An accompanied course for those moving from programs and studies
to disrupting systems and transforming the world around them.
Antiracism is not a program, a mission project, or even this course. Antiracism is a way of being. In order to shift how we move and breathe in the world, we must first look at the ways of being upholding the systems of oppression we seek to dismantle. Only then can we consider new practices and ways of embodying the life-giving values we seek to animate.
When you begin to change yourself, you affect change in the systems around you. It starts with you.
Antiracism as a Way of Being is a six-module video series developed for NEXT Church by Crossroads Antiracism Organizing & Training. Each module contains multiple short videos (5-10 minutes) along with supplemental materials and reflection questions. Each module takes about an hour to work through, on average. It asks the following questions:
- What does antiracism require of you?
- How are different forms of oppression linked?
- What embodied values will transform our institutions and ourselves?
- What makes our lives, our very beings, an act of resistance?
ABOUT THE MODULES
MODULE 1 - Antiracism as a Way of Being
What is antiracism?
The series opening module will frame antiracism as a way of being, one seeking not just the inclusion of people of color in the church but working for the dismantling of all the structural barriers that hinder the flourishing and liberation of all creation. The module will also explore common misconceptions about what antiracism is and will feature a panel conversation exploring the implications of antiracism as a way of being for the church and her leaders.
MODULE 2 - White Supremacy and Systemic Racism
What is the ideology of White Supremacy and how does it create systemic racism?
Module 2 will frame the ideology of white supremacy and systemic racism and explore what race is and how it shapes individuals and communities. The module will then consider the role of U.S. Christianity in the legitimization and normalization of the ideology of white supremacy and systemic racism. Finally, it will explore how this legitimization arrests the faith development of individuals and communities hindering their participation in the elimination of the sin of racism and bigotry.
MODULE 3 - Power at the Center and Borderlands
How has white Christianity in the United States served as legitimator and propagator of the ideology of white supremacy and systemic racism?
This module will consider how systems and institutions broadly, and Christianity in the United States in particular, get caught up in perpetuating a status quo that upholds and legitimizes white supremacy and racism as the norm, resulting in a misshaped Christian identity. To further explore this, we introduce a tool called a power analysis, which helps us to better understand how power is organized in our culture.
We will also consider the role of institutions in facilitating racist misuses of power. The power analysis framework used at Crossroads is called Center/Borderlands, and it is inspired by the work of Dr. Gloria Anzaldua, a Chicana, lesbian cultural theorist, the author of the book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza.
MODULE 4 - White Institutional Values
How do White Institutional Values co-opt our imagination?
This module will dig deeper into white institutional values that legitimize and facilitate the dominance of whiteness, justifying the harm experienced by people of color and their communities. Further exploration will consider how these actions hinder faithful Christian living. If leaders hope to catalyze change, it is critically important they’re aware of how rooted U.S. Christianity is in the ideology of white supremacy and values.
MODULE 5 - Transforming Values
How do Transforming Values disrupt white dominance?
This module will build on Module 4 by presenting six transforming values countering the values previously introduced. The values will be placed in-context, exploring them with depth, and considering the implications of cultivating these in the church. These transforming values, when animated by both individuals and the institutions they make up, open possibilities for mutual accountability preparing communities to emerge with a vision of justice and repair that includes human relationships and the natural world.
MODULE 6 - Now What?
What will the church have to cultivate and set aside to become an antiracist institution?
Now what? Four panelists reflect on what must be cultivated and what must be set aside to animate antiracism and make concrete the realm of God on earth:
- Cultivating Radical Vision and Imagination: Why it Matters? with Shawna Bowman
- Framing Racism as a Moral and Theological Problem with Jessica Vazquez Torres
- For Reconciliation to Organizing for Liberation with Michael Russell
- Nurturing Authentic Relationships by Doing Our Own Work with Larissa Kwong Abazia
And ultimately, this series is simply a beginning. Keep the work going. What is next for you?
“As a coach and antiracism facilitator with NEXT Church, I’ve worked with multiple iterations of Crossroads’ resources. Each video series has been better than the one before. This latest version somehow manages to be both deeply grounded and exceedingly user-friendly, with clear takeaways and thoughtful next steps.”
MaryAnn McKibben Dana
