Racism isn’t just going to die off with younger generations – which means we need to take a more proactive approach to understanding and dismantling racist systems and white supremacy. That’s why we’re so excited about the upcoming inaugural White Responsibility Teach-In, founded by educator-facilitator-advocate Jack Hill.
We’ll be there — showing our film I’m Not Racist… Am I?— along with some of the most thoughtful and dynamic authors, educators, and activists doing antiracism work right now.
There’s so much noise when it comes to talking about race and racism. And too much of it reflects a general lack of analysis and knowledge. But this conference is the real deal. Just take a look at the principles identified front-and-center:
ANTI-RACISM VISION & CORE PRINCIPLES History is important. Anti-racism requires a clear understanding of historical racism and white supremacy. It is crucial to see this history not as separate, but as a foundational element of American history.
Racism is the norm. Racism and white supremacy exist today and all members of this society are active participants in it. No exceptions. Owning this truth, and recognizing the presence of racism in ways that may be easy to overlook is crucial.
Anti-racism is our responsibility. The work of anti-racism, based in the knowledge of our past and the recognition of our present, requires intentional, deliberate action. We must challenge, check, and change our equity systems and structures for equity every day, and this requires a life-long commitment. It is the work to actively engage in dismantling systems of racism and white supremacy.
Every other day, it seems, there’s another racist act to stir outrage. Far too many of these involve terror in places of worship, at parties, during police stops, and more. Others involve the N-Word or blackface. None of these are surprising or out of the ordinary, of course. But we get exposed to them consistently on social media.
I often feel frustrated when these incidents go viral. Not because I don’t think we should call out racist acts. But I get worried that when we only pay attention to the most despicable acts by white people, the more we internalize the lie that those people are the racists and the rest of us nice, white people are off the hook.
The outrage becomes addictive. It spikes, weans, and then something else happens to spark outrage, and we go through the cycle all over again.
Well, last weekend, I happened to witness one of those moments up close when a group of white nationalists marched into Politics and Prose, a Washington, D.C., independent bookstore, and disrupted a talk with Jonathan Metzl on his new book “Dying of Whiteness.” With a bullhorn and their own videographer, they spewed an incomprehensible string of words before they started chanting, “This land is our land. This land is our land.” They were met with boos and some middle fingers, which made their faces smirk even more, and then they marched out right past me.
That’s the part I filmed — capturing their smug faces, a few (including one woman) trying to hide behind sunglasses, others proudly staring down the camera. One guy even winked as he passed me. He’s the one I can’t get out of my head.
The whole event lasted about five minutes. After an internal debate and conversations with others around me, I decided to post the video to Twitter.
Within 24 hours, the video had more than one million views, and most major news outlets were covering the incident. Tens of thousands of people on Twitter were talking about it; I was getting phone calls from reporters and messages from distant cousins and childhood friends. The trolls showed up, too.
Another dose of outrage.
In my everyday life, I get to work with a dedicated group of artist-activists. We make documentary films that deal with race and racism and we’ve never had anywhere near the number of eyes on our work that the video I filmed this weekend had.
Our film follows a group of teens through a yearlong exploration of race and racism, and we’ve been screening it around the U.S. as a way to spark a deeper level of awareness about racism and to build the kind of community connections necessary to take action and make systemic change.
It gets messy and complicated and emotional. But, little by little, we see people waking up to understand how racism has been institutionalized and learn the hard truth that one of the young people in our film states so poignantly, “You can’t get rid of racism just by being nice to all races.”
Every time we screen our film, wherever we are, at least one audience member will ask, “Well, we get it here. But what’s it like when you show it up North/in the Midwest/down South/out West where people are actually racist?” This never fails.
All the racists are always somewhere else and someone else.
And this is why I still feel conflicted about posting that video to Twitter. Do we look at those bigots and think that’s the only version of racism? To paraphrase a lesson in our film from the organizing group The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, if we rounded up all the racists and sent them to outer space, would that get rid of racism?
The answer is no.
Racism is a brilliantly designed, built-to-last system. Which means it’s going to take a long time and an almost unimaginable collective effort to take it apart and build something new. But we must try. And we can’t make progress if we don’t understand it as a system of laws, policies, and practices that benefit white people at the expense of people who are not white.
