 We are excited to jump into our next iteration of our Racism is Real Dialogue series in 2024 with Co-Director & Trainer, Bethany Stewart (she/her) and Trainer, Thulani Conrad Moore (he/him)
To wrap up Black History Month, Bethany and Thulani engaged in an intergenerational conversation on "What is Blackness?" They offered a Sankofa moment on the importance of knowing the past to shape the future. This dialogue took place on February 29, 2024 on Facebook Live. Click "read more" to view the recording.
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 Our September conversation built upon our April dialogue, which provided a brief history of the Doctrine of Discovery; described the impact on Indigenous and African people- past and present, and explored ways we can come together for our collective healing.
This September Racism is Real conversation offered two sacred spaces/breakout groups for BIPOC and White people to reflect on the topic and their experiences. The BIPOC caucus featured ROJ trainer Thulani Conrad Moore with Dr. Kyle Mays and Dr. Edward Valandra. The White caucus featured ROJ trainers Rev. Lorie Hershey, Dr. Drick Boyd, and Rick Derksen. This event took place on Sunday, September 17 4-5:30pm PT / 7-8:30pm ET on Zoom (not on Facebook Live). Participants joined their group's caucus after (re)watching the April conversation. This event was not recorded in order to protect the sacred space. Our participants: Edward C Valandra, Ph.D., is Sicangu Titunwan, born and raised on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. His research focuses on the national revitalization of the Oceti Sakowin Oyate (People of the Seven Fires, commonly called the D/L/Nakota people) and the development of Native Studies. Dr. Valandra is the founder and Research Fellow for the Community for the Advancement of Native Studies (CANS), a Native-government-chartered, research-based, reservation-rooted organization. Kyle T. Mays (he/his) is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies, American Indian Studies, and History at UCLA. He is the author of Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes: Modernity and Hip Hop in Indigenous North America (SUNY Press, 2018). His most recent book is An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States (Beacon Press) which argues that African enslavement and Indigenous dispossession have been central to the founding of the United States, and explores how Black and Indigenous peoples have resisted U.S. democracy from the founding of the U.S. to the present. ROJ Trainer bios are available here. Check out these books by our panelists! Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities (2020, Living Justice Press) - edited by Dr. Valandra, with essays featured by Rev. Michelle, Erica, and other women of color: https://livingjusticepress.org/product/colorizing-restorative-justice-2/ An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States (2021, Beacon Press) by Dr. Kyle Mays (affiliate link) https://bookshop.org/p/books/an-afro-indigenous-history-of-the-united-states-kyle-t-mays/16258852?aid=83165&ean=9780807011683&listref=roots-of-justice-collective-recommends  By Rev. Dr. Calenthia S. Dowdy, ROJ Trainer
I hadn’t intended to write this. It’s Sunday morning, July 2nd, and I’m sitting in my easy chair watching CBS News Face the Nation. Former Vice President, Mike Pence, one of the many hopefuls in the Republican party to be their nominee for President is being interviewed. Naturally he was questioned about the recent Supreme Court decision to end Affirmative Action in colleges and universities. When asked if fundamentally he believed there was racial inequity in the education system in the U.S., Pence responded by saying... “I really don’t believe there is, I believe there was, there may have been a time when Affirmative Action was necessary simply to open the doors to all our schools and universities, but I think that time has passed, and we’ll continue to move forward as a color-blind society which is really the aspiration I believe of every American.” Pence went on to try to quote Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2003, saying,  By Thulani Conrad Moore, ROJ Trainer
Applying an Antiracist Analysis: In a recent development, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) made a decision that highlights its commitment to preserving evangelical white male dominance. By choosing to expel congregations with female pastors, the SBC has revealed a clear agenda: to consolidate and perpetuate white power through the means of white male dominance. In this blog post, we will delve deeper into this current event and analyze the underlying motives driving such actions. Echoes of Charlottesville: Remembering the events of a few years ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, we witnessed a gathering of white men chanting, "You will not replace us, Jews will not replace us." This chilling display of fear reflects the broader
 Facebook Live conversation with members of the ROJ Collective and friends
