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. 

  • 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.

  • 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!

  • 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.

ProHabits

Automated Interaction

Daily Tracker

Stay on Course

Facebook Community

Engage & Network

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. 

Listen in on the kinds of open, honest conversations that too many of us avoid having.

 

 

Music

Spoken Word/Poetry and Sermons

Podcasts

Queerology 

Watch and learn. We've offered everything from short videos to full-length films.

 

 

 

Long (movies or series)

Medium (10-40 mins)

Short (5 mins or less)

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.

 

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!

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.

 

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.

#MooreAction Select Your Next Challenge