Continued
Courageous Conversations Exploration
Courageous Conversations is a framework of powerful work being done across this country to create a space to address racial equity using the Four Agreements, Courageous Conversations Compass ™ and Three Tiers (the Six Conditions are within the Three Tiers).
Introduction to Courageous Conversations about Race One-Page (from one-day PD)
We also have a Remind group utilized to send messages with articles, podcasts, and videos discussing an issue of race in education. Interested staff members can enroll following these instructions, through the Remind website, or texting @g4ahkf8 to the number 81010.
School Staff Activities/Integration Ideas
Table tent with Compass, Four Agreements and Six Conditions
Poster with Compass, Four Agreements and Six Conditions (Spanish)
Courageous Conversations Compass Jamboard
Courageous Conversations Compass Image
Google Slide 4 Agreements and Compass
Above and Below the Line- activity for school staff to utilize the Above and Below the Line protocols to dig deeper into a specific topic, concept, term, data point, or event.
Data discussion guide within CCAR protocols
Staff conversations:
Staff conversations:
School Follow Up Session (can adjust to meet school specific needs & examples)
Having a couragoues conversation about defining behaviors as a staff
Case Studies
Below you will find an additional journey through Courageous Conversations you can go through and experience yourself or join with colleagues, and continue the journey together. It is recommended to go through the Three Tiers (Six Conditions) in order as outlined in Courageous Conversations Exploration. Below you will find a variety of activities to engage with to deepen your understanding and continue your journey.
Videos from Explorations Seminar:
As a reminder, the book Courageous Conversations about Race discuss the Six Conditions, and the one-day Exploration discusses the Three Tiers. Each Tier contains two of the six conditions:
Tier 1: Engage
Condition 1: Establish a racial context that is personal, local, and immediate.
Condition 2: Isolate race while acknolwedging the broader scope of diversity and the variety of factors and conditions that contribute to a racialized problem.
Tier 2: Sustain
Condition 3: Develop understanding of race as a social/political construction of knowledge, and engage multiple perspectives to surface critical understanding.
Condition 4: Monitor the parameters of the conversation by being explicit and intentional about the number of participants, prompts for discussion, and time allotted for listening, speaking and reflecting.
Tier 3: Deepen
Condition 5: Establish agreement around a contemporary working definition of race, one that is clearly differentiated from ethnicity and nationality.
Condition 6: Examine the presence and role of Whiteness and its impact on the conversation and the problem being addressed.
Cult of Pedagogy (Podcast)- How one district learned to talk about race (with Glenn Singleton)- transcript
Glenn Singleton Webinar "Leadership for Racial Equity in Schools and Beyond" use email jagemaj@milwaukee.k12.wi.us
A framework for conversations about race in schools (featuring Glenn Singleton)
Article "Beginning Courageous Conversations about Race" by Singleton and Hays
Podcast: From Woke to Work- the antiracist lifestyle with Glenn Singleton & JLove Calderon
Glenn Singleton facilitates webinar on "equity, diversity & inclusion and the future of work"
Video from Wieden & Kennedy around their work with CCAR (some strong language)
Courageous Conversations are a key to racial equity (Australian newsclip with Glenn Singleton)
Courageous Conversations about Race featured in Insight into Diversity magazine
Activities below will be in one of the categories of:
Read- an article to read on specific topics
Listen- podcast series or specific episodes
Watch- TED Talks, webinars, Youtube videos, or documentaries
Notice- words, actions, societal structures to observe as you navigate the spaces you are in
Reflect- You can choose to create a Google Doc, a notebook, voice memos, or some other way to reflect as you continue your journey. Specific reflection questions to consider are provided.
Connect- Links to other sites and organizations with further resources or connections.
Act- specific steps you can take within your locus of control
You are encouraged to track your activities and next steps using this Google Sheets template. (Please make a copy into your Google Drive)
You can also use this template for your reflections listed below. (please make a copy into your Google Drive)
Courageous Conversations Compass
Table tent with Compass, Four Agreements and Six Conditions
Poster with Compass, Four Agreements and Six Conditions (Spanish)
Courageous Conversations Compass Jamboard
Courageous Conversations Compass Image
Google Slide 4 Agreements and Compass
Find any article on race and while reading find yourself on the Compass. Reflect on what it would be if you were at a different location on the Compass.
Find any video on race and while watching find yourself on the Compass. Reflect on what it would be if you were at a different location on the Compass.
Identify where I am at on the Compass
Center myself and find how I could find myself in all quadrants
Recognize where others are
Meet others where they are, help to center them
Four Agreements
Stay Engaged
Speak Your Truth
Experience Discomfort
Expect & Accept Nonclosure
Read
Nothing to add: a challenge to White silence in racial discussions
'A harsh wake-up' here's how White people can broach difficult conversations about race
The 10 R's of talking about race: how to have meaningful conversations
Watch
Listen
Brenew Brown with Austin Channing Brown- I'm still Here: Black dignity in a world made for Whiteness
Reflect
During a conversation about race, have you ever experienced disengagement from the conversation? How did it impact the dialogue?
