2024 REC, Housekeeping

Preparing for the FSNE 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge

March 21, 2024

Welcome and Guidance

We want to thank you for signing up for the FSNE 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge. You are joining tens of thousands of people who have registered over the past 10 years. You are part of a movement that continues to grow and evolve! Speaking of evolution, this year we have added this message to offer some suggestions for how to approach the Challenge. 

The FSNE REC is meant to be an ongoing practice that extends beyond the time and content of the FSNE REC itself. We know that 21 days is really just a start, or another step, and we hope it will get momentum going, strengthened or restarted. That said, each year we struggle to determine the appropriate amount of content and resources that will not overwhelm people. It’s okay not to do everything! You can come back to things later on or do what you can. Even bringing some attention to the topic or at least reading the prompt all the way through can help to build awareness and movement.

Our hope is that you will be able to spend some time most days on the LEARN section, reading, listening to or watching the featured resource(s). If you can, spend a few minutes on the REFLECT section, using the questions in each prompt as suggestions. For those hungry to ACT, that can look different around different prompts, and we have made some suggestions. The GO DEEPER section is there if you want to do just that, on a given day or coming back at some later point. And there is always the Resource List if you are looking for other materials.

Some of the prompt topics and resources are repeated from previous years. For those of you who have participated in the FSNE REC before, coming back to prompts and resources again can reveal new things since last time you considered them. That said if something shows up that you do not want to return to, check out the Resource Page or website Race Equity Tools for more resources on that topic. And feel free to reach out to us if you have questions or comments. You can do that through the FSNE website. We recognize the FSNE REC as a work in progress. We are ALL learning what it means to bring the practice of racial equity to the center of our lives and work in food systems and beyond. Thanks again for stepping into the FSNE REC and helping to turn 21 days into a 365 day commitment each year.

GETTING READY

We are excited to have you with us and to let you know that this year’s FSNE REC theme is “From Me to We: Community and Transformative Change.” Once the FSNE REC starts, you will learn more about what we mean by “From Me to We,” community and transformative change and why these are important to us as goals for racial equity and social justice work.

In the meantime, we wanted to offer some suggestions for how to get ready for the 21 days

  • Familiarize yourself with the Feelings Wheel as a tool to track your “internal weather” and reactions throughout the Challenge. Feelings can tell us important things about ourselves. What pulls us forward into conversations and work for racial equity/social justice and what pushes us away? 
  • Read this article focused on the connection between racism and food systems: “Backgrounder: Dismantling Racism in the Food System” (18 min reading time)
  • Watch this video “The Gardener’s Tale” (just under 5 min) about “the levels of racism” if they are not familiar to you. You can also look at this very short article that summarizes “The Four Levels of Racism”
  • Skim the Racial Equity Tools Glossary, especially those terms that are less familiar and that catch your interest. Language can be powerful, and it can also be disorienting if we do not take the time to understand and discuss with others. 
  • Take some time to reflect on how you relate to the concept of race and your own racial identity. You might watch one more of the short videos from The New York Times feature “A Conversation on Race” in America. And/or listen to some of the stories on the EmbraceRace website that speak to how the process of “racialization” shapes our individual and collective lives.

Preparándonos

Puedes encontrar los enlances aquí arriba.

Nos entusiasma tenerlos con nosotros y dejarles saber que el tema del Desafío de este año es “De mí hacia nosotros: Comunidad y cambio transformador”. Una vez que comience el Desafío, aprenderá más sobre lo que queremos decir con “De mí hacia nosotros”, comunidad y cambio transformador y por qué estos son tan importantes para nosotros como metas para el trabajo de equidad racial y justicia social.

Mientras tanto, queremos darle algunas sugerencias sobre cómo prepararse para los 21 días.

  • Familiarícese con la Rueda de Sentimientos como una herramienta para monitorear sus “condiciones meteorológicas internas” y reacciones a lo largo del Desafío. Los sentimientos pueden decirnos cosas importantes sobre nosotros. ¿Qué nos atrae hacia las conversaciones y el trabajo por la equidad racial y la justicia social y qué nos aleja de ello? 
  • Lee este artículo enfocado en la conexión entre el racismo y los sistemas alimentarios: “Antecedentes: Desmantelamiento del racismo en el sistema alimentario” (18 minutos de lectura).
  • Mira este vídeo “The Gardener ‘s Tale” (de menos de 5 min) sobre “los niveles de racismo” en caso de que no estés familiarizado con ellos. También puedes echar un vistazo a este brevísimo artículo que resume “Los cuatro niveles de racismo” 
  • Hojea el Glosario de Herramientas de Equidad Racial, especialmente aquellos términos que te resulten menos familiares y que capten más tu interés. El lenguaje puede ser poderoso y también puede ser desorientador si no nos tomamos el tiempo necesario para comprenderlo y debatirlo con otras personas. 
  • Toma un tiempo para reflexionar sobre cómo te relacionas con el concepto de raza y con tu propia identidad racial. Puedes ver uno más de los vídeos breves del New York Times “A Conversation on Race” (Una conversación sobre raza) en Estados Unidos. Y/o escuchar algunas de las historias de la página web Embrace Race que hablan de cómo el proceso de “racialización” da forma a nuestras vidas individuales y colectivas. 

Spanish translation of the 2024 Racial Equity Challenge prompts is provided by FrontLine Farming, a nonprofit farm and advocacy group focusing on food security, food Justice and food sovereignty. FrontLine Farming and Mile High Farmers recognize that language justice is an integral part of both racial justice and food justice and is honored to be able to contribute to FSNE’s Racial Equity Challenge with this translation. Learn more about our work at www.frontlinefarming.org & https://www.milehighfarmers.com/

La traducción al español de las indicaciones para el Desafío de Equidad Racial 2024 es proporcionada por FrontLine Farming, una granja y grupo de defensa sin fines de lucro enfocado en la seguridad, justicia y soberanía alimentaria. FrontLine Farming y Mile High Farmers reconocen que la justicia lingüística es una parte integral tanto de la justicia racial como de la justicia alimentaria y se honra en poder contribuir al Desafío de Equidad Racial de Food Solutions New English (FSNE) con su traducción. Puedes conocer más sobre nuestro trabajo en www.frontlinefarming.org & https://www.milehighfarmers.com/