#Black Lives Matter Faculty Learning Community

Co-Chairs: Maranda Ward, School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Phyllis Ryder, University Writing Program 

The #Black Lives Matter FLC is a community of faculty committed to practicing antiracist, multicultural pedagogy and community engagement.  We recognize our embedded position in white supremacist culture and commit to courageous conversations and meaningful actions that promote equity. We meet to share resources and offer support to those who promote antiracism in classrooms, departments, colleges and communities.

We define antiracism as Ibram Kendi does in How to Be an Antiracist:  “One who is expressing the idea that racial groups are equals and none needs developing, and is supporting policy that reduces racial inequity” (24).  He notes “there is no neutrality in the racism struggle.  The opposite of ‘racist’ isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘antiracist’. . . The claim of ‘not racist’ neutrality is a mask for racism” (9). 

We have a commitment to honesty and forthrightness. Our group dynamics take into account Sensoy & DiAngelo in “Respect Differences?: Challenging the Common Guidelines in Social Justice Education.” We recognize that “antiracism and racism are not fixed identities. We can be a racist one minute and an antiracist the next” (Kendi, 10).