We say all the time at Point Made Learning that, when it comes to the topics of race, identity, and equity in the U.S., we are subject-matter learners. Not experts. In fact, we think these issues are so complex that the best any of us can hope for is to continue learning. As a team, we consistently challenge one another to stay curious and question our own thinking. That’s because we ask people in our screenings and workshops to do the same thing. So each week, we’d like to share with you what we’ve learned.
What we’ve learned about race and racism started with these books.
We know there are so many resources available that trying to stay informed can seem overwhelming. That’s why we’re sharing a few select articles and videos that we’ve found insightful as we do our work.
We hope this helps you continue learning, too. And feel free to leave a comment if you think we’ve left anything out!
This article gets to the institutional power of sexism in the workplace. The author – a friend of mine – points out the pervasive use of non-disclosure agreements and how they silence sexual assault victims. More than that, they’re designed to protect criminals. Reading this may help people think about ways we misuse power to maintain systemic and institutional racism, too. That’s my hope, at least.
I like this article because it so aligns with how white people can approach anti-racism work when they first begin. And, it’s just perfect advice for men who are trying to figure what to do with all the news about sexual assault.
I’m a big fan of On Being. In the current climate of never-ending information and opinions, I land on the On Being website and can literally feel my breath slow down. Unlike so much else out there, On Being contributors aren’t adding to the noise just for the sake of being involved in the conversation. Rather, their work is insightful, complex, and questioning. In the piece I’ve linked to above, Courtney E. Martin shares some really helpful suggestions for white people who are trying to interrupt racism. And I suggest anyone interested in exploring some of the bigger questions of our time visit the site regularly.
So, I’m all for calling people in (instead of calling them out) so that we can have more constructive dialogue. And I almost always advocate for these types of interactions to happen in-person, not online. BUT! Constructive dialogue is impossible with people in positions of power who use their platform to lie, bully, and defend the indefensible. And in those cases (of which there are way too many these days), we need to speak truth to power. And that’s just what Ta-Nehisi Coates did this week via Twitter in response to John Kelly’s disturbing interpretation of what caused the US Civil War. Read Coates’ mic-drop-worthy, historical takedown of Kelly’s statements. It’s satisfying. But more importantly, you’ll likely learn something about the Civil War that you didn’t know before.
Teen Vogue continues to kill it these days with content that goes deep and hits hard in looking at inequity in American society. I really appreciated this video they released this week. It features young women sharing what it can feel like for them when they see their culture being portrayed in a costume. Use this and our I Wish I Were Blackeducational video and discussion guides to really get to the heart of cultural appropriation.
Daters gonna date and they should have the right to choose…but in walks racial preference. Does the inclination for one race over another stem from or lead to insensitive stereotypes? The London-based Swipe My Race video explores how “liking what you like” can be problematic and hurtful for everyone involved.
This powerful interview with MacArthur “genius grant” awardee Nikole Hannah-Jones sheds light on the perspective she brings to her work. Jones’ award-winning reporting on schools and segregation should be read by all Americans who are trying to better understand systemic racism.
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.
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.
Last May, an incredible group of activists, educators, community leaders, and just all-around good people in Des Moines, Iowa organized a series of events centered around I’m Not Racist… Am I?
I went to college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Go Coe College KoHawks!), so I was thrilled to return to the state to screen the film and facilitate discussions about race and racism (another blog post is coming soon with details on how to organize in your city).
For now, I’m excited to share Charity Nebbe interviewing me on her show, Talk of Iowa, on Iowa Public Radio. This was such a great opportunity to delve deeper into the film’s content – something we don’t often get to do. Plus, after the first 30 minutes with me, Ms. Nebbe interviewed local students and educators to find out how the film’s content is directly relevant to their everyday lives in Iowa.
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.
