The goal of the weekend is to recognize and understand systemic racism from the Black-American experience and perspective. To learn how it operates. To see how it affects individuals and our communities. And to provide a springboard for positive and equitable change. Participants are invited to professionally facilitated panel discussions, creative programming opportunities like last year’s very successful Hip Hop Green Dinner, or to simply download a self-directed discussion.
Sacramento Faces Race was conceived and is managed by Lynn Berkley of Folsom who is thrilled with last year’s outcome. “… last year at this time there were great, regional initiatives in place, but what a difference a year makes!” says Ms. Berkley. “Sierra Health Foundation, Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, Sacramento City Council, United Way, Sac ACT, Mayor Johnson, and of course, Black Lives Matter under the courageous leadership of Tanya Faison, along with so many others have taken bold steps to initiate racial justice and systemic change in our region.” Lynn is continuing to focus on bridging coalitions of supporters to create opportunities for collective change. Lynn is a lifetime social activist. In 2015, after participating in the NAACP and Mayor Johnson’s Just Justice Forum the year prior, she was invited to participate in a Washington D.C. summit about systemic racism with national racial justice leaders including U.S.Congress members and White House officials. In 2016, she once again participated in meetings for change in D.C. with Bend the Arc, a Jewish Partnership for Justice. “Sustainable change and civil discord cannot be righted through blame. It must happen first through understanding the perspectives of those who claim the inequity.” Says Ms Berkley.
Joy Johnson PhD – President Sacramento Area Congregations Together (SacACT) and Assistant Pastor of Agape ALIVE Church in Roseville – adds, “In the height of racial tensions in our nation’s cities, Sacramento Faces Race will intentionally guide our region into courageous conversations to discuss hidden wounds, to build relationships, and to be a catalyst to spawn new cultures of change!”
As President Lyndon Johnson stated in his 1965 speech following a week of turmoil in Selma – “There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem.”
Visit www.SacramentoFacesRace.com in the coming weeks to learn more about how/where/when you can attend or host a Teach-In. Groups already committed to participate include: Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento ACT, The Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento, Sacramento Board of Rabbis, Folsom Lake College, Cinders Bar, Safe and Just California, NAACP, and Impact Sac. Check the site often for project updates.
