CONVERSATIONS ON RACE
Special Interest Group
Schedule:
The group is not currently meeting.
However, on a monthly basis, we share news, articles, essays, upcoming events, and other material that will help us continue increasing our knowledge and understanding.
Let us know if you'd like to join the group's mailing list.
Contact Information:
Ralph Freidin: rfreidinmd@gmail.com
Jan Hilley: jan.hilley@gmail.com
Robin DiAngelo's 2018 book, White Fragility: Why It's so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, was an eye-opener at BOLLI. It increased interest in broader conversations about the presence of racism in our daily lives, and provided the impetus for this special interest group.
Di Angelo reminds us that we "must never consider ourselves finished with our learning...It is a messy, lifelong process, but one that is necessary for aligning our professed values with our real actions."
Conversations on Race is an attempt at continuous engagement with this topic. It creates a mechanism for expanding our awareness, increasing our knowledge, and affording more open dialogue about systemic racism and our participation in it.
Although we met as a group on Zoom for the first 2 1/2 years, the end of the pandemic made scheduling a challenge. As a result, the website now serves as a monthly platform to continue this engagement and to share it more widely.
To view this month's page, click HERE.
This constantly evolving website incorporates:
Access to continuation of shared material HERE (Aug - Dec 2022) and HERE (Jan - Jun 2023) and HERE (Jul - Dec 2023) and HERE (most recent).
Focus pages: Whiteness ; Black Voices ; and Hidden History.
Plus Our Picks, a selection of additional materials.
We have recently added a page drawing attention to Black Owned Businesses.
Sometimes a special page is posted responding to a current issue or event.
And, finally, an archive of materials from our initial group meetings.