Spirit & Place will relaunch the Powerful Conversations on Race series, which will include monthly community dialogues on race and racism.
The first event is 3-5 p.m. July 11. Conversations are scheduled for the second Sunday of each month and will be virtual for now.
The series started for the first time in 2017 and lasted about 16 months. LaShawnda Crowe Storm, community engagement director for Spirit & Place, is the project lead and said the organization relaunched Powerful Conversations on Race in part because of positive feedback from the first round.
More than 90% of participants said they felt they developed a moderate to great deal of understanding of race in America, Storm said, and everyone took some form of action afterward, including taking discussions back to a church or neighborhood group.
The idea behind the series is to create space for a “difficult dialogue,” Storm said, where people can learn how history impacts the present day.
“As long as we can’t do that, then we’re always going to be stuck here,” she said.
The topic for the first conversation is “Slavery, Survival, and Community Building.” Other future topics include Jim Crow, Reconstruction, the Civil War and civil rights.
Starting in August, there will be a companion series called “Race &…” which explores ways racism impacts different parts of society.
Part of the reason Powerful Conversations on Race ended in 2018 was because the series involves more than just talking. Spirit & Place, which is part of The Polis Center at IUPUI, trains people on how to lead conversations and start other events.
“If all we do is offer this, we’re failing,” said Erin Kelley, the organization’s program director.
Facilitators use the civic reflection dialogue technique, which includes a shared source — a book, film excerpt, etc. — that helps people think about their values. It isn’t necessary to read the source material before the meeting.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
