Wellesley Racial Justice Initiative

Movie Night - "Stamped From the Beginning"
2024-02-25 17:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom
“Stamped from the Beginning” is a documentary exploring the history of anti-black, racist ideas in America, based on Ibram X. Kendi’s best-selling novel.
Some Americans insist that we’re living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America–it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. As. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit.
As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation’s racial inequities.
In shedding light on this history, Stamped from the Beginning offers us the tools we need to expose racist thinking. In the process, it gives us reason to hope.
Summary: Amazon.com

The discussion will be led by Dr. Tyree Oredein ’98.
Check out the film trailer here.
Advance registration is required. Please register by Friday, February 23.

Monthly Volunteer Mobilizing Meeting
2024-01-07 17:00 - 18:00
Please join us at our first volunteer meeting of the new year! WRJI has many volunteer opportunities for those committed to anti-racism activism. You can serve in developing and delivering programs – or help energize the operations that make them possible. We value your input, expertise, and your passion for racial justice.
Whether you have a few hours a month to serve on a team – or several hours each week to lead one – please join us at our monthly Volunteer Mobilizing Meeting to meet other volunteers and learn more about specific opportunities.

Understanding Microaggressions
2023-12-05 19:00 - 20:30
Join us for this 90-minute workshop on recognizing and working through microaggressions. If you want to cause less harm in your interactions with People of the Global Majority (PGM), this workshop might be just the next right step in your anti-racism journey. This workshop will be led by Polly Talen ’77 from the WRJI team.
Through interactive learning we will:

Define microaggressions and key related terms
Create better awareness of a range of common microaggressions and their impact on PGM
Interrupt and address microaggressions
Probe factors that prevent us from talking about and addressing microaggressions
Develop skills and tools we can use when the initiator or bystander of a microaggression

While all Wellesley alums are welcome, those who have participated in a WRJI “Conversations on Race” session and identify as having white privilege are most likely to benefit.
Understanding Microaggressions is one of WRJI’s several sessions focused on anti-racism skill-building for white alums. Others include How to be a Better Ally and Interrupting Racism.
Advance registration is required. Please register by Wednesday, November 29.

How to be a Better Ally
2023-11-28 20:00 - 21:00
Please join us for a special Giving Tuesday program focusing on being a better ally. Created and facilitated by Fiona Oliphant, Esq, ’93, this popular workshop is intended to help alums to grow and deepen their understanding of effective allyship in anti-racism work. We will explore in depth the most effective ways to offer support, to intervene, to plan and execute action with and in solidarity with BIPOC folx.
Through presentation and discussion, white alums will have the opportunity to challenge themselves: what is your motivation?, what are you willing to give, and give up, to dismantle white supremacy? BIPOC alums are invited to grow stronger allyship with one another and to share their experiences, positive and challenging, of working in alliance with well-meaning white folks.

Movie Night - Nappily Every After
2023-11-19 18:00 - 21:00
A woman’s identification with her hair can be a powerful thing, but for a Black woman, it is a tangled identity fraught with the ongoing effects of racism, respectability politics and beauty standards that have historically marginalized our hair along with everything else.
Based on the bestselling book by Trisha R. Thomas, Nappily Ever After is the story of one woman’s breakthrough—and the hair that might be holding her back.
Sanaa Lathan plays Venus Johnson, a beautiful and highly successful woman who seems to have everything except the ring she so deeply desires. When her longtime boyfriend refuses to commit, she cuts him off—and her hair soon follows. Forced to find out who she really is behind the curtain, Venus must face her insecurities and dismantle everything she thought she knew about herself, hopefully growing into her truth in the process.
Summary: TheRoot.com
The discussion, led by Tyree Oredein ‘98 will be centered around beauty, heritage and identity defined by Black hair. Conversation will include the Crown Act and how hair discrimination is rooted in systematic racism. While the conversation will be centered around Black hair, alums of all identities are welcome to attend and participate in the discussion.
Advance registration is required. Please register by Monday, November 13.
