SOCIAL JUSTICE AND RACIAL HEALING

Working Together to Dismantle Racism and Facilitate Healing

Building Bridges: Dismantling Racism for the Common Good, June 9-11, 2021

Dr. Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Center for Social Justice and Racial Healing at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma will collaborate with Respect Diversity Foundation (Oklahoma), Thick Descriptions (Oklahoma), and the Institute for the Healing of Memories (North America & South Africa) to develop and implement a virtual workshop-conference, Building Bridges/Dismantling Racism for the Common Good, scheduled for the spring of 2021.

Topic and Themes
The workshop-conference will examine the characteristics of systemic racism and its impact on everyday life by exploring the interrelated themes of diversity, alienation (anomie), entitlement, and community. Presentations developed around these themes will establish critical frameworks for understanding how race and racial ideologies persist in shaping social and cultural institutions, which mediate interconnectedness and/or social isolation between individuals and social groups, and how these factors foster or hinder community-building. Towards this end, perceptions of identity and community will be examined by (i) presenting concepts and theories that are core to cultural diversity including the basis of stereotypes, prejudice, stigma, discrimination, and privilege, (ii) investigating the links between practices of exclusion and the structuring of societies, and (iii) exploring the psychosocial factors that contribute to alienation (anomie) and social isolation. In addition to the information-driven component featured through the presentations of scholars and community activists, workshops (or break-out sessions) will be facilitated each day by the staff of the Institute for the Healing of Memories (IHOM) to help participants process their feelings, experiences, and general understanding of the topics covered. The goals of these workshops with IHOM facilitators are the following: 1) begin the process of building bridges through fostering authentic dialog with and between participants; 2) learn strategic methods of uncovering how racial ideologies shape identity for personal transformation; 3) provide a space to begin the process of healing.