21-Day Youth, Faith, Race & Moore Challenge©
Curated by Christian Antwi, Michelle Thomas-Bush, Adam Alexander, Brian Shivers, Genie Richards, Vance Stiles, and Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr.
“It is impossible to do Christian theology with integrity in America without asking the question, What has the gospel to do with the Black struggle for liberation?” –Rev. Dr. James Cone
The Christian Church, for many, has been seen as a catalyst for justice and righteousness across the United States. After all, the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement was grounded in the Church. Leaders such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Rep. John Lewis, and Rosa Parks cite Christian theology and biblical teachings as influencing factors in their fight for equity. Though, for many others, the Christian Church has dominated and oppressed. Enslaved peoples were forced to abandon their identities and adopt the faith. The bible was even used to continue the enslavement of our Black and Brown neighbors. No human institution is perfect, the Church is no exception. The good news is that we are in the midst of an opportunity to use the Gospel as a means of anti-racist liberation and education in our own lives. As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught, “Our goal is to create a Beloved Community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”
#ThisIsOurTime
#YOUthFaithRace
Get Started
Commit. Choose an Activity. Complete. Reflect. Repeat.
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Individuals
Jump right in! You pick your start day and commit to one of the 9 action categories below on each of those days… yes, it is that simple to get started! The hope is that you will change things up based on your schedule, commitment, and understanding, so you will be able to attempt all activity types.
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Groups or Organizations
Use our Copyright and Recognition Page to get started on the planning and advertising, so your group is cohesive in your approach to the 21-Day Action Plan. Use our Facebook page or Prohabits to stay engaged with each other. As a group you can select which action type and resource to complete as a group or have individuals select for themselves. We have found engagement occurs either way. It is a good idea to plan a pre and post survey and discussion as a group to assess skills building and which challenge you will do next!
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Adapters
We encourage organizations to make the challenge fit their audience. Using the structure, intent, and resources within the 21-Day Action Plans, you can adjust daily design, prompts, or how you choose to reflect and engage as a group. Click HERE for adaptation ideas and examples of how communities are adapting the challenge to meet their specific social justice focus. Remember the required recognition. Reach out to us with your adaptations, so we can share with others.
Choose One Activity Per Day
To further your understanding of power, privilege, supremacy, oppression, and equity.
Read: Encounter new writers and ideas from a range of media sources.
- Environmental Racism and how we respond a people of faith
- Why Black Lives matter
- Natasha Cloud,Your Silence is a Knee on My Neck
- Churches ACT to take down Confederate Monument
- William Barber Takes on Poverty and Race – Jelani Cobb
- James Cone – Interview
- Kyle Korver Privileged
- Jesus Was Divisive: A Black Pastor’s Message To White Christians
- African American LGBTQ Youth Report
- Jesus Wasn’t White And Here’s Why That Matters – Taryn Finley
- Insisting Jesus Was White Is Bad History and Bad Theology – Jonathan Merritt
- White Southerners, Our Souls are at Atake. We Must Speak Up Now – Rev. Dr. Joanna Adams
- The Assumptions of White Privilege and what We Can Do About It–Bryan N. Massingale
- Racial Reconciliation Hustlers and my Progressive Christian Case for Reparations– Rev. Billy Michael Honor
- My Team, My Friends, and a Racist Welcome – Brian Shivers
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:What sports has taught me about race in America
- #BLM: The awful frequency and impact of racism in America
- A Communion or Eucharist Prayer during Racialized Police Brutality
Listen in on the kinds of open, honest conversations that too many of us avoid having.
Music
- Gil Scott Heron “The Revolution will not be Televised”
- Otis Redding “Change Gonna Come”
- Billie Holliday “Strange Fruit”
- Marvin Gaye “What’s Goin’ On”
- Terrain “Let Love Lead”
- Buffalo Springfield “For What It’s Worth”
- Michael Jackson “Black or White”
- Janis Ian “Society’s Child (Baby, I’ve Been Thinking)”
- James Brown “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud”
- Beyonce “Freedom”
- The Porter’s Gate “Daughters of Zion”
- The Porter’s Gate “We Labour Unto Glory”
- Liz Vice “Empty Me Out”
- TobyMac “Diverse City”
- Kirk Franklin “Revolution”
- Kirk Franklin “Strong God”
- Lecrae “Tell the World”
- Chance the Rapper “How Great”
- David Lamotte “God of the Movement and Martyrs.”