Have you ever felt discomfort during a conversation on race? If so, did you work through the discomfort successfully, or was it left unresolved?
Which emotions prevent you from speaking your truth during interracial conversations about race? Which conditions can make it safer for you to deal with your racial fears and speak your truth?
Why is it necessary to expect and accept non-closure when dealing with race?
Connect
Follow on social meida: Celeste Malone, Austin Channing Brown, EmbracingEquity, Uprooting Inequity, Black Lives Matter, Center for Antiracist Research, Dena Simmons, Abolitionist Teaching Network, Ibram X Kendi, Bettina Love, Emmanuel Acho, Baratunde, Frederick Joseph, Conscious Kid, World Central Kitchen, White People for Black Lives,
Act
Find an article or current event and have a 10 minute conversation with someone centering yourself in the four agreements.
Monitor specifically how:
You stay engaged in the conversation
How you work to keep them engaged
Are you able to speak your truth?
Do you encourage them to speak their truth?
Are you stepping out of you comfort zone?
How do you end the conversation in a manner to keep the conversation going later and accepting nonclosure?
Tier 1: Engage
Engage through your own personal racial experiences, beliefs and perspectives while demonstrating respectful understanding of specific historical as well as contemporary, local and immediate racial contexts.
Read
Articles below provide reflection on engaging your own personal experiences, beliefs and perspectives
Here are concrete actions White people can take to fight racial injustice
Anti-racist work in schools: Are you in it for the long haul?
Advice for the newly woke White teachers on teaching Black children
Racism, not a lack of assimilation, is the real problem facing Latinos in America
Were all your teachers white? I've often been the only one who looks like my students
Articles below proivde understanding of historical as well as contemporary, local and immediate raciat context:
Report: Metro Milwaukee's Black students are the most hypersegregated in the nation
Claudette Colvin: the woman who refused to give up her bus seat- nine months before Rosa Parks
Richard Sherman: 'Thug' is accepted way of calling someone N-word
Black newborns 3 times more likely to die when looked after by White doctors
The forgotten history of segregated swimming pools and amusement parks
Discussing anti-Asian history and its societal effects today
Honoring the unforgivable: the horrific acts behind the names on America's infamous monuments
If we're going to tackle systemic racism, we need to rethink how we teach history
Jim Crow in the United States: a brief guide to the racial segregation laws
The myth of colorblindess- Dr. Rosa Isiah
Why a colorblind approach to economic policy doesn't work in closing the racial wealth gap
How Black Americans used portraits and family photographs to defy stereotypes
Dear America: we have heard your whitewashed version of history. It is time you hear the truth.
The whole US is southern. How our troubled racial history went national.
'Land rich, cash poor'- how Black Americans lost some of the most desirable land in the U.S.
Every generation of Black Americans has had a Rodney King moment
Freedom, justice, brotherhood, equality: the lasting lessons of Milwaukee's Freedom School boycotts
When did slavery really end in the U.S.? The complicated history of Juneteenth
How school choice left Black children with scraps for their education
Black woman tired of correcting coworkers who get her name wrong, plans petty revenge
Listen
Silence is not an option (CNN- Don Lemon)
Miseducation (NY High School student personal stories about race in school)
1619- 6 part podcast observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery.
Scene on Radio Season 4- the land that never has been yet
Who We Are: a chronicle of Racism in America (additional resources)
Watch
"This is My Story" 6 part series by LaVar Burton
The first time I knew I was Black (series of short videos)
CNN: United Shades of America- episode #livingwhileblack (available on Hulu, HBO Max or on Google Play)
Ibram X Kendi: America's Racist History Helps Explain What Happened in 2020
Amber Ruffin airs some of the sunken Black history white conservatives are trying to hide
Crash Course: Black American History Youtube Channel (multiple videos)
Remembering John Lewis (from Explorations seminar)
Notice
Notice in your daily life when you feel bias in your interactions
When do you notice your race throughout the day?
Notice any historical aspects of racism that are still present today in our school system or society as a whole.
When do you notice your race and your life impacted by your race?
Reflect
How do you define race?
What were you taught about the history of race in the country? How has what you know changed over time?
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?
What percentage of your life is affected by your race? When do you more notice your race over other times?
Connect
Find school or district data by race. Have a discussion with a colleague about what you notice. Focus on the personal, local and immediate.
