28-Day Challenge
Below you will find resources to engage in a 28-day (4 week challenge) to reflect personally on understanding our own racial identities and understanding of bias, antiracism and racial equity. Challenge can be done individually or in groups. The reflections are best done personally and having a thought partner to help engage in conversations with multiple perspectives.
You can start whenever, today or later this summer. You can start on a Monday, can start on a Thursday, doesn't matter. Work through each day and reflect. Can use the linked Google Doc each week, or reflect in a journal or with a thought partner, whatever works best for you. Each week there is a weekly reflection you can submit to be entered in a raffle in August for books at the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
Please fill out this intent form if you are going to be engaging in the 28-day challenge.
You can join a REMIND group that will send a daily message with that day's challenge.
Week 1 (Days 1-7) Why Race Matters
This week we will focus on understanding why race matters around us in multiple contexts.
Personal reflection sheet (optional)
Day 1- Why race matters metrics
Read through this list of data points across many aspects of society displaying disproportionality and unequitable outcomes for individuals of color.
Watch- Racism is real: systemic racism explained
Reflect- what sticks out to you about these metrics in totality ? Not focusing on one specific metric, but in totality, what sticks out to you?
Day 2- Personalizing race
Select and watch a few personal stories of "The first time I realized I was Black."
Read: First Encounters with Racism (as told by students)
Reflect- how often do you personalize and notice your race? Why do you think that is?
Day 3- Racism costs us all
Watch Heather McGhee TED Talk- Racism has a cost for everyone.
Read: Living near racists can literally make you sick
Read: What happens after your town declares racism a public health crisis?
Reflect- How have you noticed racism and racist policymaking drain overall society and cost us all? Are there any connections to how COVID has been addressed in America in what Heather McGhee talked about?
Day 4- Colorblindness
Watch- Why colorblindess is not the right approach to race
Read- what to say instead of 'I don't see race'
Have you ever, or have you ever heard anyone, use the phrase they are colorblind or we should not talk about race or we are all the human race? What is the danger in using those phrases and having the mindset that we should be colorblind?
Day 5- Multiple perspectives & experiences
Watch: TED Talk 'we the people' the three most misunderstood words in US history
Watch: What to my people is the Fourth of July?
Reflect: How has your experience in this country been different than other's experience? How can you continue to engage in conversation and learning of these differing experiences in America?
Day 6- All of us have a role
Watch Eddie Glaude "this is us....."
Read: ways to help to combat racism racism: your apology is not enough
Reflect: what can YOU do to start a process of healing in this country and the spaces you navigate?
Day 7- Unpacking our privilege
Read: Explaining white privilege to a broke white person
Read: Of smog and moving walkways: understanding prejudice, privilege and racism
Reflect: what privileges do you have in society? How can you leverage those to address racial equity in spaces you navigate and have influence?
Week Reflection: Submit online for entrance into a raffle.
What percentage of your life is influenced by race? Why do you believe that?
Additional Week 1 Resources (podcasts, webinars and documentaries)
United Shades of America (CNN Series)
episode #livingwhileblack (focuses on Milwaukee)
Soul of a Nation (ABC)- a unique window into the realities of Black life
The Ezra Klein Show- Heather McGhee- what drained pool politics costs America (podcast)
The Experiment: Inventing 'Hispanic' (podcast)
WYPR All Things Considered: Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us: gauging the social costs of racism (podcast)
Throughline by NPR: James Baldwin (podcast)
Week 2 (Days 8-14) History of Race
This week we will focus on understanding the historical context of race in America.
Personal reflection sheet (optional)
Day 8- Creation of race
Watch- How America Invented Race
Watch- The origin of race in the USA
Reflect: what stuck out to you about the videos?
Day 9- Coming to terms with history
Watch- we can't recover from history until we deal with it
Reflect: Why do you think we all need to understand and come to terms with the history of race in America?
Day 10- History of segregation
Watch: how housing redlining contributed to racial wealth gap and segregation
Watch: Redlining and Racial Covenants: Jim Crow of the North
Read: redlining: the racist history behind racial wealth gap
Reflect: how might you have a conversation with someone who argues that segregation ended years ago, it doesn't have an affect on disparities today?
Day 11- History of Milwaukee & race
Read: Redlining, racial covenants and suburbia: how Milwaukee became a hyper-segregated city
Read Black Milwaukeeans are generally worse off today than 50 years ago, UWM study finds
Watch: How redlining turned Milwaukee into a segregated city
Reflect: how diverse is the community you live in? What about the community you work in? How often do you think about the diversity of the communities around you?
Day 12- History of Milwaukee schools & race
Watch: A history of Milwaukee School Segregation
Read: Metro Milwaukee's Black students are the most hypersegregated in the nation
Reflect: What effect does the segregation of Milwaukee have on the lives of students in MPS schools and staff members working across the district?
Day 13- Reliving history today
Watch: Ibram X Kendi- America's racist history explains what happened in 2020
Read: Anti-Asian racism never stopped being an outgrowth of U.S. imperialism
Reflect: in what ways do you see racism the same today as it was historically and in what ways do you see it has changed?
Day 14- Discussing race in schools
Watch: How the political debate on teaching race in schools is impacting students and educators
Read: Why do young whites kill out of hate? Schools aren't teaching nation's racist past.
Reflect: why do you think there is currently such a hard push to stop teaching and learning about the racialized history of America? How can you continue to ensure you and your students learn about the racialized history of America?
Week Reflection: Submit online to be entered into a raffle
What can you do to continue to grow in your understanding of the historical and current realities of race in the country, state, and city of Milwaukee?
