Four types of actions to get your community involved.
TOWN HALL MEETING
A town hall meeting is where members of the community gather together to discuss pressing issues.
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During a successful town hall meeting in Lansing, Michigan, community members talked about "Being Brown in the USA."
(informational resource statement)
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This conversation included: Jessica Yorko (Health Equity Coordinator for Ingham County Health Department), Virg Bernero (City of Lansing Mayor), Chief Michael Yankowski
(Lansing Police Department), Darryl Evans (father of brown children, business owner), Melik Brown (Concerned Brown Citizen).
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Town halls have been helpful in discussing race relations all over the United States of America. President Barack Obama held a national town hall on race relations and police, and many other cities are following suit.
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Community leaders and members come together in a safe space in hopes of sharing ideas for change. Often times town hall meetings can become a place for citizens to express grievances, but a focus on what change can be enacted is also very important.
DIVERSITY TRAINING
Diversity training is a place and time for people to come together to learn about different cultures. By learning about others, it helps to eradicate ignorance and increase acceptance.
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The trainings are found to be most effective when they are voluntary to attend and focus on individuals and their importance as people.
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The key to success is helping those that are interested in learning about diversity and teaching them how to have conversations with others about cultural differences in an accepting way.
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Faces of Racism is a book by Dr. Freya A. Rivers and Angela Hawkins-Rivers. To accompany their book, a series of three seminars took place to educate attendees about the history of racism and how it still is able to exist today.
PROTESTING
Protesting can have many different forms including a march, sit-in, die-in, boycott and more. It is a way that people can express their disagreement with a topic, and protests have a long history in the United States of America.
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Protesting has been an effective means for change throughout the Civil Rights Movement and activists continue to push for change today.
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While protesting or organizing it is important to have a plan, and know the rights that are guaranteed.
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Make sure that there is a clear plan and take time to answer questions about what will work for your protest. Have a clear idea of what you expect out of the protest and plan how to accomplish that goal.
BOOK CLUB
Book clubs are a great way for people to discuss and reflect on a common set of information.
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Book clubs can come in all shapes and sizes. As long as everyone is in agreement about how the meetings are being held, they are enjoyable, and give insight to the members that are attending, there is a lot of flexibility.
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There are incredible books available to start a book and many other book clubs to connect with that are already active.
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Reach out to other groups that may be interested in this type of book club and listen to suggestions about where to host it, what to read, and how to lead discussions.
Melik Brown educates the crowd about his experiences in Lansing. At 1:02:00 Malik talks about how racism can still exist today if we are not willing to be uncomfortable.
A quick summary of the second Faces of Racism session where attendees learned about stereotypes, superiority, and inferiority through hands on activities.
Students and community members march in support of Black Lives at Michigan State University.