I’m going to reference our film one more time. I can’t help it. It’s filled with wisdom from some of the most effective antiracist educators around. Working with the students in the film and addressing the guilt that the white kids feel about the benefits they have, Dr. Liza Talusan says to them, “Guilt is a feeling. Not an action.”
If my viral video compels you to pay attention to anything I say, let me tell you this:
Outrage is a feeling. Not an action.
Feel that feeling. It’s normal and necessary. But, please, let’s take that outrage and use it to motivate ourselves toward learning more and taking action. Become an antiracist, not just an outraged voyeur. I’d like to see that go viral.
We get to meet so many people all over the country and hear their varied perspectives on race and racism in the U.S. Every time we lead a screening or workshop, we come away with new insight or renewed hope in the work toward equity. We’re going to start sharing those with you in this new “Lessons from the Road” occasional blog series.
“That Was MY Spot”
Students play The American Dream Experience at a high school in Denver, CO.
At a recent American Dream workshop in Colorado, high school students were presented with a real-life scenario that prompted them to debate which students have an advantage in the college application process: White students or students of color?
During our post-workshop debrief, a student shared this:
“I realize I have been thinking that if I don’t get into one of my top-choice schools that a person of color who does get in is taking ‘MY’ spot. I need to stop thinking that way. And I need my parents to do this workshop, too.”
These are the kinds of take-aways keep us going!
Want to Learn More About This?
We understand there’s a perception among many students and families that it’s easier for kids of color and low-income kids to get into college. It may feel that way to one particular white applicant who doesn’t get in to a certain college, but has a friend of color with similar credentials who did get accepted to that college. But the data don’t really line up with that perception. If they did, then we’d have a lot more racial and income diversity among incoming first-year college classes. Check out this New York Times analysis that found that black and Latino students are even more underrepresented in top U.S. colleges than they were 35 years ago.
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Since the release of our documentary film I’m Not Racist… Am I? (INRAI), Point Made Learning (PML) has held more than 400 screenings and workshops across the United States. This antiracism programming engages diverse audiences and helps communities think, learn, and talk, about race and racism in ways they don’t often get a chance to do.
We’ve now developed an additional tool for deepening understanding of the film’s content: TheI’m Not Racist… Am I? Digital Experience). Vassar College is one of the first institutions to license our online course as part of the their INRAI package. Keep reading to learn about how they used the course, the film, and our workshops for a comprehensive first-year orientation program. And send us an email if you’d like to do something similar at your school or organization:programming@pointmade.com
The Vassar Screenings
Starting off the 2017 fall semester, several members of Vassar College’s faculty and administration wanted to take the university’s programming on diversity, equity and inclusion to the next level. Vassar already considered itself a progressive institution. But recent race-related issues on campus had highlighted a need for more work on these topics.
Enter I’m Not Racist… Am I?, Point Made Learning’s documentary film and new INRAI Digital Online Course, which Vassar used this October to engage its entire first-year class. Coordinating with several Vassar departments, we coached faculty and administration members on how to facilitate discussions of the film.
First-year students at Vassar College gather in discussion of INRAI.
Then, we screened the film three separate times for the school’s first-year students. After each screening, we led group Q&A sessions, followed by smaller discussion groups facilitated by Vassar staff. In all, our workshops reached more than 600 students and educators — and they made a lasting impact on campus.
An article in the Vassar Miscellany News described the decision to bring I’m Not Racist… Am I? to the first-years as “a significant move by the administration.” It fostered discussion and helped deepen the student body’s understanding of racism in an effective, inclusive way.
“Because we realized that our students wanted to continue that conversation.”
Vassar conducts a first-year Orientation program which includes a diversity component each year. “This year, we decided to supplement that with this film,” said Associate Dean for Campus Life and Diversity Edward Pittman. “Because we realized that our students wanted to continue that conversation and have more opportunities to explore issues around race, gender, and other identities.”
“We had a large number of students who said, ‘This is great, we need to do more of this.’” Pittman added. “For us, it meant that our students are thinking, were engaged. And that’s exactly what you want a program like this to do — open up dialogue.”
Pittman and Associate Professor and Chair of Drama Shona Tucker and Associate Film Professor Mia Mask, (and other faculty and school departments who came on board) helped bring the film to Vassar. The idea to host the screenings originated when Tucker saw clips from the film at her son’s school and thought Vassar could use the content, too.