- The Many “These Bodies”
- The Many “Let Justice Rain”
- DJ Tony Tone (Radio Host)
- Djtonytone.net
Spoken Word/Poetry and Sermons
- Langston Hughes “Kids who Die” (read by Danny Glover)
- Sterling Brown “Old Lem”
- Brian Shivers Untitled- June 24th
- Brian Shivers Unpacking Stories
- Morgan Harper Poetry
- Friends – Spoken Word
- Sarah Ogletree “From Domination to Dominion.”
- MLK JR “Mountaintop Sermon”
- William Barber “Preaching is more than Words”
Podcasts
- Cringe with Marc van Bulck
Ep. 21 – Conversations on Belhar: J. Herbert Nelson, Denise Anderson, Charles Wiley, Amy Snow - OnBeing – Resmaa Menakem – “Notice the Rage; Notice the Silence”
- OnBeing – Eula Biss – “Talking About Whiteness”
- Revisionist History Season 2 Episode 3, “Miss Buchanon’s Period of Adjustment”/Malcolm Gladwell
- All Things Considered – “White Supremacist Ideas Have Historical Roots In U.S. Christianity”
- Rants & Randomness with Luvvie Ajayi Episode 9, “Become the Right Thing with Glennon Doyle”
- Fare of the Free Child/Akilah S. Richards
- Pod For The Cause/The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- The History Chicks
- Prophetic Resistance Podcast
- The Word is Resistance
- Freedom Road Podcast
- Holy Post
Queerology
Watch and learn. We've offered everything from short videos to full-length films.
Long (movies or series)
- 13th (Ava DuVerny)
- I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck)
- The Best Of Enemies (Robin Bissell)
- Selma
- A More Perfect Union (PBS)
- Marshall (Reginald Hudlin)
- Just Mercy(Destin Daniel Cretton)
Medium (10-40 mins)
- How to Deconstruct Racism One Headline at a Time
- 50 years of racism — why silence isn’t the answer | James A. White Sr. | TEDxColumbus
- Race, Religion & Resistance \ CBS
- Black murder is normal| Michael Smith | TEDxJacksonville
- I grew up in poverty. Here’s why I recognize my white privilege | Tom Rietz | TEDxDePaulUniversity
- “17” A visual EP by Sankofa.org
- Matthew 25
- James Cone – The Cross and The Lynching Tree
- James Cone – Religion and Violence
- Local 22- Women of Courage
- Strange Fruit — Salt Project
- Journey to Liberation: The Legacy of Womanist Theology
- Holy Post- Race in America
Short (5 mins or less)
- Isaiah 58 – ”Purge Me”
- Holderness family- What not to say:
- Veggie Tales creator Phil Visher on Race in America
- Clint SmithDanger of Silence Ted talk
- Quartz “Recognizing Microaggressions”
- The Many are Here – My Dead Black Body
- How to raise a black son in America | Clint Smith
- Systemic Racism Explained
- Image of Equity/equality
Notice: Why didn’t I see this sooner? It’s easy to overlook what we’re not looking for.
Once people start to learn about white privilege and America’s systems of oppression through history, they often ask, “Why didn’t I see this sooner?” It’s easy to overlook what we’re not looking for. Once you understand the phenomenon of selective noticing, take yourself on a noticing adventure.
1) Start by watching the Test Your Awareness: Do The Test
2) Then…go out in the world and change up what you notice. Here’s some of what you might look for:
- Who is and is not represented in ads?
- Who are your ten closest friends? What is the racial mix in this group?
- As you move through the day, what’s the racial composition of the people around you? On your commute? At the coffee shop you go to? At the gym? At your workplace? At the show you go on the weekend?
- What percentage of the day are you able to be with people of your own racial identity?
- Notice how much of your day you are speaking about racism. Who are you engaging with on these issues? Who are you not? Why do you think this is?
- What are the last five books you read? What is the racial mix of the authors?
- What is the racial mix of the main characters in your favorite TV shows? Movies?
- What is the racial mix of people pictured in the photos and artwork in your home? In your friend, family, and colleagues’ homes?
- Who is filling what kinds of jobs/social roles in your world? (e.g. Who’s the store manager and who’s stocking the shelves? Who’s waiting on tables and who’s busing the food?) Can you correlate any of this to racial identity?
