Dan Berry – September 16, 2021 All of us at Brownicity would like to congratulate our newest Certified Instructors for What Lies Between Us! As we celebrate five years of the course that has given a fundamental understanding to so many, we are pleased to announce that our reach has expanded. Please welcome and congratulate our newest certified instructors: Tony
What Does It Mean to be White? Laura Marti – September 13, 2021 A friend once told me, “Racism hurts all of us, not just Black people.” So when I first heard that Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte would be doing a “whiteness” course, I was excited. I’ve been on a journey to understand race and racism since the
Worship Across the Racial Divide Dr. Gerardo Marti – September 9, 2021. In his series, Race, Religion, Politics – What We’re Not Supposed to Talk About, Dr. Marti shares scholarly resources that are helping to expand his understanding. At an outdoor café on Los Angeles’s Westside, a Caucasian worship leader and I met to talk about his congregation. We drank
A History of Gospel Music Laura Marti – September 7, 2021 The history of Gospel music is a very broad topic, one that is complicated. There are different opinions about the origins of gospel music and how to define it. The dominant type of gospel is Black Gospel Music, which was traditionally believed to develop out of slavery and Negro
by Fia Cronin – September 2, 2021 As we celebrate the What Lies Between Us (WLBU) curriculum’s 5-year anniversary, it amazes me to think that it all started in someone’s living room. At that point, the curriculum didn’t even have a name! But it was a beginning — a starting point. We all have a starting point in all things,
Racial Healing through Dance and Song Laura Marti – September 1, 2021 This is Reverend Mia McClain. She is Associate Minister of Faith Formation at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. Mia is the first African-American in the history of Myers Park Baptist Church to be called to serve on Senior Staff in its 78-year history (founded in 1943).
Back to school with antiracism education Lucretia Berry, August 26, 2021 A few years ago, I got the opportunity to design and teach a high school elective to offer students an analytical framework for examining race and racism in the United States. Through the course content, assignments and projects, students are equipped with a historical, political and social context for
Laura Marti – August 24, 2021 Mehrsa Baradaran is the best-selling author of The Color Of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap and is currently associate dean and Professor of Law specializing in banking law at the University of California, Irvine. She has advised US senators and representatives on policy and spoken at national and international forums including
The Four R’s of a Racial Reckoning Dan Berry – August 19, 2021 Hey friends, As we continue our journey laying out a simple strategy for our first steps into antiracism, let’s talk about what a “Racial Reckoning” is. “Reckoning” is defined as the action or process of evaluating something. As we have struggled with the racial division we continue
Covid-19 Impact Through a Social Justice Lens Laura Marti – August 17 2021 Early in the pandemic, Black businesses were hit hardest by Covid-19. In a study published in May 2020 by Robert Fairlie from the University of California Santa Cruz, the number of Black business owners actively working fell 41% from February to April, in comparison with active white
Designed to Foster Shared Understanding Lucretia Berry, August 15, 2021 I believe that shining a light on history can help us create a brighter future. Once upon a time, my yearning for racial healing solely centered Black people. I longed for us to be free of racism’s legacy, to be liberated from the lies it told us about ourselves, to
Diversity & Social Justice in Entrepreneurship Laura Marti – August 3, 2021 In almost every category, Women of Color are leading the women-owned business charge! According to the 2019 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, women started almost 2,000 new businesses per day in the U.S., and women of color accounted for 9 out of 10 of those new businesses. In
To CRT or Not to CRT? Dr. Gerardo Marti – August 5, 2021 In this series, Race, Religion, Politics – What We’re Not Supposed to Talk About, Dr. Marti shares scholarly resources that are helping to expand his understanding. Critical Race Theory has now claimed far more attention in the public over the past few months than it has in