[tweetshareinline tweet=”What resources would you bring to your college campus to address issues of race in the community?” username=”PM_Learn”]
“Seeing the responses of the parents and the teachers who were there at my son’s school — and hearing the responses from my 11-year-old — it really hit me in poignant ways,” Tucker said. “So I thought, ‘This would really go well at Vassar,’ because Vassar had been having some serious racial disturbances on campus. So I started talking to Mia (Mask), and the deans, and anybody who would listen, really, saying, ‘We ought to bring this to Vassar College.’”
“We felt we needed a trial run with students,” she said, “so we did a screening for 30 students from all different backgrounds, and the students were, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah — this film should be shown!’ And then the discussion was, ‘when should it be shown, and to whom,’ and it was decided that freshman would be the ideal start.”
First-Year Orientation
The planning team chose first-years as their target audience because the film screenings could tie in to the existing Orientation programming. They also wanted to reach first-years because, as the newest students on campus — many of them may be inexperienced in dealing with these issues. And they have four years ahead of them for continued education and exploration.
It took the planning committee almost two years to make the screenings a reality. First, they had to clear the hurdles of administrative and financial red tape. Once they got through that, however, they agreed the effort was worth it.
“I was surprised it went so smoothly”
“I was surprised that it went so smoothly,” said Mask. “All of our screenings, our post-screening discussions, all of the breakout groups — all of that went as planned, and we were delighted.”
“After the film, so many students were standing up and offering honest, open revelations about their experience,” she said. “And we were really happy to see that. It’s been two years in the planning. It took so much to bring it to fruition, and it all just went off so well. For the vast majority of students, my sense is that this can be a positive catalyst for change.”
“It opened up a channel of conversation”
One student who attended the screenings, Chloe Crawford, agreed. “My group of friends, we’ve been having race-related discussions at lunches and dinners the past few weeks, and that’s because of the film,” she said. “My friend group is fairly white, except for myself and two other people of color. I think it’s great, honestly, that as a group we can have these discussions … I think it opened up a channel of conversation amongst us.”
Campus shot at Vasser College.
For Crawford, this was an important starting point for what she hopes will be an ongoing discussion that she and her classmates will have the rest of their college careers. And into their adult lives. One thing she emphasized was the film’s ability to create a safe space for people of color to come forward with thoughts and feelings that they may have shied away from expressing in the past.
“After the film, so many students were standing up and offering open, honest revelations about their experience. For the vast majority of students, my sense is that this can be a positive catalyst for change.”
“Empowering”
“I think that the discussions afterwards facilitated by staff members seemed to allow for some of the people of color on campus to finally be able to speak in front of white students,” she said, “and not be seen that they were in the wrong, or be perceived that they were over-emotional or aggressive. So I thought that was empowering.”
In the future, Crawford suggested that Vassar consider showing the film to all students. Pittman acknowledged that’s something that’s already on their radar.
“Next semester, we’re thinking of showing I’m Not Racist… Am I? to sophomores, juniors, and seniors,” he said, “because they heard about the freshmen seeing it, and they said, ‘Why don’t we get to see it?’”
The Planning
In our interviews with Tucker, Mask, Pittman and Crawford, we discussed the steps they went through to actually make these screenings happen. Here are some of the highlights from our Q&A’s.
PML: You used our I’m Not Racist… Am I? Digital Online Course to introduce faculty to the film and prep them for facilitating discussions with the students. How was your experience with our online learning modules?
Mia Mask: “The online modules are ideal for people who are actually committed to doing more. I think you need to watch the entire film once straight-through, and then the modules help you unpack the film afterward.”
Ed Pittman: “Everything that I saw in the modules — and what I’m hearing from faculty and administrators — is that it’s very helpful. I’ve received nothing but positive feedback.”
“Know your audience.”
PML: What advice do you have for other people who want to hold similar events? Say, your top 3 tips …
Shona Tucker: “One: Do as Ed had us do — meet, and meet. I thought meeting and meeting was going to be a real pain in the butt, but it actually kept the channels of communication clear. We knew who was supposed to do what.
“Two: The pilot program was not a bad idea, but know who you’re going to show it to.