Wednesday, April 12 4-5:30pm PT (7-8:30pm ET) The conversation provided a brief history of the Doctrine of Discovery; described the impact on Indigenous and African people- past and present, and explored ways we can come together for our collective healing. This Racism is Real conversation was led by ROJ Trainer & Accountability Council member Rev. Michelle Armster and featured panelists: Dr. Edward Valandra, Dr. Kyle Mays, and Erica Littlewolf. While this was a free event, we ask you to support our work with a $10-20 donation to continue to make important conversations like this one possible. Please give here. Join us on Facebook live: facebook.com/RootsOfJusticeInc Click on "read more" to watch the recording.  Facebook Live conversation with members of the ROJ Collective and friends
Friday, Feb. 17 7-8PM ET / 4-5PM PT Join Thulani Conrad Moore (ROJ trainer), Dr. Tobin Miller Shearer (ROJ co-founder and former trainer - pre-recorded segment), Dr. Monica Smith (ROJ Accountability Council), and Dr. Drick Boyd (apprentice trainer) for a conversation on the true motives behind the fight against Critical Race Theory - an attempt to erase White history. For too many years school students have had romantic story time masquerading as history class. The fight against CRT is only making it worse. What is needed--now more than ever--is a common analysis and diagnosis of racism and White supremacy. While this is a free event, we ask you to support our work with a $10-20 donation to continue to make important conversations like this one possible. Please give here. Join us on Facebook live: facebook.com/RootsOfJusticeInc Click on "read more" to watch the recording. By Thulani Conrad Moore, Roots of Justice Trainer Congratulations to Wes Moore and Aruna Miller for their hard work to break the pattern of rich white male dominance over the governorship of Maryland. Maryland, like most of the United States, has always voted for candidates based on race and gender. The only time we hear people question that is when a candidate is a person of color or a woman. It is then that we hear, “don’t you think voting is too important to vote for a person based on race or gender?” Check the statistics for your state. How old is it? How long has it maintained white male dominance in government? The system of white male dominance requires that whether Democrat or Republican, the candidate has to be white and male. My state, Georgia is also a white dominant state as it relates to the governorship, with the same shameful historic white dominant pattern.  By Thulani Conrad Moore, Roots of Justice Trainer If U.S. businessmen supported by the U.S. government had not plundered the resources of the people of Latin America, and the Caribbean the people of those nations would not be at the southern border looking for their stolen inheritance. When people feel compelled to leave a place, it may be that they are running from something or to something. In the case of Latin America, pundits always tell us that they are running from violence, socialism, dictatorships, drug cartels, etc. For many that may be true. However, if we dig a bit deeper, we expose other reasons.  Some say the end of Title 42 heralds the Latin American invasion. They are coming here to steal the jobs of hard-working Americans. That is the cry of uninformed Americans who claim to understand why “they” are coming.
I don’t usually quote Fox news guy Tucker Carlson but as usual, he said something stupid about U.S. history so I feel compelled to set the record straight. Tucker said “...This is the biggest story in recent American history; a total change in the American population. Millions and millions and millions of new people, the country will never be what it was five years ago…” Tucker could not have found a better way to demonstrate his stupidity. If you really want to put current events in perspective you have to know your history. The Supreme Court led by Justice Roberts is ruling on when to end the Trump administration's policy called Title 42. Basically, immigrants legally seeking asylum in the United States have to remain in Mexico while their cases are being adjudicated. Ending that policy will result in many immigrants coming to the U.S. But, Do we even want to understand why? Do we want to go beyond the “taking our jobs” jargon?  By Thulani Conrad Moore, Roots of Justice Trainer
Lies about historical figures are not unusual, but they are dangerous. Lies of commission are those stories told that are false. Equally dangerous are the lies of omission. Facts that have been omitted to control or shape the historic narrative. Finding the truth takes some digging. Excavating is a process of exposing, laying bare, digging, or unearthing. It usually refers to digging soil. I am digging through history to expose nuggets of U.S. history your teacher didn't tell you. Lies of omission and lies of commission make you miss important stuff. For instance, which of these is true about the first U.S. president, George Washington?
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