Laura Marti – August 3, 2021 The idea of Black Business Month is simple: support Black-owned businesses and organizations to promote greater economic freedom for the Black community. How did National Black Business Month begin? “The observance of #Blackbusinessmonth can be traced back to 2004 when Frederick E. Jordan, an engineering entrepreneur, teamed up with John William Templeton, president and
Steps Toward Racial Healing Ruth Youn July 30, 2021 “That…is no excuse for what you said.” Was my African American friend right? Did I really have no excuse for the ignorant words I unknowingly spoke nearly a decade ago? Having been raised in a predominantly white neighborhood and attended predominantly white schools from preschool to college, I had never been
Who Can and Should Have Access to the Outdoors? Laura Marti – July 28, 2021 This summer, through social media, Brownicity has been highlighting creative and innovative people who are changing the faces we see outdoors, where for a long time Black and Brown people have been underrepresented. To lay a foundation for understanding why they are underrepresented outdoors, Carolyn
Remembering In Order to Heal Dan Berry – July 20, 2021 Hey everyone, Can I just say how much it blesses our entire Brownicity Learning Community that you are engaged in this journey of educating yourself about race/ism. Not everyone will take the steps you are taking to become a part of the solution needed to bring healing to our
Lucretia Berry, July 13, 2021 In April, our family joined Global Glory Chasers (GGC), a subscription experience featuring a different country and culture each month. Designed by multicultural family and travel enthusiasts, the Gilmore-Youngs, GGC offers curated educational resources and culinary experiences for families and classrooms. Peering through the windows of books, music, food, and cultural practices helps us not
Dr. Gerardo Marti – July 6, 2021 In this series, Race, Religion, Politics – What We’re Not Supposed to Talk About, Dr. Marti shares scholarly resources that are helping to expand his understanding. Recently, I began to think much more about the relationship of race and our American legal system. Given that most of us grow up thinking of “the
Dan Berry – June 29, 2021 Hey everyone! As we all know there has to be some changes in the way we go about educating people about race/ism. More and more white people are waking up to the reality that something is horribly wrong, but that’s where we get stuck. How do we move forward? Brownicity and their development of
by Lucretia Berry June 22, 2021. Originally published for/at (in)courage.me, May 17, 2021 Recently, I became exhausted and nauseated by the noise of Facebook and Instagram — so much so that I had to take a social media hiatus. Prior to my pause, I loved peeking through posts and images to get updates on my friends’ lives. I enjoyed broadening
May our celebrations extend beyond a cookout to reach for and honor all that June 19, 1865 wants to teach us about us.
Lucretia Carter Berry – June 11, 2021 “If it wasn’t for the Civil Rights movement, I would not have been able to be born,” our daughter said at age seven. She understood enough about our nation’s history of race-based laws, policies, and social practices to come to this realization on her own. She stomped around the living room furiously objecting.
Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young – May 13, 2021 Sometimes when life hands you lemons, you have to make lemon meringue pie. Or maybe you go all in for lemon primavera pasta or a French lavender-infused lemon tart or Mediterranean garlic-lemon chicken kebabs! Well, you get the idea. Make lemonade if you have to, but don’t sit around feeling sour. This past
by Dr. Tehia Starker-Glass What more do you know about Dr. King? We honor Dr. King every third Monday in January. But what do we really know about him when we move beyond his I Have A Dream speech? What do we know about his childhood or him as a student — high school and college? These are the questions we
“Celebrating our cultural identity — acknowledging God’s expressed self through our collective journey — is not only food for our souls, but feeds those who have never experienced the Divine expressed in this way.” — Lucretia Berry
Tees, Tanks, Sweatshirts Choose your style and color! Brownicity – Many Hues, ONE Humanity — the word, the tagline, and the work — fosters space to expand our creative imaging for restoring our human family, fractured by toxic systems and narratives. When you wear ‘Many Hues, One Humanity,’ it will inspire and welcome the dialogue that folks long for. Please engage in ‘the
