Set Free is a journey toward wholeness for People of Color, working together to liberate ourselves from Internalized Racist Oppression (IRO).

Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.  - John 8:32

​If you can control a man’s thinking, you don’t have to worry about his actions. If you can determine what a man thinks, you do not have worry about what he will do. If you can make a man believe that he is inferior, you don’t have to compel him to seek an inferior status, he will do so without being told and if you can make a man believe that he is justly an outcast, you don’t have to order him to the back door, he will go to the back door on his own and if there is no back door, the very nature of the man will demand that you build one."   — Carter G Woodson

​What is Internalized Racist Oppression?​

IRO is a deeply-held belief in the myth of racial inferiority. This belief is encouraged and grown through socialization of People of Color in the context of racist individuals, institutions, and systems.

How are we Set Free?

By tracing our history we can see how Internalized Racist Oppression was spread and absorbed over time. By looking into our present condition we can see how our life has been shaped by racist oppression, internal and external. Through these understandings we are Set Free to follow a new way toward healing and wholeness.

The Set Free Process

Our facilitation team will create a safe setting to allow participants to process feelings about IRO and to embrace a new vision beyond the distortions of racism. Participants will learn skills essential to addressing IRO within themselves and community through highly interactive exercises, film, drama, and discussion groups. Participants will have ample time to share from their own experiences and reflect on what they are learning from the process and each other. Participants will take home a collection of materials that will help to equip them for the continued journey.

Quotes from prIOR participants

• “I learned that I need to know WHO I am, and know about my family and African American history.”
• “We must help each other to take off the things that bind us.”
• “You can be liberated.”
• “I will take from the experience the need to reclaim who I really am, not who someone wants me to be.”
• “I have a better understanding about internalized racist oppression and the history of the role of the church in racism and internalized racist oppression.”