Anti-Racism Workshops

 

The workshops facilitated by The African Diaspora Alliance are informed by over a decade of studying, living, and working throughout the African Diaspora with grassroots organizations working to ensure the protection of the world's most vulnerable populations. Our workshops focus on unlearning historical fallacies in order to encourage conversations that allow for introspection, and new negotiations about what it will take to usher in a world where anti-Black racism is no longer found in our communities or workplaces. Our workshops are for organizations that are interested in radical transformation within their workplace, educational institution, or community!

 
“We believe that diversity in a company alone does not lead to an equitable workplace. However, taking an anti-racist stance as an organization and actively working towards extracting anti-Black policies can. ”
 
 

Tools for Transforming the Workplace and Our Communities: An Introduction to Racism, Discrimination, and Anti-Blackness

This workshop is an introduction to understanding the historical context and contemporary realities of anti-Black racism. In this two hour session, we will unpack key concepts that inform institutional and communal complicity in the maintenance of racial hierarchies. The workshop will provide critical analysis through focus group sessions. Participants will be given the opportunity for introspection in order to illuminate the ways in which they can foster a safe and equitable anti-racist environment within their work organization. The session will conclude with actionable steps for equipping the workplace with the tools needed to adequately handle racism and discrimination within the community.

Understanding Race, Ethnicity, and Class

This workshop is an overview of the differences between race, ethnicity, and the dangers of the conflation of these terms. The workshop will outline the critical importance of distinguishing the nuances in order to dismantle racism and anti-Blackness. We will also take time to define and discuss classism and the role it plays in assumptions that are made about Black people and their class status. We will examine coded language that associates Blackness with poverty and how the lack of legal ramifications for engaging in class-based discrimination further reifies anti-Blackness.

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Solidarity As A Verb

This workshop focuses on equipping participants with language, de-escalation techniques such as “calling in” versus “calling out”, and introspective activities to successfully respond to situations of racism. The training will be broken up into two parts; solidarity in the workplace, and solidarity in one’s personal life. The workshop will encourage participants to work through curated scenarios and their own personal experiences to establish concrete solutions and approaches to combating racism head on.

Testimonies

Featured

“I first encountered the African Diaspora Alliance during my travels to Cuba, where they guided me through a riveting exploration of how African history and ancestry shaped the country and culture, past and present race relations and the rarely discussed but rampant anti-Blackness in Latin America. I knew based on this experience that ADA would be excellent facilitators for a series of educational workshops on anti-Blackness at my large, interdisciplinary organization and they did not disappoint. Their depth of knowledge and style of facilitation provides a global framework for understanding issues of oppression within the United States and encourages local and international solidarity in movements for liberation. ADA's curriculum is informed by their academic studies and lived experiences in the US and abroad, but also by their experiences as organizers on the ground remaining attuned to grassroots movements led by those most directly impacted - this among other things, sets ADA aside from the common corporate consultant doing anti-racism work.”

-Attorney

“I learned a tremendous amount in the workshops because as one of the oldest people in the office, there were certain generational gaps that you had to overcome in understanding the work that we all need to do in challenging anti-Blackness, [even as a Black woman]”

-Attorney

“I *loved* the African Diaspora Alliance Training and have been meaning to thank you for that! I think it's great that we have people in leadership who recognized the importance of that moment to not only point fingers at other people but to actually take the time to reflect on how we ourselves perpetuate anti-blackness at large as well as within our own office. So thank you so much for offering that! I learned a ton.”

-Investigator

“I first encountered the African Diaspora Alliance during my travels to Cuba, where they guided me through a riveting exploration of how African history and ancestry shaped the country and culture, past and present race relations and the rarely discussed but rampant anti-Blackness in Latin America. I knew based on this experience that ADA would be excellent facilitators for a series of educational workshops on anti-Blackness at my large, interdisciplinary organization and they did not disappoint. Their depth of knowledge and style of facilitation provides a global framework for understanding issues of oppression within the United States and encourages local and international solidarity in movements for liberation. ADA's curriculum is informed by their academic studies and lived experiences in the US and abroad, but also by their experiences as organizers on the ground remaining attuned to grassroots movements led by those most directly impacted - this among other things, sets ADA aside from the common corporate consultant doing anti-racism work.”

-Attorney


“The workshops facilitated by ADA went far beyond the anti-racism and bias implicit trainings that have become so popular. They presented new information, new perspectives, and new ideas for challenging anti-Blackness and racism in ourselves, our work, and our communities. The workshops have inspired critical dialogue and a commitment to holding ourselves accountable for advancing anti-oppression within our organization.”

-Social Worker