Blog Posts - Roots of Justice

Healing Racial Trauma - Recovery, Resistance & Reclamation

3/23/2023

This Racism is Real dialogue specifically for People of the Global Majority (BIPOC) took place on Monday, Mar. 20 on Zoom.
It was led by Chantelle Todman with panelists: Sue Park Hur, Kris Henderson, Erica Littlewolf, and Ajulu Olok.

This key text helped to frame the conversation: Racial Trauma is Real.
It was a powerful conversation - thank you to all who participated and offered their perspectives. And stay tuned for when we schedule another time for BIPOC caucus on Zoom.

The recording is available for BIPOC/People of the Global Majority. Register here to receive a link to the recording.

Nikki Haley’s announcement might secure white male dominance again

2/16/2023

By Thulani Conrad Moore, ROJ Trainer

We are applying the antiracism analysis to Nikki Haley announcing her run for the presidency.

When many Republicans run for public office, they have to insult somebody. Nikki followed that pattern in her announcement yesterday. She did a two-for-one insulting women and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. In so doing, she could not have found a better way to demonstrate her low self-esteem. As we say in the analysis training, she showed her internalized inferiority or internalized oppression.

Nimrata Randhawa is her given name. She goes by Nikki now, perhaps because it was easier for her white friends to pronounce. There are claims that Nikki is on her birth certificate, and let’s see if Trump demands to see it.

Nikki announced that she was running for president of the United States yesterday. You ask how that says she has low self-esteem. In people of color, there is a manifestation of low esteem that makes it so that you think your value is in the approval of white people.

You then spend the rest of your life only seeking the approval of white people. Subsequently, you do not care what people of color think of you. If people of color don’t like you, you see that as evidence to white people that you are different, and different in this context means better.

The fight against Critical race theory: An attempt to erasE white history

2/8/2023

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.

Is Maryland interrupting white male dominance?

1/19/2023

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.

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Racism, Stolen Land, and Stolen Inheritance

12/30/2022

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?

Black Women Talk Back II: The Elders

12/1/2022

Facebook Live Conversation with ROJ Trainers:
Wednesday, Dec. 14: 7-8PM ET / 4-5PM PT

The "elder" Black women of the ROJ Collective will close out the year reflecting on what they have learned on 20+ years of their antiracism journeys--the highs, lows, their bodies, antiblackness in academia, the pastorate, restorative justice work, in leadership, and practices that have led to self-care and healing.

This is a free event and we invite 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

RACISM IS REAL: MEN DARING TO INTERRUPT WHITE MALE DOMINANCE PART II

11/29/2022

Click "read more" to watch the recording of this conversation.

DIVIDE and rule as a tool of white supremacy

10/27/2022

Roots of Justice co-founder Dr. Regina Shands Stoltzfus talks about how the process of "divide and rule" impacts People of Color, and keeps BIPOC and white people separate. It obfuscates the truth that "the sum is greater than our parts" for dismantling racism.

The Woman King: A Short Reflection

10/6/2022

By: Dr. Calenthia Dowdy, ROJ Trainer

Deep anticipation was what I felt rising inside me as I sat in my seat at the movie theater Friday night of The Woman King. It was opening weekend and I was determined to be in that number. Knowing that this story was not fictitious but was based in the fact of a real woman warrior group called the Agojie made me swell with a bit of pride.

Set in the 1800s Dahomey kingdom of West Africa where the Agojie, an elite military regime of women take part in protecting their kingdom. The Agojie existed circa 1600-1904 as one of only a few known all-female military units in the world. Also known as the Dahomey Amazons, from the kingdom which thrived during the 18th and 19th centuries in what is now modern-day Benin. The film did not disappoint. It was epic, cinematically stunning, filmed in South Africa, along the coast of KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Town. The warrior women are portrayed as strong, agile, smooth-bodied, and beautiful. Viola Davis plays the formidable Nanisca, General of this women’s army, whose primary task is to train the next generation of woman warriors. And that she does.

History excavation: Lies your teacher told you

9/29/2022

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?

When he was a child his father confronted him about a cherry tree that had been chopped down. George said “I can not tell a lie…I chopped down the tree, father.” Or,
George Washington was a human trafficker (enslaver). At the time of his death, he held 317 humans captive on his farm. He claimed 123 of those Africans as property.