"Racial healing is a process that restores individuals and communities to wholeness, repairs the damage caused by racism, and transforms societal structures into ones that affirm the inherent value of all people. By sharing our experiences, we create a world in which we are a new force for positive change."
- FROM THE OFFICIAL NATIONAL DAY OF RACIAL HEALING WEBSITE
The 5th National Day of Racial Healing is Jan. 19. Arkansans are ready to join the celebration, heralded as an annual call to collective action for a more just and equitable society.
In Arkansas, the National Day of Racial Healing will be extended into a statewide, week-long event featuring safe spaces for difficult conversations on the construct of race and its impact on marginalized communities.
During this annual event, which is officially co-hosted by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation community partners on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King Jr. Day, organizations across the nation share resources to help their communities create local activities and events that promote racial healing and transformation.
Participants are encouraged to use #HowWeHeal on social media from the day’s celebration and throughout the year.
The main national event will feature the National Premiere Livestream, beginning at 2 p.m., hosted by Baratunde Thurston and sponsored by W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The week will kick off with celebrating M.L.K. Day and end on Friday with a 7 p.m. showing of “How to Love Your Enemy: A Restorative Justice Story.”
STATEWIDE EVENTS
Day ZERO (Monday, Jan. 18th)
6 -8 p.m. | University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College will host MLK DAY 2021 featuring Dr. Michael Eric Dyson.
Registration: https://uaptc.edu/mlk
Day ONE (Tuesday, Jan 19th)
9 – 10:30 a.m. | In-Person Press Conference to announce the National Day of Racial Healing in the state of Arkansas. The press conference will be at the Arkansas Municipal League headquarters in North Little Rock to announce the gubernatorial and mayoral 2021 NDORH proclamations.
The following municipal executives will issue a joint statement of truth, racial healing and transformation: Mayor Gary Baxter (Mulberry), Mayor Harry Brown (Stephens), Mayor Terry Hartwick (North Little Rock), Mayor Lioneld Jordan (Fayetteville), Mayor Doug Kinslow (Greenwood), Mayor James Sanders (Blytheville), Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. (Little Rock), and Mayor Shirley Washington (Pine Bluff).
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARDay1
12 p.m. | University of Arkansas – Clinton School of Public Service’s Center on Community Philanthropy will announce the recipients of the 2021 Advancing Equity Award.
Registration: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARClinton1
2 – 3:30 p.m. | National Livestreaming Event hosted by Baratunde Thurston and sponsored by W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Registration: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021NationalEvent
5 -7 p.m. | The Collegiate Art of Racial Healing: H.E.A.L.E.D. through Hip Hop. “We as a people have found creative expression a part of our freedom just as much as marching and rioting. From Spirituals to blues to Hip Hop, music has been a hidden code of communication and healing.”
In this session, Dr. Alexis Davis will guide us through the healing properties of Hip Hop and end with an interactive activity, accompanied by hip hop performance group NuBlvckCity. Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARDay1
7:30 – 8 p.m. | Clarice & Kwami Abdul-Bey will sit with Rosanne Cash to discuss how her coping with the 2020 Summer of International Protests for Racial Equity and Social Justice led to her partnership with APJMM through the release of her new singles, “Promised Land” and “The Killing Fields.”
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARFilm1
8 – 9:30 p.m. | Shelter-in-Place Virtual Film Series NDORH 2021 Mini-Festival: “Imaginary Walls: A Documentary About Healing Racism” (This film screening + panel discussion is sponsored by Coming To The Table National Office).
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARFilm1
Day TWO (Wednesday, Jan 20th)
1 – 3 p.m. | UAMS College of Public Health & UAMS Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will co-host a special Racial Healing Space.
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARDay2
5 – 7 p.m. | Lifting Their Names, Past & Present ceremony honoring the memory of the 47 unarmed Arkansans who died in police custody between 2015-present.
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARDay2
7 – 7:30 p.m. | Clarice and Kwami Abdul-Bey sit with Rosanne Cash to discuss how her coping with the 2020 Summer of International Protests for Racial Equity and Social Justice led to her partnership with the Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement through the release of her new singles, “Promised Land” and “The Killing Fields.”
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARFilm2
7:30 – 9 p.m. | Shelter-in-Place Virtual Film Series NDORH 2021 Mini-Festival: APJMM Pulaski County Community Remembrance Project presents World Premiere of Little Rock native Korey Isbell’s film “Vilified” about the 1927 lynchings of Lonnie Dixon & John Carter in Little Rock, followed by a panel discussion with descendants.
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARFilm2
Day THREE (Thursday, Jan 21st)
6 – 7:30 p.m. | APJMM Pulaski County Community Remembrance Project and the UA-Clinton School of Public Service will co-sponsor virtual community discussion on racial healing and restorative justice.
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARClinton2
8 – 10 p.m. | Shelter-in-Place Virtual Film Series NDORH 2021 Mini-Festival: “Divided We Fall: Unity Without Tragedy” (This film screening + panel discussion is a With Malice Towards None Initiative sponsored by Braver Angels Central Arkansas).
Registration: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARFilm3
Day FOUR (Friday, Jan. 22nd)
9:30 – 11 a.m. | Virtual Press Conference on steps of Arkansas State Capitol to announce the 28-day Arkansas Racial Equity & Social Justice Challenge, introduce proposed legislation to establish a statewide Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Commission, and submit a petition to fully exonerate ALL defendants of the Elaine Race Massacre.
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARDay4
6 – 6:45 p.m. | The Yarn Storytelling will host its “Building an Inclusive Culture Through Storytelling” workshop as the kick-off of its weekly workshops during the 28-Day Arkansas Racial Equity & Social Justice Challenge.
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARDay4
7 – 9 p.m. | Shelter-in-Place Virtual Film Series NDORH 2021 Mini-Festival: “How to Love Your Enemy: A Restorative Justice Story”
Registration/View: http://bit.ly/NDORH2021ARFilm4