“Three: Be prepared to have several follow-up conversations — not just immediately afterwards, but weeks afterwards as well to learn more about what’s happening.”
Mia Mask: “One: Know your audience.
“Two: Build a community of folks who want to work on this project with you — a good planning group or committee, that’s very important.
“Three: Make sure to follow up and follow through, because this film can be a great catalyst for change if you do your follow-up work.”
Setting Objectives
PML:Did our programming meet your objectives?
Ed Pittman: “Our objectives were to introduce a conversation that some students have had, but others haven’t had that opportunity, and to have a challenging dialogue.
“The other day, a student emailed me saying, ‘I want to meet with you to discuss the movie.’ And we met and talked about a question he had that he had been discussing with one of his friends. That’s indicative of what’s out there. I know that the students are ruminating on the content of the movie, and that’s what we wanted to happen.”
“Whether people like the film or not, it creates discussion.”
PML: What’s the value of I’m Not Racist… Am I? And would you recommend that other universities and organizations screenit?
Chloe Crawford: “The value of the film is that it creates discussion. Whether people like the film or not, it creates discussion. And I would recommend that other universities screen it. I think Vassar tries really hard to open conversations on these issues. But I have friends at other schools that say things are really segregated there, and there are issues of violence against people of color. So it would be extremely important on those campuses.”
“It raised a lot of questions for our students”
PML: What do you see as the long-term impact of this programming, and how does it fit into your overall strategy?
Ed Pittman: “I think the long-term impact is that it raised a lot of questions for our students. And I would like to see those students enroll in some of our coursework that addresses these issues. Or to attend lectures on campus around these subjects. It also raised the question of what more we can do beyond orientation, in a substantive way, for our students. For the first year, second year, third year, fourth year, it’s, ‘OK, now we’ve done this. What’s the next step?’ And that’s a good thing.”
“We need the tools, we need the skills, and we need the training.”
PML: Why is hosting events like this one important? Why did you do it?
Mia Mask: “We worked on this for two years because of what’s happening in our nation, and because of our national history. Because issues of structural inequality are omnipresent at every moment, at every juncture. Whether we’re talking about mass incarceration, college admissions and affirmative action … it’s clear across our society that we need healthier dialogue on race, racial difference, and structural inequality. We need the tools, we need the skills, and we need the training to talk about these issues.”
Bring INRAI to Your Institution
If you are interested in hosting a Point Made Learning film screening or workshop, please send us an email:programming@pointmade.com
Also, check out our new I’m Not Racist… Am I?Digital Online Course — a valuable program for corporations and individuals who want to Look Deeper into race, racism, and bias.
About Point Made Learning
Point Made Learning is the consulting and programming extension of Point Made Films, a production company focused on telling stories about the many layers of American identity. We use documentary film to facilitate productive discussions around the most uncomfortable topics we face in American society – starting with racism. We’ve taken an innovative approach to raising awareness and organizing communities through our unique combination of storytelling, real talk, and digital tools. We tell true stories and teach powerful lessons about issues that matter.
You may have heard in the past few weeks: we’ve expanded our I’m Not Racist… Am I? screening-workshop model. Now, schools and organizations can use the film themselves as a tool in their antiracism work. We’re still taking the film out ourselves, too. But our new YOULead program makes seeing the film more affordable. And it includes a 3.5-hour online antiracism course and facilitation training. We hope this builds an even bigger team of leaders ready to strengthen more communities around the country.
Now It’s Your Turn to Lead Antiracism Dialogue
“I’m Not Racist… Am I?” has screened nearly 400 times, bringing antiracism discussions to communities all over the United States.
If you sign up for this program, we’ll first provide you with access to our new online course – I’m Not Racist… Am I? Digital. Then, you’ll go through a video conference coaching session with one of our master facilitators to prepare you for showing the film and leading post-screening discussions in your community. Once you complete all of this, you’ll get:
A 5-day license to screen the film as many times as you want, for as many viewers in your community as you’d like.
Lifetime access to our Look Deeper curriculum, which includes film clips, bonus videos, discussion guides, and lesson plans.
Our plan is to give you what you need for sustained antiracism work and continued engagement with the subject matter.
