended in the United States. It is the day slaves in Texas found out they were free. It is a celebration of independence.
There are usually Juneteenth Celebrations in the Twin Cities, in fact Do Good Roseville has hosted Juneteenth since 2018. Unfortunately due to CovId 19, those celebrations are cancelled for 2020. Mark your calendar to join us next year!
Here is a link to a description of Juneteenth: https://youtu.be/iu6ntwHws5g
Day 20 – Brene Brown about Privilege, Perspective & Power
After the violence in Charlottesville in 2017, Brene Brown did a talk about the need to own our story of white supremacy. In easy to understand way, she speaks about privilege, perspective and power and how they are related.
The video is 32 minutes and available here: https://vimeo.com/426563213
Day 21 – Ask a Transracial Adoptive Parent
We are sharing another program from our Ask Series because it shares more voices from our community that you would not otherwise hear. This one shares the lives of parents who have adopted children of a different race, and their experiences straddling two different worlds.
The video is 1 hour and 20 minutes:
The entire series is available at https://dogoodroseville.com/ask-series/ .
Day 22 – Should We Say “All Lives Matter”?
A common response to “Black Lives Matter” is to say that “All Lives Matter”. In this article a history of slavery professor explains why that is a mistake.
Day 23 – What if We Ended the Injustice of Bail
The statistics are staggering, and the impacts are immense. Watch this 15 minute TED talk entitled “What if we ended the injustice of bail?”.
The talk refers to the Bail Project https://bailproject.org/.
There is a bail payment program in Minnesota called the Minnesota Freedom Fund. https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/bailbondfaq
Day 24 – A Colorblind World
Wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t see people based on the color of their skin? It’s not as simple as that. View this 15 minute TED talk: “The Exceptional Negro: Fighting to be Seen in a Colorblind World”.
Day 25 – What is White Fragility?
Author Robin DeAngelo wrote the book: “White Fragility’ where she discusses why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism.
Today’s program is an 18 minute interview with Ms. DeAngelo:
Day 26 – Microaggressions
A microaggression is a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority
This article provides a list of microaggressions based on various themes, along with the messages they send.
Day 27 – Housing Discrimination Practice of Redlining
During the New Deal period, the Federal Government’s Home Owners Loan Corporation assigned grades to residential neighborhoods that reflected their “mortgage security” and created color coded maps.
Less desirable areas were shown in red. This practice is now referred to as “redlining” and is one of the most important factors in preserving racial segregation, intergenerational poverty, and the continued wealth gap between white Americans and most other groups in the U.S.
The Mapping Inequality project offers access to color-coded maps and materials that were used. For an overview of the practice, go to: https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=12/44.938/-93.22&text=intro . To see and search on the maps, go to the American Panorama Page: http://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/#maps
Day 28 – Ask an Indigenous Person
Though recent events have focused primarily on black people, it is important to remember that racism is not simply a black/white issue. In this Do Good Roseville program, Nyia Harris hosted a panel of indigenous people. You can hear their stories here and understand more about their experiences as Native Americans.
Day 29 – Representation Matters
Last October we partnered with the League of Women Voters Roseville Area to hear from women who had run for office. Some won, some did not, but their experiences demonstrated how important it is for our elected officials to reflect the population, and yet, why that is so difficult. Your vote matters!
Day 30 – Becoming an anti-racist
The term “antiracist” refers to people who are actively seeking not only to raise their consciousness about race and racism, but also to take action when they see racial power inequities in everyday life.
Reading and reflection are two aspects of the process, but action will take many forms. You’ve probably heard of, or read the book “How to be an Anti-Racist” by Ibram X. Kendi. Here is an article by another author to get you started:
As part of the challenge, each Saturday we posed a Discussion Question:
