There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now.
- James Baldwin
The Council of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law is proud to announce our participation in a “21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge ©,” and we invite LEL Section members to join us. The 21-Day Challenge concept was conceived several years ago by diversity expert Eddie Moore, Jr. to advance deeper understandings of the intersections of race, power, privilege, supremacy and oppression. We are grateful to him for publicly sharing and encouraging others to use this concept as an educational tool.
Our Section will begin its 21-Day Challenge on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 based on our own syllabus, which was created for the Section. The goal of the Challenge is to assist each of us to become more aware, compassionate, constructive, engaged people in the quest for racial equity. It transcends our roles as lawyers. It is, of course, completely voluntary to do, and participation in the Challenge shall not be construed as agreement with every word of every assignment nor a commitment by any person to a particular professional position or strategy. Further, participants are free to opt out of participating along the way. There is no grade at the end of the Challenge. While it is not the intention of the Challenge to cause offense, some participants may be offended by some language used in the lessons.
The Challenge invites participants to complete a syllabus of 21 short assignments (typically taking 15-30 minutes), over 21 consecutive days, that include readings, videos or podcasts. It has been intentionally crafted to focus on the Black American experience. The assignments seek to expose participants to perspectives on elements of Black history, identity and culture, and to the Black community’s experience of racism in America. Even this focus on Black Americans cannot possibly highlight all of the diversity of experiences and opinions within the Black community itself, much less substitute for learnings about any other community of color. This syllabus is but an introduction to what we hope will be a rewarding journey that extends far beyond the limits of this project.
If you plan to participate in the Challenge and would like to add your name to the Section’s list of colleagues who are doing so, please send a message to the Section office.
21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge is the registered copyright of America & Moore, LLC. 2014.