Act
Take Project Implicit from Harvard (select race)
Addressing microaggressions in the classroom (University of Washington module )
Understanding Microaggressions module (WI DPI/ Dr. Newell)
Cultural competence self-assessment checklist (www.rapworkers.com)
Complete "How diverse is my universe?" activity (by yourself or with others)
Diversify classroom library, bulletin boards, and other racial respresentations to match student diversity
Twitter video discussing his experience seeing a White woman record an encounter he had with police
Talk to the white people you know who aren’t clearly upset by white supremacy. Use “I” statements and “I care” messages (“I feel [feeling] when you [behavior]”). They need to know you see a problem.
Take time to learn about an aspect of history involving race and racism that you did not know about.
Find ways to incorporate aspects of our racial histories into your teaching or your conversations with peers.
Tier 2: Sustain
Sustain yourself and others in the conversation through mindful inquiry into those multiple perspectives, beliefs and experiences that are different than your own.
Above & Below the Line (Word version - Jamboard - Google Slide - please make a copy into your Google Drive)
A specific student
Your school
The neighborhood/community around your school
A specific event from history (Rose Parks, Juneteenth, redlining)
A societal structure/policy/practice (voting rights, mass incarceration, school funding, etc)
Read- articles below are from a variety of perspectives. While reading reflect on your experiences, beliefs and perspectives and how they may differ as a result of reading the article
Confronting racism is not about the needs and feelings of white people
Were all your teachers white? I've often been the only one who looks like my students
How choosing a school made me realise my daughter is not white
The problem with that new equity vs. equality cartoon you're sharing
Why some people live where they do, in segregated metropolitan Milwaukee
While reading the following articles reflect on sustain conversations with ourselves and others.
Banning White Supremacy Isn't Censorship, It's Accountability
I'm an angry Black woman. This is what I want White people to know
How social media helps and hurts when it comes to Black exhaustion
How not to be an ally: a list of rules for anti-racist advocacy
Why we need more close interracial friendships (and why we're bad at them)
Listen
Intersectionality matters- looking at intersectionality and critical race theory
Some of my best friends are............ (podcast)
Watch
White silence on social media: Why not saying anyting is actually saying a lot
Kalief Browder Story (Netflix mini series)
One Night in Miami (Amazon Prime)
Soul of a Nation (ABC)- a unique window into the realities of Black life
From slave patrols to today: what the history of policing teachers us about the present
Disrupt & Dismantle (BET- exploring the inequalities Black communities face and actions need to be taken)
Notice
How are diverse voices provided space in team meetings at your school?
How often do you engage in conversations with individuals with different viewpoints from yourself?
What strategies, language or actions do you see from individuals to avoid conversations about race?
How do staff members arrange themselves for meetings and PD? Who sits with whom and where?
Reflect
What aspects of your students, their families, and the greater community are you aware of? What do you need to learn more about? (what is below the line?)
What would happen if someone only told one part of the story related to your life experience? How would it impact you?
What strategies, language or actions do you see yourself using to avoid conversations about race?
Have you found yourself apathetic to racism (or "looking the other way")?
Leadership: How do you find time for conversations about race? Where on the agenda do these conversations occur?
Connect
Let's Talk (From Teaching Tolerance)
Sesame Street: coming together- talking to children about race and identity
Act
Find an article or current event and have a 10 minute conversation with someone centering yourself in the four agreements.
Create an activity or opportunity for students and/or families to share about themselves, specifically aspects of themselves that might not be as well known.
Step out of your comfort zone and visit other areas of the city that you might not visit as often. Might include shopping at a different grocery store, getting food from a new restaurant, attending religious services somewhere new, or other opportunities across the city otherthan your usual neighborhood.
Have all staff, colleagues or family have a conversation utilziing the Courageous Conversation Compass, identifying which quadrant of the compass they find themselves.
Tier 3: Deepen
Deepen your understanding of whiteness and interrogate your beliefs about your own association with and relationship to racial privilege and power.
How do you identify:
Nationality (where are you a citizen or where were you born?)
Ethicity (what practices and beliefs do you engage in on a regular basis?)
Race (what is your outward presenting physical attributes?)