By Dr. Tehia Starker-Glass, Brownicity Education Advisor As I re-read Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech, What, to the Slave is the 4th of July, I thought about how Douglass must have felt as he composed this speech. He articulated how he was hesitant about the speech believing that the audience may be there to hear something different. His reluctance sat with
By Dr. Tehia Starker-Glass, Brownicity Education Advisor Juneteenth is the combination of June and nineteenth, the day in 1865 that 250,000 enslaved Africans, in Galveston, TX, were told — two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation — that the Civil War had ended and slavery was no longer legal. I did not grow up celebrating this holiday. But
Pastor Dan Berry is one of Brownicity’s certified instructors for the What LIES Between Us group study. He has pastored for 40 years in Iowa. After pastoring in predominately white spaces for several years, he began to realize the need to bring about racial healing — healing from the race/ist ideology and construct — in the body of Christ. For the last 30
As an educator, I am so encouraged by our online learning community. Repairing ourselves and communities from race/ism requires continued learning, equipping, and encouragement. ‘Doing the hard work of love‘ can be overwhelming and depleting. You need more than a one-time talk or a charged discussion of opinions. Through our online learning community, we offer you what you deserve – liberating education, hope-filled encouragement, and life-giving community. Have
Dear prospective learners, We are teaching our Foundations course face-to-face in January! Foundations is our popular, soft on-boarding course, featured in our online learning community. It’s similar to our high school elective, What Is Race/ism and our church inspired study, What LIES Between Us – Fostering First Steps Toward Racial Healing. FOUNDATIONS – WHAT IS RACE/ISM? Open to the community! Please
Thank you for listening to 3 in 30 Podcast‘s episode 101: Why & How to Talk to Your Kids about Skin Tone & Race! Welcome to Brownicity – Many Hues, One Humanity! I am Lucretia Berry. I get to work with my husband, our three children, and a team of other families and professionals to create learning-centered experiences for moms like you.
The assignment. Ask a few people who know you well, what they think your biggest strengths are and where they see you being brave in the midst of what you’re dealing with. — Niki Hardy (Breathe Again – Learning to Breathe Again, p. 65.) I followed the instructions as Niki laid out at the end of chapter three. Honestly, I
You deserve a space and a community cultivated to nurture your growth. And we’ve created that just for you. Grab your CHARTER MEMBER spot today! We LOVE supporting our friends who want to learn how to contribute to racial healing and deconstructing race/ism. And, we know that the best way to help is on an ongoing basis, month after month. So, we’ve
Confessions of a Supermom Wannabe hostess, Kristen Wheeler asked to talk with me about ‘racism and how to bring love to what can be a very charged subject and conversation in our society today.’ She is a gracious host and asked great questions. She’d done her homework on Brownicity and me. I was impressed!! Check out our podcast episode.
by Karen McNary I came to the Virginia in Slavery Pilgrimage on Palm Sunday weekend feeling hurting but hopeful, exacerbated yet expectant. The weekend marked the end of the sixth week of the seven-week An American Lent devotional by the Repentance Project. By this time my emotions were raw and real. Daily reading about the intentional, pervasive ways Blacks have
The rich and greedy serenade their worshipers with siren songs of supremacy, scarcity, and manifest destiny. Lies seize weakened, weekend minds. Forced, false, FEAR-filled desperation armed as ‘savior’ destroys sacred lives in sacred spaces. Meanwhile, the rich and greedy take the spoils for themselves, buy their offspring a private education, and repeat the cycle. (YEP! It’s all the same lie!)
I am embarrassed that I responded this way. But with my brow positioned to convey confusion, I thought to myself, ‘But wait! Its not February!’ My first grader loves to teach me what she learns in class. Some days, it feels like she enthusiastically recites every second of every interaction with teachers and peers. As a lover of learning, I
By Tiffany Trudewind Part 1. Seeing Color My second grader filled the car with electric energy as he climbed in and handed me a sheet of paper with a class announcement. It was finally here. He had watched his older sister and brother experience fun second grade activities at this school and now it was his turn. His class had been