Invitation to the community of Smithfield, RI. 

YWCA Rhode Island presents an informational webinar “Race & Racism in New England: Understanding White Supremacy & Structural Racism in New England.”

This webinar will be free and open to the community and will be offered twice: Tuesday April 27 from 1PM – 2:30PM and later that same day from 6PM – 7:30PM. YWCA Rhode Island will also offer a follow up reflective session for community members to engage with these topics in a more hands-on, cooperative virtual meeting environment. The reflective sessions will be offered twice as well: Tuesday May 4 from 1PM – 2:30PM and later that same day from 6PM – 7:30PM for community members who want to discuss the content of the webinar with one another.

April 27th Webinar description: Race & Racism in New England

In the United States, racial, ethnic, and gender identity have long played a role in the attainment and exercise of the full rights and privileges of citizenship. Often in conversations about race in the US the focus is on the Southern plantation economy and the role of the Civil War in bringing an end to that system. However, slavery was practiced here in New England, and our industrial economy was deeply intertwined with the Southern plantation economy as well. As such, social attitudes and legal ramifications related to racial identity, especially whiteness, blackness, and “Indianness,” took root in our New England states’ political and social consciousness. What are the long term consequences of such policies and attitudes? How can we better understand why racism persists in both interpersonal and systemic aspects of our town, state, and region? What can be done to “undo” the harm of ongoing structural oppression and exclusion? 

Join YWCA Rhode Island for a 90-minute webinar on the history of Race & Racism in New England and deepen your understanding of this history and how it continues to inform our policies and social attitudes into the 21st century.

Registration links below (both sessions are identical, participants need only register for one):

Tuesday April 27, 2021 1PM – 2:30PM

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_83WCdyU_S7Cyza7uVNzSyw

Tuesday April 27, 2021 6PM – 7:30PM

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uqb_U8tlS2G9C5LKRpZG4g

May 4th Zoom meeting description: Reflecting on Race & Racism in New England.

For participants of the April 27th webinar, this reflective session is an opportunity to review some of the major points and concepts of the presentation. Participants will be invited to ask questions, offer insights, and engage with one another and the host in conversation about how Smithfield can engage with its history of racial exclusion and actively work to create a more meaningfully inclusive community where interpersonal and structural racism and oppression are no longer tolerated or ignored, but actively named and undone. This meeting is for anyone who wishes to review the content of the webinar with fellow community members in pursuit of deepening their understanding of the content and applying it to the practice of anti-racism and inclusion in their community.

Join YWCA Rhode Island for a 90-minute reflective virtual meeting to discuss the webinar information and explore ideas about building an actively inclusive community that meaningfully reckons with its history in pursuit of a future that works for all.

Registration links below (both sessions are identical, participants need only register for one):

Tuesday May 4, 2021 1PM – 2:30PM

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcoc-ygrzotHdF5ABXDUBhHhpo43qKZs3SQ 

Tuesday May 4, 2021 6PM – 7:30PM

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkduuupzsuE9dHeWAaur99cCle9yDRsbvA 

About the YWCA

Since 1867 has focused efforts to create a more inclusive and just Rhode Island and has advocated on behalf of the most structurally disenfranchised people in our society including low-wage workers, the unemployed, women and girls, people of color, English language learners, immigrants, survivors of abuse, members of the LQBTQQ community, as well as current military and veterans.  Our mission is to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.