GRACE/Racial Justice Institute
Institutes for Healing Racism
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Justice Institute
The Racial Justice Institute (RJI), a program of the Grand Rapids Area Center for Ecumenism (GRACE), provides a focus for mobilizing persons within the community to respond to issues of racial justice. It does so by helping to build partnerships by inviting the larger community to join in the effort to eliminate racism through such activities as the annual Summit on Racism, Racial Expressions ~ Youth in Action and the Youth March for Justice.
GRACE/RJI has helped to develop the Institutes for Healing Racism in cooperation with the Employers' Coalition for Healing Racism (Chamber of Commerce), the Institute for Healing Racism - Grand Rapids, Inc. and the Aquinas College Woodrick Institute IHR.
The GRACE/RJI sponsors Institutes for Healing Racism in two formats. Both address the history and reality of racism and its impact; institutional racism, white privilege, healing, and movement into commitment and action. The Institutes are conducted in an atmosphere of caring, sharing and exploring of new information, which allows participants to feel safe, help clarify misinformation, dispel fears and break down barriers to understanding true community.
The Faith-Based Institute for Healing Racism (FBIHR) is an eight-week (two hours per week) format offered several times a year, usually in conjunction with two partnering congregations. The FBIHR is sponsored by the GRACE/RJI, Catholic Human Development Outreach (CHDO) and the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan; sessions are offered without charge. The dialogues are conducted from a Christian perspective that is sensitive to other faiths; periodically, inter-religious Institutes are provided.
The Community Institute for Healing Racism (CIHR) is a two-day format, usually offered monthly. This is an intensive model, in contrast with the more reflective 8-week sessions. The cost for this Institute is $200 per person; some partial scholarships are available.
Goals of the Institutes for Healing Racism:
- To explain how racism came into being in America.
- To gain an understanding of the pathology of the disease of racism and what constitutes the wounds caused by it.
- To provide a place where those who have experienced racism and those who have perpetuated it may come together to help each other arrive at new understanding and heal the pain experienced by both.
- To forge genuine friendships through communication as the group evolves into a dependable force for action.
If you need any more information, please call us at (616) 774-2042.