21-Day Racial Equity Challenge

The PMB Phytograds Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team and PMB Graduate Program invite you to participate in the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge. For 21 days, do one action to further your understanding of power, privilege, supremacy, oppression, and equity. This is accomplished through reading, listening, and watching various resources, and then discussing in a group. Read more about the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge.

GOAL: Do something EACH day for 21 days and reflect on it. The aim is education and exploration.

Participants commit to:
Step 1 - Follow the list of daily activities. If you have already done an activity, select a different similar activity from the list of resources on the 21-Day Challenge website. 
Step 2 - Set aside a little time each day to commit to the challenge.
Step 3 - Record a reflection each day.
Step 4 - Participate in the three weekly discussions with a small group.

TIMING
Dates: February 5 – 26
Group meeting dates: Fridays at 9:00 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. on February 12, 19, and 26

Weekly discussions are centered on:
week 1 – reaction to the activities
week 2 – observing our environment and reflecting on events in our lives that we are seeing in a different light after 14 days
week 3 – how to engage and act in the future

Questions? Email Husain Agha, agha0012@umn.edu, or Sara Eliason, seliason@umn.edu.

2021 schedule & activities

Choose one of the activities for each day—or do them both. Or, if you have already watched, read, or listened to a piece, select something of your own from the options on the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge website or other sources.

Write a brief reflection each day. What are you seeing and thinking after each activity? What did you find yourself reflecting on?

day
date
activities
1 February 5 watch: Peanut Butter, Jelly and Racism (3 min)
watch: Check Our Bias to Wreck Our Bias (3 min)
2 February 6 watch: Systemic Racism Explained (4.5 min)
read: From Alt-Right to Groyper (40-50 min)
3 February 7 watch: "We the People:" The three most misunderstood words in U.S. history (18 min)
listen: You Cannot Divorce Race From Immigration (6 min)
4 February 8 read: The problem with that new equity vs. equality cartoon you're sharing (4 min)
watch: 50 states, 50 different ways of teaching America's past (7 min)
5 February 9 watch: Racial Wealth Gap (16 min)
read: Without Slavery, Would the U.S. be the Leading Economic Power? (15-20 min)
6 February 10 watch: What Being Hispanic and Latinx Means in the United States (11 min)
listen: Little War on the Prairie - Scene on Radio: Seeing White, episode 5 (60 min)
7 February 11 watch: The urgency of intersectionality (19 min)
read: Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person (10 min)
8 February 12 Group discussion - 9:00 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. (Zoom links will be emailed.)
9 February 13 watch: This is us; blaming current racial tensions on Donald Trump misses the point (3 min)
read: The Injustice of This Moment Is Not an "Aberration" (15-20 min)
10 February 14 watch: White Bred (6 min)
watch: What Would You Do? Bike Theft (White Guy, Black Guy, Pretty Girl) (3 min)
11 February 15 watch: Racism is Real (3 min)
watch: How textbooks taught white supremacy (5 min)
12 February 16 watch: How "white fragility" reinforces racism (5 min)
read: How one teacher's Black Lives Matter lesson divided a small Wisconsin town (15-20 min)
13 February 17 read: The Case for Reparations (20 min)
watch: "Intergroup anxiety:" Can you try too hard to be fair? (5.5 min)
14 February 18 watch: A Conversation on Race 
attend: Anti-Racism Work: Dismantling Your Practice (90 min)
15 February 19 Group discussion - 9:00 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. (Zoom links will be emailed.)
16 February 20 watch: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them (18 min)
read: Ally or co-conspirator? What it means to act #InSolidarity (3-10 min)
17 February 21 read or listen: Are Your Diversity Strategies Missing the Mark? (15-20 min)
18 February 22 read AND listen: Where It Starts - UMN connected stories (30 min)
19 February 23 read: How to Make Your Teaching More Inclusive (15-20 min)
read: Ten simple rules for building an anti-racist lab (10 min)
20 February 24 read: Racism in academia and why the "little things" matter (10 min)
read: Conducting research through an anti-racism lens-from UMN Libraries (30 min)
21 February 25 listen: Breaking Green Ceilings, episode 1 (and others!) (30-40 min)
listen, read, watch: Rondo: Beyond the Pavement
Wrap up February 26 Group discussion - 9:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. (Zoom links will be emailed.)