We first announced this program a few weeks ago so we’ve now had a handful of organizations go through it. And we think it’s working! Keep reading to find out more.
If you’re ready to sign your organization up for YOULead, send us an email: programming@pointmade.com
Notes from the Field – LaTasha DeLoach, Iowa City
Approximately 120 community members attended our first screening of I Am Not A Racist…Am I? Attendees were very diverse in age and were overall representative of the Iowa City community. Following the screening and an hour and a half facilitated discussion, attendees were asked to complete a brief survey about their experience (See the attached survey on page 2). Overall, survey results were very supportive of the film. 100% of respondents said they would recommend the event to their friends and family. Attendees were also asked to rate various aspects of the screening on a scale of 1-5 (with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best). Below are the average scores for each component of the event:
Content: 4.85
Logistics & Organization: 4.76
Engagement & Conversation: 4.5
Location/Date/Time: 4.47
Attendees were also asked to comment on their favorite part of the event. Majority of comments were on the content of the film, how thought provoking it was, and how much they loved the focus on youth. They also enjoyed the discussion.
Below are a few of the responses we received:
“I’d heard about it – great film. Great to see this from the eyes of teens – ingenious way of getting us older folks in.”
“Enlightening! Hearing different points of view. Made me examine my own thinking.”
“The ideas it uncovered; the pressing for discussion.”
“It was funny, relatable which made it easier to digest as a white person.”
“The opportunity to learn more about racism and its effect on society and individuals. The maturity of the teens involved was impressive.”
“Great film and great chance for community to come together and learn from each other.”
“Great attendance! I go to similar community events in town often and don’t see this many people or range of ages. Whatever you did to get word out it worked.”
When asked how the event could be improved, most attendees mentioned needing more time for discussion and having the screening at an earlier time, on weekends, or doing it more often. Some of the attendee comments include:
“Need to know more about how the systemic oppression works.”
“Take it to the schools.”
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If you’ve been wanting to incorporateI’m Not Racist… Am I?into your antiracism work, but haven’t been able to make our model fit with your budget and objectives, we hope this new program makes sense for you. If you’re ready to try YOULead, send us an email: programming@pointmade.com
Since the release of the documentary film I’m Not Racist… Am I?, Point Made Learning (PML) has held more than 400 screenings and workshops across the United States. Facilitated by senior members of our staff, these events engage diverse audiences and help communities think, learn, and – most importantly – talk about race and racism in ways they don’t often get a chance to do.
Some of our events involve a screening of the 90-minute film, followed by a 30-minute Q&A. Sometimes we get a chance to go a lot deeper, when organizers make a commitment to plan a series of events that engage every segment of their city over the course of several days. It takes a ton of work to make that happen, but the impact can be far-reaching and significant.
For those of you thinking about hosting your own I’m Not Racist… Am I? screenings and workshops, we think that reading about what other groups have done might be helpful in your planning process. We’ve reached out to a few of the people who have been instrumental in some of our larger programs across the U.S. and asked them to talk about what went into planning and executing, what worked/what didn’t, and what they wish they’d known.
Keep reading to learn about our May 2017 programming in Des Moines, Iowa.
Iowa Public Radio interviews Catherine Wigginton-Greene, director of “I’m Not Racist… Am I?”
This past May, a number of community groups collaborated with Point Made Learning to bring I’m Not Racist… Am I? (INRAI) to Des Moines, Iowa. There, partnerships forged between church groups, high schools and Drake University made it possible for the film to screen three different times — twice at local high schools, and once at the Drake University auditorium. Among the audiences who watched the film were the faculty from every Des Moines area high school (approximately 600 teachers total), high school and college students, and community members interested in deepening the conversation about race and racism.
One of the screenings’ primary organizers, Sheena Thomas, got involved when members of Des Moines’ Anti-Racism Collaborative reached out to her because they were all part of a multi-church network called AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy). Thomas was able to secure grant money to fund the screenings, and she was able to recruit local stakeholders to join in the planning process.
For the Des Moines community, screening the film was about more than hosting a neighborhood movie night; the organizers intended for INRAI to help people tackle difficult issues that affect many groups in their area. For example, Thomas said, the local high schools have a major issue with out-of-school suspensions and the “School to Prison Pipeline” that primarily affects minority populations.
