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.
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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? 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 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.
![]() 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. ![]() 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?
![]() By: Thulani Conrad Moore, Roots of Justice Trainer Understanding racism and White supremacy starts with a question that White people need to ask themselves. People of Color need to ask themselves this question also but that subject will be discussed in another chapter. The question is how do you know what you know about who you are. We are all told who we are by the external forces around us. This question should create an existential crisis point. It is a fact that our identities are shaped by the people around us who tell us who we are. It starts with parents and grandparents. It moves on to other caregivers and school teachers, pastors or religious leaders who tell us who we are. |
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