People encouraged to join racial equity challenge

MIDDLETOWN — The Middlesex United Way is committed to ensuring that all individuals and families can thrive in an anti-racist, equitable and inclusive community. Our partners tackle the structural barriers to equity from past and present systemic racism that has impeded the health, safety and well-being of traditionally marginalized people.

We believe in achieving racial equity — we must unite and take meaningful action.

We at Middlesex United Way call on you to join us on this journey by challenging yourself. The 21-day racial equity challenge is designed to create dedicated time and space to further your understanding of race, power and privilege. Created by Dr. Eddie Moore Jr., the challenge not only increases understanding but does so in a way that builds a habit of learning by stretching it over 21 days.

You will be presented with daily challenges, such as reading an article, reflecting on personal experience or other activities.

Participation in an activity like this helps us discover how racial injustice impacts our community, connects with one another and identifies ways to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination.

Some examples of the daily challenges include listening to a podcast, such as “How to Not (Accidentally) Raise a Racist” or “Longest Shortest Time Podcast,” or reading articles; among them, “America Wasn’t a Democracy Until Black Americans Made It One” and “The Case for Reparations” by Nikole Hannah Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Together, we must reach a deeper understanding of how race and systemic racism impact society, the devastating and far-reaching implications that have resulted and actionable steps to build a more equitable and inclusive community.

As part of looking at our work through a new lens, we have conducted an initial equity and inclusion assessment of our 38 existing partners, and using this lens to identify additional partners as we advance.

We know there is a lot more to grow and learn, and we hope you will join us on this journey of doing this work. If you would like to donate to support the work, please visit middlesexunitedway.org/give.

If you would like to sign up for the challenge, please visit our website at middlesexunitedway.org or email Amanda Furlong at amanda.furlong@middlesexunitedway.org.