- Who do you notice on magazine covers? What roles are people of color filling in these images?
- If you’re traveling by car, train, or air, do you notice housing patterns? How is housing arranged? Who lives near the downtown commerce area and who does not? Who lives near the waterfront and who does not? Who lives in industrial areas and who does not? What is the density of a given neighborhood? Can you correlate any of this to racial identity?
Follow Racial Justice activists, educators, organizations, and movements on social media.
Consider connecting with any of the people you learn about in the above resources. Here are more ideas to widen your circle of who you follow. Pro Tip: check out who these organizations follow, quote, repost, and retweet to find more people to follow.
- More Light Presbyterians
- Youth Mission Co
- Human Rights Campaign: Faith Resources
- The Tyler Clementi Foundation
- The Youth Cafe
- Youth Today - #BlackLivesMatter
- National Education Association - Black Lives Matter (School Resources)
- Youth FX
Engage in racially mixed settings. Be a learner more than a knower.
This can be the hardest part for people new to racial justice work. Engaging in racially mixed settings can trigger age-old power and privilege dynamics. The goal is to be a learner more than a knower, exactly the opposite of what dominant U.S. culture teaches us to be.
Just Get Started!
- How to confront racism with the people you are close with
- Petitions to sign
- Research which businesses in your area are black owned and transfer one weekly purchase to that business.
- Stop racist jokes!
- Engage with your friends and family who are of voting age. Are they registered to vote? Have they voted? Engage with them to make sure they are registered and will be voting! Use https://vote.gov/to figure out your state’s details!
- Who to call for action
- Pick a local bill/ issue to make your representative more aware of and send them a letter using these guidelines.
- Community Building within your High School
- Become a member of the National Museum of African American History and Culture to help elevate the African American experience to its rightful place at the center of our nation’s history and culture.
- Stop the Hate- Take action against Racism Resources
Act: Flex your skills. Take action to interrupt power and privilege dynamics.
Actions to consider:
- Invite friend(s), family, and/or colleagues to do this challenge with you.
- Prepare yourself to interrupt racial jokes. Click HERE for some advice about how.
- Interrupt the pattern of white silence by speaking openly with family, friends, and colleagues about what you’re doing and learning in this challenge.
- Invite friend(s), family, and/or colleagues to join you for one or more of your daily “to-do’s” for a low-threshold invitation into the work and introduction to the 21-Day Challenge.
- Does your school, workplace, or faith group have an Equity Committee? Share this with them. Can they make it a school wide initiative? Particularly in the fall when two especially oppressive holidays happen?
- Create a PSA (Public Service Announcement) poster or video:
- Describe stereotypes in your environment (grocery stores, party/costume shops, books, movies/cartoons/television, etc.)
- Explain the stereotype
- Correct misinformation
- Offer a challenge to dismantle stereotypes (i.e.: stop buying product)
Reflect on what you choose to do, what you’re learning, and how you are feeling.
Reflecting and Journaling is a crucial piece of the challenge. Plan to take time everyday to reflect on what you chose to do, what you’re learning, and how you are feeling. Difficult emotions such as shame and anger, though uncomfortable to feel, can guide you to deeper self-awareness about how power and privilege impacts you and the people in your life. At the very least, use the “Reflect” space on the reflecting journal tool.
- Awareness examen on Racism
- Prayer for racial injustice
- Belhar Confession
- 7 ways we know systematic racism
Use our tracking tool to stay on track and be able to reflect back at the end.
(Tip: diversify your habits by doing some of each.)
Create a Soundtrack4Justice playlist that fuels you and/or can serve as a conversation starter with people of all ages.
Let the music move you!
Create a Soundtrack4Justice playlist that fuels you and/or can serve as a conversation starter with people of all ages.
You can find ours on Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music.

Guidelines:
If you are using, revising or editing the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge © content created by Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. and his team at The Privilege Institute, giving credit to the creators is required. Remember, now more than ever, you/your organization must always give credit for the social justice tools/ideas created by BIPOC folks doing and leading Antiracist work. We’ve made it easy to give the proper recognition to be used on websites, social media sites, in email communication, during interviews and/or infomercials. Click HERE for our copyright information and tools to incorporate the required recognition in your plan. We are committed to offering the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge © free of charge. We are constantly enhancing the materials, monitoring social media pages, responding to inquiries/questions, and Moore.