C4: Exporing Anti-Black Racism within Non-Black Communities of Color

In the fight against White supremacy, people of color must unite and work together, which means that it is absolutely necessary for non-Black people of color to be in solidarity with Black communities and engage with the Black-led movement for social justice (currently, the Black Lives Matter movement). We believe that all people of color have the agency to take part in their own liberation and in challenging White supremacy. Two critical steps to achieving this are to identify instances of anti-Black racism within non-Black communities of color, and to determine how to respond to those instances. In this interactive session, participants will engage in self-reflection, critical dialogue, small and large group strategizing, a “gallery viewing”, and a participatory theater exercise, in which participants will have the opportunity to act out different scenarios to practice techniques for addressing anti-Black racism. The content of the session is grounded in Adam, Bell, and Griffin’s (2007) Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, Critical Race Theory, and in theater techniques derived from Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Participants should have an understanding of racism and how White supremacy perpetuates anti-Black racism among communities of color to maintain racial systems of oppression.