Page 31 - BigConversationsDismantlingRacism

Bringing the Event to Fruition: Planning and Logistics

Choosing the Subject and Naming the Event

Choosing the subject and naming the event may sound obvious but there’s actually quite a
bit to it. It’s one thing to decide to have a conversation about contemporary racism in our
community (society). It’s another to narrow that down to a point where there is a defined
focus. The planning committee’s challenge is to focus upon what is important to the
community and then to do outreach it in a way that will draw friends and neighbors into
what might be expected to be difficult conversations. One wants to be able to engage people
in a way that they can see the value of participating in such an endeavor. Helpful steps for
the planning committee might include the following:

Steps Action(s)
Research Review of materials might better inform understanding of the
issues of racism and privilege and how to address them.
Pulse of Community What issues does one hear about in the media? Have there been
recent incidents between persons of color and law enforcement?
Significant Events Has there been community concern about the school-to-prison
pipeline? Do recurring headlines or letters to the editor in the
local paper give a clue? One wants to be able to engage people in
a way that they can see the value of participating in such an
endeavor.
Building Trust In our case, a book study prepared a core group of 40-50 people
by building trust and sharing authentic conversation.
Gaining Momentum Other build-up events may increase interest and enlarge the
th
conversation. In our case, the showing of the film 13 , directed
by Ava DuVernay, brought an even larger crowd of over 100
people. The film was followed by a powerful facilitated large-
group conversation.
Naming/Marketing the Our Big Conversation planning committee took its cue from
Main Event comments and feedback from participants in the book study and
film viewing. Based on these comments, the January 2018 Big
Conversation was named “I didn’t know. . . Exploring Racism
in Our Community”.

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