Day 21: Being an Anti-Racist
Today marks the final day of our 21 Day Challenge! We thank you for your thoughtful engagement in this learning journey. We invite you to take a moment to re-read your journal entries for the past 20 days and to reflect on how this Challenge has impacted you. We also ask that you take the final survey at the top of this e-mail, which will allow us to assess the impact of the Challenge and help us understand how we can improve future Challenges.

Today's final activities are designed to provide you with tools moving forward in your personal journey as you bring the concepts and knowledge gained in this Challenge into your personal relationships, your workplace, place of worship, community groups, and other communities you inhabit.

Today's activities take a look at what it means to be anti-racist and how we can take actionable steps in our ongoing, daily journey and practices. Anti-racism is the active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies, practices, and attitudes. Why do you want to be anti-racist? What will this look like for you?

Considering the breadth and depth of racism, committing to being anti-racist may feel overwhelming, yet small choices made daily can add up to big changes. Today, we reflect on choices we make in our daily lives (i.e., who you build relationships with, what language you use, where you invest your time, where you shop, how you direct donations). How do these choices reflect being anti-racist?
TODAY’S CHALLENGE:

IF YOU HAVE:
Through this how-to guide, understand what it means to be a true ally and how to effectively practice allyship.
BONUS: Explore this comprehensive listing of resources that provides anti-racist educational materials that can be used at school, home, and work.
Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism, and Engage in Collective Healing provides thoughtful guidance to those seeking to take anti-racist action in their own lives.
Listen to this 30 min podcast that covers how white allies can respond to racism and/or listen to Ibram Kendi's 1 hour interview with the Aspen Institute on How to Be An Anti-Racist.
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In 2020, in response to the nationwide dialogue on race and equity, and as part of a long-term effort to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion, the City of Glendale took a historic step of reckoning. It became the first city in California and the third in the nation, to pass a sundown town resolution based on a review and report of available historic documents to identify and understand Glendale’s history. Sundown towns kept African Americans and other people of color from living in certain communities through formal and informal methods in a purposeful effort to maintain a white population. The resolution acknowledges and apologizes for Glendale’s racist past and pledges to work towards an anti-racist future. Additionally, the resolution acknowledges the local history of the Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi party and other white supremacist groups and recognizes that redlining, a process that restricted access to African Americans and minorities to certain neighborhoods, was prevalent in the City for decades. The resolution was a historic moment of reckoning for the City of Glendale. RECKONING: Racism and Resistance, launched on February 1, 2021 is a new virtual exhibition at ReflectSpace that provides a historical and contemporary narrative to accompany this critical moment.
735 East Lexington Drive
Glendale, CA 91206
Phone: 1-(818) 242-4155
YWCA is on a mission to eliminate racism and empower women