YWCA St. Paul Launches 2021 Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge

Many individuals and organizations are continuing to look for ways to further their understanding of racism and equity and to drive positive change that helps eliminate systemic racism. To assist, on June 21st, YWCA St. Paul is launching its second annual ‘21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge’ – an email series designed to support efforts to learn more about racial equity and social justice.

In the daily email participants will receive curated articles, podcasts, videos and activities delivered to their inbox. Taking part in an activity like this helps participants discover how racial inequity and social injustice impact a community, while connecting with others and identifying ways to work against racism and other forms of discrimination.

“While our country has struggled with racism since its inception, this difficult year has made the impact of racial inequity on communities of color painfully obvious, particularly with respect to community policing policies and criminal justice, healthcare disparities, housing and education,” Gaye Adams Massey, CEO of YWCA St. Paul.  “But along with challenges come opportunities. YWCA St. Paul is pleased to offer this resource to our community, and we encourage organizations and individuals to participate and examine how racism and bias impact their communities and explore how they can take action to help promote racial equity and drive change.”

Registration for the Challenge is available at: Racial Equity Challenge | YWCA St. Paul (ywcastpaul.org).  YWCA St. Paul is also available to help facilitate conversations for groups/organizations looking for a deeper dive into the topics and material.

Over 30,000 people from 1,800 zip codes across the country took the challenge in 2020 and it has proven a powerful tool for companies, municipalities, non-profits and religious institutions to begin to implement real equitable change. YWCA St. Paul is proud to participate in the event this year and to encourage our community to examine how structural racism and bias impact each of our lives.

The 21-Day Equity Challenge was created by Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. (#BlackMind) and co-developed with Debby Irving, and Dr. Marguerite Penick (#DiverseSolutions). The plan has been adopted by Organizations, Associations and Corporations all over the nation/world. Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. is the Director of the Privilege Institute in Green Bay, WI. Dr. Moore created the Challenge to not only help people better understand issues surrounding equity, inclusion, privilege, leadership and supremacy, but also to do so in a way that would build a habit of learning by stretching it over 21 days. We are excited to be offering you this 21-Day Challenge in partnership with Dr. Moore.