“That is a huge problem here,” said Thomas. “Iowa has one of the highest incarceration rates for minorities in the pipeline … so there is a lot of work to be done here, and that was a rationale for bringing this in to the schools.”
According to Thomas, many people “just don’t get” why issues of race and racism are so important. “They don’t have to live with it in any way, shape or form,” she said, “so it’s hard to get them to understand, to see things differently, from another perspective.”
Like the stone Sisyphus was pushing up the hill over and over, the issues of racism and white privilege will not go away without more and more education.
Films like INRAI are a major aid in reaching those people and helping them find the alternative perspectives of which Thomas speaks. She said, “The films generated enough discussion and provocation that people were still discussing it long after the showing, and I thought that was really good.” She added that one of the organizers’ goals was “to develop enough sensitivity so that we’d have some leaders who wanted to pursue doing something on the subject,” and that has been the case — after the events, young adults created a Race Education Committee, an adult group formed to discuss these issues, and the Anti-Racism Collaborative held a speaker series for AMOS members to attend.
When asked why hosting events like the INRAI screenings is important, Thomas was direct: “Like the stone Sisyphus was pushing up the hill over and over, the issues of racism and white privilege will not go away without more and more education. That’s why.”
Inside the Planning and Promotion Process
In our discussion with Thomas, she discussed what it took to bring the screenings to life. Here are some of the highlights from our Q&A.
PML: Once you had the idea, what were the steps you took toward making it a reality?
Sheena Thomas: The Anti-Racism Collaborative was very good about saying, ‘Let’s have meetings,” and setting dates, and getting things done before each meeting which needed to be done. We worked on who we were going to market to … then it was working on the marketing and working to get interviews for (PML’s) Catherine Wigginton Greene to do with two TV stations and the public radio station. Also, we had posters that we put up all over for the screenings, around the churches and shop windows, and around Roosevelt High School. And I was able to get a billboard — several billboards — as places for community publicity.
PML: If you could do the process over again, what is one thing you’d do differently?
ST: I would start the public marketing earlier, and it would have been better to have Catherine’s interviews air a little sooner to give people in the public more info and time to plan. Oh, and because I thought we might be overrun or overwhelmed with people attending, I suggested sign-ups online. That may have actually deterred people from coming.
PML: Was there anything that happened which really surprised you? What was it, and why was it surprising?
ST: Getting to know the members of the Anti-Racism Collaborative, the students of the groups at two of the Des Moines High Schools, the faculty and administrators in charge of school climate and their eagerness and thoughtfulness were surprising to me. Also, the total backing we received from staff and foundation at Plymouth Church was amazing. One of the people on the foundation was instrumental in helping us get our marketing done.
PML: Overall, what were the biggest challenges you faced as an organizer? How did you respond to these challenges?
ST: My biggest challenge was working on the organizing in and around my job. There was a lot of emailing that had to be done and which did impinge on my work time at my shop and on my home time as well. I was very grateful for the others who were also organizing on their own.
PML: What advice do you have for other people who want to hold similar events? Say, your top 3 tips…
ST: One: Start early — 9 months before the event was good in our case.
Two: Get buy-in from several groups and collaborate in the planning. And share the costs.
Three: Market like crazy and use the resources offered by Point Made Learning when doing so.
If you are interested in hosting a Point Made Learning film screening or workshop, please send us an email: programming@pointmade.com
Also, check out our new I’m Not Racist… Am I? Digital Online Course — a valuable program for corporations and individuals who want to Look Deeper into race, racism, and bias.
Point Made Learning is the consulting and programming extension of Point Made Films, a production company focused on telling stories about the many layers of American identity. We use documentary film to facilitate productive discussions around the most uncomfortable topics we face in American society – starting with racism. We’ve taken an innovative approach to raising awareness and organizing communities through our unique combination of storytelling, real talk, and digital tools. We tell true stories and teach powerful lessons about issues that matter.
This fall, after three years and more than 300 – and counting – I’m Not Racist… Am I? live screenings around the country, we are launching INRAI Digital, an online course built around the film and all the lessons we’ve learned on the road with it.
This fall, after three years and more than 300 – and counting – I’m Not Racist… Am I? live screenings around the country, we are launching INRAI Digital, an online course built around the film and all the lessons we’ve learned on the road with it.
