Our Voices Blog

Racial Justice and Pub... Tom Sedlacek Racial Justice and Pub... Tom Sedlacek

It’s Time to Talk and Act – Live Events Spark Meaningful Change 

Creating meaningful change toward eliminating racism in Minnesota is within our reach. YWCA Minneapolis used live events to spark meaningful change in the last year. Learn more about It's Time to Talk: Forums on Race™ and It's Time to Act!™ and how participants learned about leaning into discomfort and confronting uncomfortable histories.

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DEI in Schools: Reclaiming the Promise of Education Through Racial Justice and Inclusive Practices

Our school systems have failed to live up to the promise of providing quality and enriching education for all students. In some states, legislation actively hinders inclusive practices. Here in Minnesota, we have a unique opportunity to lead the charge for transformative change by fostering elements of DEI in schools.

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Healthcare as a Tenant of Systemic Racism in the United States

As we continue to explore the “Web of Racism” and its focus on systemic racism in the United States, health care stands out as an institution that historically reproduces race-based disparities. A closer look at what is meant by “health care disparities” includes the different ways that racism is manifest in the clinical and hospital experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Taking time to learn about the varied layers of racism at work within the healthcare system produces several different lenses with which to learn more about this topic.

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Housing as a Tenant of Systemic Racism in the United States

The Web of Systemic Racism identifies areas wherein Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) experience unequal or lack access to resources everyone needs to thrive in mainstream society. Examined here is systemic racism in housing practices, touching on access to high-opportunity neighborhoods, access to basic housing quality and homeownership.

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Understanding and Acknowledging Juneteenth

Our country was founded on the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans. When the forefathers of this nation wrote "liberty and justice for all," the "all" did not include the surviving Native population and enslaved Africans. Our country was founded upon the complete dehumanization of Black and Brown people, a history, a philosophical phenomenon, we have not yet reconciled or recovered from.

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