Join the Office of Diversity and Inclusion as we engage our campus community in a week-long of essential and timely conversations on racial healing, equity and justice. This Racial Healing and Transformation Week calls for deep listening, discussions, racial healing, and celebration of our common humanity. Our ultimate goal is to take collective action to create a more just and equitable world.
Embedded in our week-long engagement plans is the celebration of the National Day of Racial Healing. The National Day of Racial Healing (#NDORH) is a part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s (WKKF) Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) effort – a national and community-based process to plan for and bring about transformational and sustainable change, and to address the historic and contemporary effects of racism.
LCC is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. We invite students, faculty, staff and the entire Lansing community to join us during our Racial Healing and Transformation Week-long virtual gatherings, discussions and social media engagements. Please consider using the National Racial Healing hashtag #HowWeHeal and join us on this important journey of transformation and change!
During our Racial Healing and Transformation Week, we invite you to:
- Find ways to reinforce and honor our common humanity and create space to celebrate the distinct differences that make our communities vibrant.
- Acknowledge that there are still deep racial divisions in America that must be overcome and healed, and
- Commit to engaging people from all racial, ethnic, religious and identity groups in genuine efforts to increase understanding, communication, caring and respect for one another.
Events
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Monday, Jan 17
Events will take place in the Cesar Chavez Learning Center with the option to join virtually.
A&S Building, Room 1313
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Land Acknowledgement
12 pm
By Eva Menefee, Advisor
REPLAY OF THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION ON DEIA
12 pm - 2 pm
Join in as we replay last month’s national conversation among higher-education professionals on diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and accessibility. With special guest panelists and moderators from across the country, we took a deep dive into actionable strategies to help move the needle on DEI within institutions through collaboration and action.
Community Meal Pickup
3 pm - 4 pm
Provided by Gregory’s Soul Food
*Limited number of free meals. Must pre-register by Friday, 1/14th @ 3p.m.
*Registrants will receive confirmation on Friday January 14th.
Chavez Center “I Have A Dream” Virtual Project
4 pm - 6 pm
Community Meal and Conversation
*Limited number of free meals. Must pre-register by Friday, 1/14th @ 3p.m.
Meal Registration -
Tuesday, Jan 18
Events will take place in the Cesar Chavez Learning Center with the option to join virtually.
A&S Building, Room 1313
Land Acknowledgement
2:30 pm
By Eva Menefee, Advisor
National Day of Racial Healing
3 pm - 5 pm
Join us for essential and timely conversations on racial healing, equity & justice.
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Wednesday, Jan 19
Events will take place in the Cesar Chavez Learning Center with the option to join virtually.
A&S Building, Room 1313
Land Acknowledgement
9:45 am
By Eva Menefee, Advisor
How to Be An Activist
10 am - 11 am
By Laura Orta, Director for CEI
Do you see problems in your community? Or areas that could be improved? Anyone who commits to making their community a better place can become an activist. You don’t need a special title or degree, but that doesn’t mean activism is something you suddenly become an expert in. Effective activism requires planning and good strategies. Join Mx. Orta to begin your journey!
Social Political Movement Discussion
11 am - 12 pm
With Educator and Activist Ozzie Rivera and Rachel Yamakura, Director for Equity Center
Showing Judas & the Black Messiah
12 pm - 2:15 pm
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Thursday, Jan 20
Courageous Conversations "How Do We Grow From Here"
12 pm - 2 pm
To further promote the college’s mission of becoming an inclusive campus, our “Courageous Conversation series: Undoing Racism” aims to engage the social and intellectual challenges of our times and provide a platform for students, faculty and staff to participate in monthly discussions across racial lines, on race and racism. In honor of the National Day on Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion is proud to host a virtual Courageous Conversation on January 20th 12-2pm focusing on the topic: Racial Healing – A Path to Racial Equity. “Our goal is to engage all voices and to co-create more equitable communities through courageous dialogues in a safe environment,” said Dr. Tonya Bailey, Chief Diversity Officer, Lansing Community College.
The entire college community and greater Lansing community is invited to join us for the conversation:
Thursday, January 20
12 pm - 2 pmWebex Link
Courageous Conversations is intended to encourage collective understanding and action and to explore how, as an organization and as individuals, we can work to build greater equity in our community.
We hope you will join our Courageous Conversations to grow your knowledge and join the fight against systemic racism. -
Friday, Jan 21
Virtual Healing Space
12 pm - 2 pm
Our aim is to create space for open and brave conversation, to listen and share in the community as we process national events and discuss how we heal. This is a platform to hold each other up. We offer you a space to discuss your feelings that shape our conversation around race, bias, and social justice. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion is holding today’s healing space for LCC faculty, staff, students, and alumni. #ThisIsHowWeHeal
Additional Resources - What can you do?
1. Have a conversation
Anyone can have a conversation about racism with their family, friends, or in their workplace using the conversation guide provided on this page. Businesses, organizations, and individuals can hang a posters or solidarity or change profiles pictures within your web-based platforms (WebEx, Zoom, TEAMS, Skype etc.) to show support for the week.
2. Engage on social media
Use the hashtag #HowWeHeal on your social media platforms.
3. Support Racial Healing and Transformation Week
We encourage everyone to participate in the Racial Healing and Transformation Week events sponsored by Office of Diversity and Inclusion before and beyond. This week is a great time to reflect on how we can continue the MLK and civil rights legacy and work toward racial healing. Everyone has a role to play as we start to recognize our shared humanity and how racism has harmed us all collectively in different ways. Let’s work together for change and transformation as well as engaging with others from different backgrounds.
4. Read along with Beyond the Book facilitators, faculty, staff and students and have transformative discussions
5. Attend an event
Attend events hosted by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Encourage students and colleagues to join in on the Courageous Conversations. See planned events on this page.
6. Engage beyond January 21, 2022
Efforts from the week-long events will continue throughout the year. People can support the process by participating in the Let’s Get WORKING or We're Better Than That campaign launching this spring, volunteer with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion or LCC groups that focuses on racial justice, and commit to challenging assumptions about people from different backgrounds and speak up to any and all forms of injustice or discrimination.
25 Crucial Books about Racism in America
- A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes
- The Hidden Wound by Wendell Berry
- We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks
- The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- The Mis-Education Of The Negro by Carter Godwin Woodson
- Barn Burning by William Faulkner
- I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes
- Eyes On The Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years
- Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. Tyson
- Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin
- Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Bound For the Promised Land by Kate Clifford Larson
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
- Death of Innocence by Mamie Till-Mobley
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
- The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs
- Ain’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism by Bell Hooks
- Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum
- Free At Last: A History Of The Civil Rights Movement And Those Who Died In The Struggle by Sara Bullard.