Deconstructing Anti- Black Narratives: Moving beyond Sharing our Stories
In the last few months, our nation has been set ablaze sparked by the murder of unarmed black women and men at the hands of the police. The battles being waged today did not begin on Memorial Day weekend, but in 1619, when Black bodies were shipped like cargo across the sea and taken onto stolen land by those who believed God destined them for greatness.
The identity of Black people in America has been under constant attack, contorted, and manipulated for the sake of the privileged and powerful. The goal of this project is to begin 1) deconstructing anti-Black narratives, 2) understanding their impact, 3) processing the ways we have internalized these narratives and have contributed to oppression, and 4) creating space for healing to take place within the context of affinity groups and large group discussions. We will utilize movies as a way to begin to analyze these narratives and discuss this within our groups.
Project Dates/Time
August 2, 2020-September 27, 2020
Nine Sundays from 5-6:30 (Group discussions)
(Optional) Some Fridays (8/14, 8/21, 8/28, and 9/4) from 7-8:30 (Group film viewings)
Please consider the following before Joining (on google forms)
We ask participants to commit to attending all of the Sunday GROUP DISCUSSION gatherings. Before you sign up please make sure you will miss no more than two sessions. Movies can be watched with the group on Friday MOVIE NIGHTS or independently at a time prior to Sunday discussion.
Additionally, we ask that you seriously consider the following before signing up:
We ask that all participants be willing to be vulnerable and honest with themselves and one another. We recognize we are all on different legs of our racial, ethnic, and cultural (REC) identity journey and many of the conversations will require you to spend intentional time reflecting on your own REC identity. This can be uncomfortable as it involves uncovering what you have internalized about yourself and others. There will be times when you feel uncomfortable. We ask that you be willing to sit with being uncomfortable so that you can listen and learn. Being uncomfortable is not the same thing as being unsafe. As a community, we are committing to being uncomfortable as we engage in this project.