Impact Snapshot: EP-Trained Student Joins the Anti-Racism Education Project
The Los Angeles Times today reports on a new international initiative, the Anti-Racism Education (A.R.E.) Project. A.R.E. is a platform to connect interested young people with “existing educational resources, a supportive community, and opportunities to engage with Black scholars, activists, and artists who are willing to teach about the Black experience,” according to their website.
Since its launch at the end of May, the project has gained more than 400 members and 100 organizers in 17 countries and counting.
One of those organizers is Clay Thornton, 17 years old from North Carolina. Thorton participated in Essential Partners' collaboration with his school, Cary Academy, one of many secondary schools where EP has trained students, faculty, and parents to engage constructively in tough conversations, both in and outside the classroom.
Thornton is now bringing his EP facilitation skills to the Anti-Racism Education Project, leading online dialogues among members from across the globe, ages 14 to 21.
He says that young people have the power to spearhead tough conversations about race.
“Young people are willing to reach out to their families and their friends who are older and have conversations with them about these topics,” Thornton told the LA Times. “People are going to go to the family dinner table and talk about what they’ve learned” through the A.R.E. Project.
He notes that these dialogues “are not about debating or proving one viewpoint is correct.” Rather, the purpose of these discussions will be “to understand the materials they’ve consumed for the month.”
Read the rest of the story online. If you're interested in gaining the skills to design and lead dialogues about race in your own context, contact us today for a free consultation.
