Members of the Detroit Youth Choir perform a song about social justice during National Day of Racial Healing
During the fifth annual National Day of Racial Healing on January 19, communities far and wide the United States joined virtual forces to address issues concerning the Black, indigenous, and people of color communities.
The programming was created to unite others and spark action beyond words to create a more just and equitable world, according to a press release. The National Day of Racial Healing is a part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation efforts. The annual observance brings community partners, thought leaders and activists, celebrities, and more to the table covering topics and sharing ideas.
La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation said that those involved in this annual event are “building a movement to bring communities together to heal our nation.”
“Healing is hard work, deep work. It makes demands on the body, mind, heart, and soul. And it requires time, dedication, and real courage to pursue,” Tabron said. “Yet our grantees and partners affirm that healing is the path forward. It’s the way to ensure that all of our children will have a healthier, safer, stronger future.”
The nearly two-hour event was filled with in-depth conversations about overcoming racial injustice, and more. It was peppered with artistic expressions including poetry, music, and art including local The Detroit Youth Choir.
“One day when the glory comes it will be ours it will be ours, oh, one day when the war is won we will be sure we will be sure. Glory. Glory. Glory.” The Detroit Youth Choir belted out those powerful lines while marching on empty streets in Detroit; gathered together, and letting it be known racial inequality’s time is up.
“Fists up, it’s time to come together on our own streets.” They continued singing and marching.
Members of the Detroit Youth Choir perform a song about social justice during National Day of Racial Healing
Hashtags #weareone and #howweheal were prominently displayed throughout the event for people to continue the movement offline.
Baratunde Thurston, the host also author, activist, and comedian said during the virtual event that everyone can agree that this year feels different.
“The pandemic has reshaped our society,” Thurston said. “It’s taken the lives of far too many of our loved ones, our friends, our family, our neighbors and it has impacted people of color at disproportionate rates. Amid the crisis of the pandemic, the ongoing wave of police violence against Black bodies has forced us to reckon with the unrelenting disease that is systemic racism, and it’s ushered in one of the largest movements for racial justice and anti-racism in United States history.”
Thurston added that this may be the most “consequential election of our lifetime.”
“So what is racial healing? It’s about acknowledging the truth of past wrongs and addressing the present-day consequences of those truths,” he said. “It’s about creating space for trust and building authentic relationships that truly bridge divides; it’s about having a dialogue in communities … and start to understand our neighbor’s stories. That is when racial healing begins — we can recognize our shared humanity.”
Tabron interviewed 17-year-old Storm Reid, an actress, and producer, who played in “12 Years A Slave.” Tabron asked her about her thoughts behind this movement when she said during last year’s event that it is hard in America being a woman, in particular a Black woman. Tabron asked Reid how this past year was for her.
“There were times where I felt a lot of pain of course but through,” Reid said of last year’s tragedies from George Floyd’s murder to Breonna Taylor’s injustice. “There were days when I felt like I could say so much and I wanted to say everything that was on my mind, and other days I felt I couldn’t summon the words to … express how I felt.”
She added that while she doesn’t speak for everyone in her generation, she knows that her generation is accepting.
“We are the most culturally diverse generation in America right now and we are hopeful and we already know that Black lives matter and we already know that,” she said. “We deserve to be seen and heard and respected, but I think it’s clear we still have a long way to go.”
“Grown-ish” cast member Yara Shahidi sat on a virtual panel during the event and asked the question, “How do we push our institutions to begin writing the wrongs of our past? What are their roles?”
“Grown-ish” cast member Yara Shahidi [far left] helped lead a virtual panel discussion.
Panelist Lance Wheeler, education manager, Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University, said that the answer is simple.
“It’s simple conversation like this for change to happen, for racial healing to happen,” Wheeler said. “We all have our own story; we all have our own baggage. But once we can have a conversation then we can truly start listening to one another.”
Celebrity John Legend said in another segment that it’s important to be involved at the local level.
“Everybody’s not going to be an activist. Everybody’s not going to be heavily involved in these issues but a lot of you dipped your toes in the water this past summer. You went to a protest … you probably felt invigorated by that. How do you take it beyond that moment? How do you get involved in something that is sustainable and my argument to you is do it locally? Because so many of the decisions that affect a George Floyd or a Breonna Taylor are happening at a local level and decided by local officials that you can have influence over.”
Learn more here https://healourcommunities.org/about/.
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