Read
Articles below identify racial privilege and power (or lack of racial privilege and power):
How choosing a school made me realise my daughter is not white
Black newborns 3 times more likely to die when looked after by White doctors
Got internalized White superiority? The danger of denial and the promise of another way
New study finds black teens face racial discrimination 5 times a day on average
What's lost when black children are socialized into a white world (The Atlantic)
Distinctions in White audience associations of 'Black' and 'African American' labels
How to talk to White family members and friends who just don't understand their privilege
Seeing Black written with a capital b means more than you think it does
I moved to the US from Kenya. I never fully realized I was Black until I had a son
Next U.S. census will have new boxes for Middle Eastern or North African, Latino
Wieden & Kennedy debunks the myth of Asian Americans as the 'model minority'
Articles below deeped the understanding of whiteness:
What happened when my school started to dismantly White supremacy culture
People have been saying "ax" instead of "ask" for 1,200 year
A campus more colorful than reality: beware the college brochure
How whiteness was invented and fashioned in Britain's colonial age of expansion
When it comes to double standards for Black women, Angel Reese is the tip of the iceberg
Listen
Nice White Parents (This American Life)
Brenew Brown with Austin Channing Brown- I'm still Here: Black dignity in a world made for Whiteness
Scene on Radio Season 2- seeing white
By Every Measure (88Nine Radio Milwaukee Podcast with Reggie Jackson)
Teaching While White: Racial Identity for White People with Dr. Janet Helms
Work Life with Adam Grant: building an anti-racist workplace
Watch
Daily Show- a broad look at how white supremacy shaped America
White Like Me (Time Wise) (or on Vialogues)
Robin DiAngelo on Tonight Show (from Explorations seminar)
Identifying and disrupting your Whiteness: addressing power & privilege toward anti-racist spaces
White people must take action against the racists amongst them
Notice
"The Talk"
Go through Jamboard of examples of systemic racism/bias and notice the role of race
As you watch commericals, tv, news, movies, etc how is race portrayed? How do these portrayals influence our biases and uphold systemic racism/ White supremacy?
Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture (from Dismantling Racism by Jones and Okun)
How do you see Whiteness centered as "the norm" in school or as you navigate the world around you?
Some aspects and assumptions of White culture in the United States
Do you notice any of these characteristics of white supremacy culture in your life?
Reflect
How do you define race?
How do you benefit or suffer from the racial hieracrchy in society?
What are ways you specifically wield privilege and work to maintain the racial status quo?
How have you responded when you've witnessed racist words or actions from individuals in your life?
How is your world view centered in Whiteness?
If you identify as White, how have you centered yourself as a White person in non-White conversations?
What racist beliefs have you internalized?
How can you work to de-center Whiteness in your work and social life?
What privileges are you willing to put on the line?
What percentage of your life is impacted by race? Has your answer changed over time? Why?
Connect
Becoming an anti-racist White ally: How a White affinity group can help
National Musuem of African American History & Culture: Whiteness
Act
Take a virtual privilege walk or find space to take with a diverse group of individuals. (many others available online)
Learn more about White racial identity development (McClean Group)
Journal prompts to help engage self-reflection & check your White privilege
Stage of White Identity Identity Development (identify where you are and areas of growth)
Take "How to tell if you have White Fragility" assessment
Racial Equity Leadership
Read
Got internalized White superiority? The danger of denial and the promise of another way
Report: Metro Milwaukee's Black students are the most hypersegregated in the nation
Nothing to add: a challenge to White silence in racial discussions
How to make this moment the turning point for real change (By Barack Obama)
Paying attention to White culture and privilege: a missing link to advancing racial equity
Five ways to sustain school change through pushback, struggle and fatigue
Belonging: a conversation about equity, diversity and inclusion
Talking about racial inequality at work is difficult- here are tips to do it thoughtfully
A framework for the Stamford Public Schools to eliminate racism and cultural bias
Demos' Racial Equity Transformation: key components, process, & lessons
We need to talk about racial justice issues at work. Here's how.
Watch
Black self/ White world- lessons on internalized racism (TED Talk)
Racism has a cost for everyone (Heather McGhee Ted Talk)
How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time (Ted Talk- Baratunde Thurston)
Unnatural Causes.... is inequality making us sick? (7 part series)
Glenn Singleton: The Path to Racial Equity: Courageous Conversations (webinar)
Listen
School Colors- a podcast about how race, class, and power shape American cities and schools
The Ezra Klein Show- Heather McGhee- what drained pool politics costs America
Work Life with Adam Grant: building an anti-racist workplace
Notice
Review the 4 resources below and notice the hypersegration of Milwaukee and the historical context that has created and maintains this over time. What connections do you see across all four resources?
Do you notice stereotype threat manifesting itself at school? In what ways?
Reflect
Have you ever felt racially invisible or hyper-visible?
What motivates you to engage in Courageous Convesations work in your personal and professional spheres of influence?
What motivates you to rise above any fears in your quest for racial equity in the future?
How have you been personally affected by stereotype threat?
Connect
Talking about race: National Museum of African American History & Culture
Let's Talk (From Teaching Tolerance)
Opening Doors- strategies for advancing racial diversity in Wisconsin's teacerh workforce
Teaching race: pedagogy and practice (Vanderbilt University)
ProPublica: Miseducation (variuos education metrics by race)
Act
Author Frederick Joseph created a 5-day challenge focusing on actionable steps to be a better ally to marginalized or disenfranchised groups with Yahoo! Each day featured a short video with Frederick, personal reflections and actionable next steps.