Who we are:
Courageous Conversations consists of members of religious congregations and civic groups in Milton. We host Monthly conversations to address the dynamic of racism in our lives and society. Each month the conversation is held in a different location. All events are open to the public—anyone can attend a meeting whether they have been there in the past or not.
Mission Statement:
We believe that racism impacts all of us and operates in our community, country, and world on a personal and systemic level. Through a monthly series of dialogues on race and privilege we hope to build a movement in which we hold ourselves and one another accountable to understanding, interrupting, and ending systems of white supremacy and racism. We believe this movement will be fostered through the hard work of personal transformation in an individual, interpersonal, and communal context.
Theory of Change:
Deep, authentic community is formed when we recognize our shared humanity through a commitment to dismantling systems of power in which some lives are systematically valued and protected above others. We believe that within such a community we can build mutually respectful, trusting relationships through which we will work together to take moral action toward dismantling racism in our lives, families, homes, and communities.
The Courageous Conversations toward Racial Justice program was created on the principle that racism impacts all of us. We recognize that understanding, interrupting, and dismantling internal and external racism is lifelong work and cannot just be achieved by a series of seminars.
Individual: This work must begin on an individual level with personal reflection and growth. We must develop an awareness about what racism is and how it impacts us personally, interpersonally, and communally. We must educate ourselves in order to recognize how implicit bias and racism works within us before we can understand how it works within the world, and how we can engage the world in a different way.
Interpersonal: Engagement with and relationships with people across various lines of difference is an essential element of this work. As we come to know one another we will recognize the inherent dignity within each of us, find common ground, and learn from one another in trusting, authentic community.
Communal: We have a duty to understand how racism operates in our own communities and how we can leverage our skills, talents and vision to address inequality on the communal level. The more we become aware of the systems that oppress people, the more we are able to cooperatively dismantle them.
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