BEING THE CHANGE taking the Nashoba Brooks 28-Day Anti-racism Challenge.
THIS SUMMER, the Nashoba Brooks Inclusivity Leadership Team (ILT) launched a 28-Day Anti-racism Challenge to the adult community. Members of the ILT created a website of carefully curated print, audio and video resources to help guide individual participants through four weekly themes including: Historical Foundations of Race, Racism and Systems of Oppression, Racial Identity and Whiteness, and Anti-racism and Action. The intention of the 28-Day Challenge was to raise awareness of racial injustice, to encourage participants to reflect personally upon the material, and to promote actionable steps toward creating a more equitable and just society. In rolling out the first week of the challenge to employees, Tim Croft, assistant head of lower school and ILT member, wrote: The poignancy of this moment in our nation highlights the importance of engaging in anti-racist work that is both challenging and hopeful. We owe it to our students and ourselves to work toward dismantling systemic and institutional racism, and in doing so preparing our students for “leadership in a diverse and changing world.” What follows below are some of the thoughts, reflections, and revelations that participants experienced as a result of taking the challenge.
READ: Reconstruction’s Legacy, how reconstruction still shapes American racism, by Henry Louis Gates (20-30 min).
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Being a part of the 28-Day Challenge that NBS instituted this summer has been one of the most informative and enlightening experiences of my 10 years as a Nashoba Brooks parent. During my own personal reckoning with my life’s education, and better understanding of racism in our country, this challenge has been a phenomenal resource. The questions that the material has compelled me to ask myself, my family members and my children have and continue to provide so much room for discussion and learning. I still have so much to learn, but am incredibly grateful for the support NBS is giving me as a part of that education. Anonymous, parent