This program is for companies wanting to provide their employees with an engaging way to develop a deeper understanding of racial equity and inclusion – in a judgment-free, private learning experience that can be done at their own pace.
Highlights include:
Three hours of content in eight learning modules, featuring segments of the documentary, along with lessons, quizzes, and reflection exercises.
Stories of young people going through a learning process that will inspire users to approach lessons on race and racism with a growth mindset, rather than being told what to do and what to say by “talking head” experts.
Compelling narrative thread throughout the course keeps users engaged – [tweetshareinline tweet=”this is the type of diversity training they’ll want to do.” username=”PM_Learn”]
We’ll say up front that this program isn’t for everyone. It takes people beyond the edge of their comfort zone and we believe that, at this point, only companies and organizations really looking for something innovative and out-of-the-box will be interested.
But if you think your colleagues working on diversity and inclusion might be interested in learning more, watch the three-minute video below that describes the course. And then contact us for a free demo.
We never show the film without a post-screening dialogue facilitated by someone from our Point Made Learning team because we want communities to dig into this work together. And we think a good story can start the conversation.
Point Made Antiracism Workshops – Using Stories to Inspire Dialogue
[tweetshareinline tweet=”Interrupting racism becomes impossible in a climate of defensiveness and blame.” username=”PM_Learn”] But watching young people dig into the hard work of learning about systemic racism – and then talking about it with others – can motivate all of us to do better. That’s what we hope to accomplish during screenings and discussions of our documentary film – I’m Not Racist… Am I? (we call it INRAI – ‘In-Rye’ – for short) which followed a diverse group of teens and their families through a yearlong exploration of race and racism.
Check out this video of one of our workshops. You’ll see filmmakers and dialogue facilitators Catherine Wigginton Greene and André Robert Lee use INRAI as the foundation for leading powerful and productive discussions about race and racism among adults and teens – focusing not on who’s to blame, but on how we can take collective responsibility to start making real change.
Contact us if you want to bring this work to your community or organization.
Since the release of the documentary film I’m Not Racist… Am I?, Point Made Learning (PML) has held more than 400 screenings and workshops across the United States. Facilitated by senior members of our staff, these events engage diverse audiences and help communities think, learn, and – most importantly – talk about race and racism in ways they don’t often get a chance to do.
André and Catherine address the crowd at The Ohio State University’s screening of “I’m Not Racist… Am I?”
Some of our events involve a screening of the 90-minute film, followed by a 30-minute Q&A. Sometimes we get a chance to go a lot deeper, when organizers make a commitment to plan a series of events that engage every segment of their city over the course of several days. It takes a ton of work to make that happen, but the impact can be far-reaching and significant.
For those of you thinking about hosting your own I’m Not Racist… Am I? screenings and workshops, we think that reading about what other groups have done might be helpful in your planning process. We’ve reached out to a few of the people who have been instrumental in some of our larger programs across the U.S. and asked them to talk about what went into planning and executing, what worked/what didn’t, and what they wish they’d known.
Keep reading to learn about our March 2015 programming at Ohio State.
“I envisioned a big screening, and then a smaller set of workshops for people we thought could be allies and leaders on the campus moving forward,” said Koritha Mitchell, Associate Professor of English at OSU and the events’ principal organizer. “And oh my goodness, it went much better than I thought!”
Mitchell partnered with the Wexner Center for the Arts, a major Ohio venue for all things theater and film, to find a space for the screening. As the guest list grew, though, the Wexner Center suggested moving the event from their own space to a larger one — the Mershon Auditorium — and it’s a good thing they did: On the night of the screening, approximately 750 people turned up to watch the film and participate in the post-screening discussion led by PML’s Catherine Wigginton Greene and André Robert Lee.
“The workshops were really powerful… I heard nothing but positive things about them for months afterwards…”
“I was amazed at how many people came,” Mitchell said. “It was the Monday after Spring Break, so there was plenty of reason to be worried that no one would come, but we still ended up with such a good turnout. I left that thinking that people want to have the language to be able to talk about this stuff.”
The day after the screening, OSU held two workshops to, as PML likes to say, “Look Deeper” into the questions of race and racism that come up in the film, and to learn how to lead productive conversations about those topics at OSU and in the greater Columbus community.