Additional Week 2 Resources (Podcasts, Webinars, and Documentaries)
Civil War: Or, who do we think we are? (free on Peacock)
PBS: The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross
ACLU Podcast: At Liberty- Kimberle Crenshaw on teaching the truth about race in America (podcast)
Week 3 (Days 15-21) Addressing Bias
This week we will focus on understanding the bias and how we can work to interrupt bias.
Personal reflection sheet (optional)
Day 15- What is bias?
Watch- Implicit Bias: peanut butter, jelly, and racism
Watch- PBS Learning- Let's talk bias
Reflect- How would you explain bias to someone who has never heard of it or doesn't believe that we all have bias?
Day 16- Identifying our bias
Harvard Bias Test (select Race IAT- towards the bottom- as the test to take)
Watch- Peeling back the layers of bias with Nancy Moricette - Milwaukee Rep
Read- can we overcome racial bias? 'Biased' author says to start by acknowledging it
Reflect- What were your feelings while taking the Harvard Bias test? How do you feel about your results?
Day 17- Microaggressions
Watch- an everyday dimension of racism: why we need to understand microaggressions
Read- racial microaggressions in everyday life
Reflect- How have you seen microaggressions around you? Have you ever experienced a microaggression or engaged in microaggressions yourself?
Day 18- Bias in discipline
Read- Biased discipline at my school
Watch- Bias isn't just a police problem, it's a preschool problem
Watch- Discipline Bias in Education Leaves Life-Long Impacts
Reflect- Do you think bias plays a role how students are disciplined in your school or in the district? How can we address these issues as a district?
Day 19- Interrupting our bias
Watch- Implicit bias: countermeasures
Read- how mindfulness can help you break your unconscious biases
Reflect- What is one action step you will take to continue to work on interrupting your own bias?
Day 20- Bias around us
Read- Mizzou Athletics Tweet Celebrating Its Student-Athletes' Diversity Goes Horribly Wrong
Watch- How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time
Read- Here are 20 headlines comparing Meghan Markle to Kate Middleton that show bias
Reflect- Looking around at media you intake including the news, commercials, movies, radio ads, etc where do you notice bias? Have you always noticed this? How does this make you feel?
Day 21- Interrupting bias in others
Watch- how to have a voice and lean into conversations about race
Browse/read: Speak Up at School (from Learning For Justice)
Reflect- What is an action step you can personally take to continue to interrupt bias around you and help educate/inform others on bias?
Week Reflection: submit online if you want to be entered into a raffle
How often do you notice your own biases coming up? How do they make you feel? What have you done to work on interrupting those biases?
Additional Week 3 Resources (Podcasts, Webinars, and Documentaries)
Coded Bias (now on Netflix)
Countering Pushout: Skills to support Black girls
Reflecting on anti-bias education in action: the early years (guidebook)
Work Life with Adam Grant: how to bust bias at work (podcast)
Week 4 (Days 22-28) Antiracist Lens in Education
This week we will focus on viewing education through an antiracist lens.
Personal Reflection sheet (optional)
Day 22: Why race matters in education
Read: read through thse current MPS data points by race
Read: 14 disturbing stats about racial inequality in American public schools
Watch: TED Talk- how America's public schools keep kids in poverty
Reflect: What stands out to you while reviewing the data?
Day 23: Historical context
Read: if only there were a viral video of our Jim Crow educational system
Read: What Black educators built
Read: Schools can't address racism until they acknowledge how they got to this point
Reflect: How can the history of race in education help to guide us forward?
Day 24: Antiracist educator
Watch: Dena Simmons- six ways to be an antiracist educator
Read: I want to teach differently than I had been taught
Read: How to train an anti-racist teacher: 9 practical takeaways
Reflect: Within your role in education, what is something you can do to being antiracist in your work?
Day 25: Discussions with students
Watch: why is it important to have conversations on race with students? (student focus group)
Read: an antiracist roadmap for discussing tough topics in class
Read: what do classroom conversations about race, identity, and history really look like?
Read: This national teacher of the year is diving into lessons of race and oppression
Reflect: Why is it important to engage all students in conversations on race? How can the district or your school promote more conversations around race and support staff in holding this space?
Day 26: Equity in education
Watch: this is equity
Read: how to make your equity policy a reality
Read: 5 reasons instructional materials matter for equity
Reflect: How would you define equity in education? Within your locus of influence, how can you increase equity in education?
Day 27: Diversity and equity pedagogy
Read: Students of color deserve to see themselves in their school curriculum
Read: reading diverse and inclusive books teaches children empathy, experts say
Watch: Why English class is silencing students of color
Watch: The power of the Black experience in the classroom
Read: children's books neet to watch their (skin) tone
Reflect: How well do you engage and embrace the diversity of the students you teach? What are opportunities MPS can engage with to further diversity and equity in pedagogy districtwide?
Day 28: Finding your "why"
Read: Why we need an antiracist education system
Read: A guide to equity and antiracism for educators
Watch: "I want to understand."
Reflect: Why do you engage in this work? Why is working towards antiracism in education important to you? How can you engage others in this important work?
Week Reflection (submit online for entrance into a raffle)
What is your personal equity statement of purpose?
Additional Week 4 Resources (podcasts, webinars, and documentaries)
School segregation: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The art of building equitable schools- Elena Aguilar
Abolotionist Teaching and the future of our schools (Youtube live discussion with Dr. Love)
I'm a white educator...... where do I begin?
Why & how to talk to young kids about race
Code Switch: A tale of two school districts (podcast)