Education and Awareness

We encourage and support members of the congregation to participate in community education and training programs to deepen their personal understanding of racism and oppression and to learn how to take personal action to increase racial justice. Relevant programs include:

Building Bridges

The Mission of Building Bridges is to dismantle racism by fostering relationships that respect diversity, seek understanding and encourage action. We provide educational programming paired with a safe place to learn, reflect and discuss.  They host two nine-week educational sessions focusing on black-and-white racism in Asheville each year.

Racial Equity Institute

RACIAL EQUITY WORKSHOP-PHASE I
This is a two-day long process – that helps to provide talking points, historical factors and an organizational definition of racism. REI believes that organizations are often working in very intentionally civil ways yet operating from multiple understandings that rely more on personal feelings and popular opinion. This creates complications to the goal of eliminating racial and ethnic disparities and producing equitable outcomes.