“The workshops were really powerful,” Mitchell said. “I heard nothing but positive things about them for months afterwards. It made my co-sponsors feel like they were getting special treatment, and it capped off that experience and took it to a more personal level. It felt really good.”
Attendees of the workshop at The Ohio State University in Mershon Auditorium,
Reflecting on the Event
In our discussion with Mitchell, she discussed what it took to bring the screening and workshops to life. Here are some of the highlights from our Q&A.
PML: Once you had the idea, what were the steps you took toward making it a reality?
KM: I started by working with the Point Made team, and they sent me all the details I needed. That allowed me to go to my department chair and say that I wanted to put this on, and my department chair was willing to support me. We put together a small committee with people that we felt should be stakeholders … I contacted all the department chairs and decision makers to see if they’d put money toward it, and I underscored that I thought this could be something we could work toward continuing, to identify people who would be invested in this going forward.
I also booked a caterer. Even though a lot of people didn’t think it needed to be catered, I was adamant about it because I didn’t want people to be hungry and fidgety … and I feel like that worked to our benefit as well.
PML: Once you knew the event was officially going to happen, how did you go about promoting it? What strategies/methods did you use to attract an audience?
KM: I had all of the cosponsors send it to their listservs so that the departments would announce it, and anyone associated with those departments would see it.
I think what I did that was unusual was that I was able to get myself on the radio, the urban station here, because they have a community show where they interview people about community things. And I used one of the contacts from a partner department so I could get on the show.
I also contacted leaders at all of the private schools here. I sent personal emails to the leaders at each school, and they clearly shared the message.
Catherine chats with local reporters at OSU.
Also, I got 10TV (the Columbus CBS affiliate) to come. They did a story in advance of the screening, and they aired it more than once because we did it well enough in advance. On the night of the event, they came back, and they interviewed people in the crowd before they saw it, and afterward. And once I had clips (from the TV and radio press), then I could share those clips on Facebook and social media. And I sent people emails including those links to former students, and lots of people.
PML: How did you ensure that the audience attending the event would feature a diverse representation of different communities and groups? And why was this important?
KM: I think I ensured it by having so many co-sponsors (14 of them) who had contacts that were different from mine. And I really pestered them to see who they thought I should reach out to.
PML: During the event, what were the most positive things you observed?
KM: Definitely realizing that I had a decent representation of high school students from the area … I thought, OK, they’re not having these conversations in their classrooms, and they want to be. And the impact from the Q&A — we could have gone on and on.
[tweetshareinline tweet=”I left… thinking that people want to have the language to be able to talk about this stuff” username=”PM_Learn”]
PML: What did you learn from this experience?
KM: I learned that I don’t mind organizing half as much as I thought!
PML: What advice do you have for other people who want to hold similar events? Say, your top 3 tips …
KM: One: For promotions, use a personal touch, plus whatever media you can get.
Two: Cultivate your stakeholders and make them feel like you need them to help you do everything. Like, you’re not making a decision without them, you don’t believe you can get the word out without them — it’s not just about them supplying money for the budget, it’s about them being as involved as they can be throughout this process. That gives them the belief that they are as committed as I am.
Three: Don’t miss the opportunity to spend as much time as you can with André, Catherine, and the Point Made staff. If it’s a budget issue, spend the extra money to have the additional workshop, or whatever other interaction. They model how you can continue to work in your space — watching them in action gives you tools for how you can facilitate difficult conversations going forward, because you’re going to need to have those conversations, and having the model from André and Catherine was one of the biggest things that I took away from it, as did everyone who encountered them.
If you are interested in hosting a Point Made Learning film screening or workshop, send us an email: programming@pointmade.com
Also, check out our new I’m Not Racist… Am I? Digital Online Course — a valuable program for corporations, educational organizations & institutions, and individuals who want to Look Deeper into race and racism.
Point Made Learning is the consulting and programming extension of Point Made Films, a production company focused on telling stories about the many layers of American identity. We use documentary film to facilitate productive discussions around the most uncomfortable topics we face in American society – starting with racism. We’ve taken an innovative approach to raising awareness and organizing communities through our unique combination of storytelling, real talk, and digital tools. We tell true stories and teach powerful lessons about issues that matter.
