21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge (2021)

In support of our 8th Principle work, the Social Action Committee offered a 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge© from October 11-31, 2021, with a goal of helping us to make a habit out of anti-racist thinking and behavior.

Have you ever made a successful change in your life? Perhaps you wanted to exercise more, make more healthy food choices, get organized, or change jobs? Think about the time and attention you dedicated to the process. A lot, right? Change is hard. Creating effective social justice habits – particularly those dealing with issues of power, privilege, supremacy, and leadership – is like any lifestyle change. Setting our intentions and adjusting what we spend our time doing is essential. It’s all about building new habits.

This 21-Day Challenge furthers our understanding of power, privilege, supremacy, oppression, and equity and help us develop a habit of anti-racist thinking and behavior.

When you accept the challenge, you can work through this list of daily activities to complete, such as reading, watching a video, exploring resource-rich websites, taking action, reflecting, etc.  You may do this in 21 days or whatever suits your schedule.

This 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge uses the framework created by Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr, and Debby Irving, which you can learn more about here.

21-day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge© at UUCLV

Day 1
READ: “Capitalism is Built on the Backs of Black Women” by Sarah Lazare.

Day 2
WATCH: Deconstructing White Privilege with Dr. Robin DiAngelo, talk done for the UMC General Commission on Race & Religion (20 minutes)

Day 3
READ: “Cognitive Biases: What They Are and How They Affect People”

Day 4
Take any one of the  Project Implicit’s Hidden Bias tests, created by psychologists at top universities, to uncover some of your own unconscious biases.

Day 5
READ: “Your Silence Is a Knee on My Neck”, The Player’s Tribune (May 30, 2020) and WATCH/listen to this song: June 5th by WALE.
OPTIONAL: Watch/listen to this song: They Don’t Really Care About Us by Michael Jackson.

Day 6
WATCH: I Am Not Your Negro – Future of America, (Video Clip) (Feb 3, 2017)*
OPTIONAL: Watch/listen to the following songs: Black Rage – Lauryn Hill (video recommended) & This is America – Childish Gambino (video recommended)

Day 7
READ: “Dear anti-racist allies: Here’s how to respond to microaggressions”
WATCH: Don’t Touch My Hair by Solange

Day 8
READ: “I Was a Racist Teacher and I Didn’t Even Know It”, Education Post (Aug 24, 2017)

Day 9
CONNECT: Check out the website and take time to learn more about the National Center for Transgender Equality. Then follow them on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.

Day 10
LISTEN:  Lessons from a writer who spent 15 years pretending to be a White guy

Day 11
LISTEN: “Don’t Call the Cops: Walter & Pam“  – an episode of the Do the Work Podcast hosted by Brandon Kyle Goodman.
(Do the Work explores race and relationships. Each episode is an intimate conversation between two people who know each other well, and have had or are still having a struggle to cross the racial barrier. The podcast brings them together so they can finally have a real conversation about race, and we can all learn how to be anti-racist in our daily lives.)

Day 12
READ: “This ‘Equity’ picture is actually White Supremacy at work” – Sippin the EquiTEA reframes a well worn equity v equality graphic.
LISTEN/WATCH: Same As It Ever Was by Michael Franti & Spearhead

Day 13
READ: In Defense of Looting, NPR Code Switch (Aug 27, 2020)

Day 14
WATCH: Black Trans* Lives Matter | D-L Stewart, TEDxCSU (April 22, 2019). [15 minute video]

Day 15
READ Perspectives in Poetry:

Day 16
WATCH: Defund the Police Project Nia & Blue Seat Studios explain the racist origins of U.S. policing, and paint a vision for what shifting resources from police budgets to housing, food, and other basic life needs can look like (4 mins)
READ: “These US cities defunded police: ‘We’re transferring money to the community'”
OPTIONAL – LISTEN: Baltimore by Prince

Day 17
READ: “105 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice,” reflect, and then commit to doing at least one item on the list.
LISTEN: Give Your Hands to Struggle by Bernice Johnson Reagon

Day 18
WATCH:  The Hidden History of Indian Slavery in America – Exposes the history of the enslavement of 2.5-5 million native peoples in the Americas, beginning the moment Christopher Columbus arrived. (40 minutes)

Day 19
READ: “The Case for Reparations”/a> by Ta-Nehisi Coates
READ: “Native Americans should be in the Reparations conversation”

Day 20
WATCH: ‘We the People’ – the three most misunderstood words in US history TED Talk by Mark Charles offers a unique perspective on three of the most misinterpreted words in American History and their connection to obstructing life, liberty, and justice for all people (17mins)

Day 21
WATCH: “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race” – Jay Smooth