Who is this for?
This challenge is for everyone who wants to expand their knowledge of race in America. If you've been feeling overwhelmed with where to start, we gotchu.
What is the #30DayChallenge?
This challenge is 30 days of materials, broken down into digestable 20-50 minute assignments, to help better understand race in America. Weekday assignments are free articles, podcasts, or videos and weekends are a free-to-stream movie or documentary from Netflix, Hulu, etc. Each day has reflection questions you are encouraged to discuss with your group, journal, or join the conversation on Instagram.
Recommendations for Success (if you're like me and obsess over best practices, here they are):
- Start on a Monday
- Do the challenge with a partner or a group: this is good for accountability and for processing (especially if you're an external processor). We had mom groups, church groups, co-workers, friends, husband-wife teams, mother-son and mother-daughter teams for the live challenge.
- Keep a journal: this is a lot of information and reflection is crucial. Record your responses to the reflection questions and notes from the lessons to help process and to be able to refer back throughout the month (almost every day is connected).
- Block off time: we all have a lot going on so it's important to prioritize this. Block off time that you know you'll be able to commit to daily.
- It's ok to fall behind, just don't quit: we all fall behind. Pick it back up the next day and keep trucking- you're not being graded but this is important! The first week is always exciting which makes it feel easy. Week two gets tougher to find the time, week three gets easier, and week four feels like a breeze.
- Get comfortable with being uncomfortable: during the challenge I heard from a lot of people that they felt ashamed, embarrassed, defensive, etc. Sit with those feelings. Where are they coming from? If you are a white ally in this fight, it's going to be uncomfortable but I promise these few days of discomfort are nothing compared to what Black women and men have to suffer at the hand of racism.
- Make it work for you: I listen to most of the podcasts and videos at 1.5x speed. I listen to the podcasts while I walk my dogs. I read articles in the bathroom. I did half the assignments with my morning coffee. Do you, just do it.
- Follow on Instagram: you can find each day on Instagram, and some days there were really interesting conversations in the comments that took the readings/videos to the next level.
The Syllabus
The Breakdown (you can bookmark this page and come back to it each day):
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Disclaimer
I have 0 authority on any of this. People have whole PhDs on this topic, and I'm just here listening, Googling, crowdsourcing. I'm sure I'll F this up somehow and am REALLY open to feedback when I do - please share thoughts and comments!
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