RASR - Privilege and Power

100 East Queen Street,Hampton VA 23669

14 May, 2022

Description

RASR is excited to invite your organization to participate in our inaugural workshop “Privilege & Power”. Author: Dr. Wes Bellamy – is a former Vice-Mayor and City Councilman in Charlottesville, VA; is Political Science Department Chairman at Virginia State University; is the National Public Policy Chairman of the 100 Black Men of America; serves as national Co-Chairman of Our Black party. Objectives: The goal of the workshop is to help each participant better understand the role they can play in, and how they can contribute to, eliminating systemic racism. This requires reflection on where they are in their individual journeys towards eliminating white supremacy and enabling equity for all. We are working to educate our society about the importance of addressing our systems and practices that perpetuate racism and are continuing to compound the multigenerational harm done to too many of our brothers and sisters. The workshop is designed for engagement with a cohort across the racial spectrum to advance both individual and group understanding. Cost: The only cost for the workshop is $30 to purchase Dr. Bellamy’s book and travel if the participant chooses to attend the in-person sessions. Workshop: Four sessions are planned, each 2 hours in length. The sessions will be accessible via zoom with the first and fourth sessions also having an in-person option. Each session will include discussions of 2-3 chapters of the book and include breakouts by affinity groups. The final (fourth) session will include a panel discussion with Dr. Bellamy and some of the workshop participants to discuss what they have learned and how they plan to implement change in their lives. Expectations: Each participant should plan to participate as they are able. We are creating a safe space to discuss each of our roles in addressing systemic racism. Constructive feedback is encouraged by each participant to help RASR improve the impact of the workshop. Assessment: RASR will be using the IAT – Implicit Association Test – for each participant to measure their baseline perceptions and measure again after the workshop is completed to determine if perceptions have shifted as a result of the experience. The assessment feedback will be anonymous to RASR and we will use the feedback to refine the curriculum going forward to help drive the change we seek. We are looking for participants for our first cohort to include members from different communities such as education, faith based, activism and advocacy, business, etc. We want these sessions to be highly engaging.