Racism is often described as one of the most difficult subjects to talk about, but the only way for it to get easier is if we do talk about it, says Naimah Sierra, deputy director of youth and community services for Action for a Better Community.
“There are historical structures that have been put in place that are designed to keep certain people from pursuing the American dream,” she says.
Sierra, who is also a member of Facing Race, Embracing Equity or FR=EE, says the mission of the group’s third annual summit on race is to make opportunities in housing, education, and health care available to everyone, regardless of race or class.
The group will hold “Breaking Down Racial Barriers: a Community Pulling Together,” a community summit on race on Saturday, September 26, at Wilson Foundation Academy, 200 Genesee Street, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration for the event, which is free and open to the public: http://faceraceroc.org/
The event will feature a full day of discussions and work sessions on a wide range of topics, such as “Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk about Race and How to Do It,” “Police and Community Relations: How to Build Trust,” and “Developing Authentic Alternatives: From the Streets to Jobs.”
Each session will be facilitated by people trained to create and continue a dialogue about race and institutional racism, Sierra says.
“We are uncomfortable with paralysis by analysis, sitting around having all these grand discussions,” says Tim Weider, lecturer in sociology and anthropology at Nazareth College and one of the facilitators. “We’re about doing something.”
This article appears in Sep 16-22, 2015.
What a great opportunity. Yup, that’s my take on attending the summit on race. While I have not been accused directly for being a coward, because I will not discus the race concerns, I have been generally accused of that. The former US Attorney General, Eric Holder, said so much some time ago. He didn’t quite get the words out of his mouth making that accusation when I was on my way to the computer to write him a letter. You see, I truly believe that most people are willing to discuss the race issue as well as any other sensitive topic, but you need a venue to do so. You don’t just sit down in a restaurant and strike up a conversation about race, or any other political subject for that matter.
So, if you have ever wanted to discus race, but really couldn’t find a venue to do so, here is your chance. A chance to listen, learn, discus and to exchange thoughts within a venue that appears to be well organized. The most important thing to bring with you,….an open mind.
Make the move, select a break-out session. I have a good feeling about this effort. Most important,…. I can put Eric Holder behind me. I wrote him some ten plus letters of which none received the courtesy of a response. Well,…he was probably to busy to respond, you say. If you are to busy or cannot respond and you know that in advance, even with an “army” of assistants, Don’t make the blanket accusation.
Sign up and take the initiative to get involved. That’s how things get resolved.