Racial and Social Justice
Community Conversations
YWCA hosts regular community dialogues on various topics including allyship, implicit bias, white privilege, law enforcement and criminal justice, advocacy and engaging in difficult conversations about race. In addition, YWCA staff are available to customize professional development workshops and/or facilitate dialogues on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to a wide range of audiences including, but not limited to, educators, nonprofit professionals, businesses, corporations, volunteers and community groups.
Communication and Outreach
YWCA provides regular communication and outreach to the Bucks County community and beyond through its social media platforms, website and community collaborations to raise awareness of disparities that negatively impact marginalized communities. Through these same platforms, the YWCA celebrates and acknowledges the significant contributions of women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, etc. The YWCA uses its position of power and privilege to amplify the voices of others to promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation
Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation was co-created by Bread for the World Institute and NETWORK as an interactive tool that helps people understand racial inequality at the structural level and how it connects with social justice issues, like ending hunger and poverty. YWCA Bucks County, Bucks County Opportunity Council, and the United Way of Bucks County are collaborating to bring this learning simulation to our community.
The purpose of this 90-minute learning simulation is to help participants understand the role of racial inequity in policies and their implementation. Participants will learn how federal policies created structural inequalities in many areas, e.g., property ownership, and education, and how these policies increase hunger and poverty in communities of color. The simulation guides participants to an understanding of why racial equity is so important to ending hunger and poverty in the United States.
Goals of the Simulation
Understand why racial equity is important to address structural inequality
Discuss racial equity within our organizations, groups, and/or communities
Incorporate a racial equity lens into our daily work, life, policies, practices, advocacy, etc.
Feel more comfortable explaining the importance of applying a racial equity lens when working to end hunger, poverty, health or achieve goals in other issue areas.
Reading to End Racism
Reading to End Racism (RER) is a racial justice program that uses trained staff and volunteers to read to children in a group setting, or to facilitate discussion groups with teens and adults. Through books, personal stories, and reinforcement activities, the YWCA stimulates conversations with participants about race, diversity, inclusion, the impact of discrimination, and how individuals can work to eliminate racism and other forms of bias in their lives, their schools, and their communities.
Reading to End Racism is a hallmark program of the YWCA USA that was originally founded in Boulder, Colorado in the 1990s by a group of retired local teachers in response to racism and discrimination in their classrooms and schools. In 2006, the YWCA of Boulder County adopted the program in partnership with RER to assure the long- term sustainability of the initiative. The YWCA Bucks County brought the program to our local community in 2014 as an educational and social justice resource to advance the mission of eliminating racism here in Bucks County. RER can be delivered to a variety of target audiences including youth, teens and adults. Book titles and discussion topics are adapted to the age and literacy level of participants.
RER can be delivered as frequently as once a week or as few as once a month, or even a one time occurrence. The program can be customized to meet the needs of individuals, schools, and groups. Typically, youth participate in a read-a-loud, followed by a discussion and reinforcement activity. Teens and adults can organize a book club, meet regularly, and have ongoing dialogue and discussion, OR read excerpts during a s single session and engage in meaningful conversation about what they've read. RER can be facilitated in a variety of settings including, but not limited to schools, afterschool programs, places of worship, libraries, businesses, and other sites as requested.
Racial Justice Challenge
The YWCA Racial Justice Challenge is designed to create dedicated time and space to build more effective social justice habits, particularly those dealing with issues of race, power, privilege, and leadership. The Challenge works to foster personal reflection, encourage social responsibility, and motivate participants to identify and act on ways to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination.
For four weeks, daily challenge activities (reading an article, listening to a podcast, reflecting on personal experience, etc.) are posted in the Challenge app and website, allowing participants to connect with one another, discover how racial and social injustice impact our communities. Each week covers a different topic related to equity and social justice. The Challenge is the action component for Until Justice Just Is campaign.
Until Justice Just Is
Until Justice Just Is (UJJI) is an annual campaign of YWCA USA, aimed to build community among those who work for racial justice and raise awareness about the impact of institutional and structural racism. This annual campaign provides the opportunity for communities across the United States to find an issue or cause that inspires them to unite their voices to educate, advocate, and promote racial justice. UJJI is one part of our larger national strategy to fulfill our mission of eliminating racism.
The Racial Justice Challenge is the action component for the Until Justice Just Is campaign. At the end of the month-long Challenge the YWCA Bucks County gathers local experts in the focused topic areas and hosts a community-based event that celebrates social justice advocates' work on issues of equity, inclusion, and racial justice. It includes a panel discussion and call to action, becoming an ally will foster a world of peace, justice, dignity, and freedom for all.
MLK Teen Peace and Social Justice Summit
Every year, the YWCA partners with a group of organizations including the Peace Center, Temple Judea, The Bucks County Chapter of the Links Incorporated, Bucks County Intermediate Unit and Schools, Planned Parenthood, etc. to host an Annual MLK Teen Peace and Social Justice Summit. The event is open to 9th - 12th grade students and mature 7th and 8th graders, educators, parents and community members. Attendees will heare student-led stories and inspirational speakers centered around the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Separate workshops are held for students, educators and parents. The breakout sessions foster meaningful and courageous conversation on racism, discrimination and intolerance. Resources are made available for students and communities. The day concludes with a call to action and a peaceful path forward to unity and progress.
Week Without Violence
Week Without Violence is part of a global movement with YWCAs across the country and around the world to end violence against women and girls. At YWCA, we know that not all violence is acknowledged or responded to equally and that some victims go unrecognized altogether. That’s why, for more than 20 years, YWCA has set aside one week in October as a Week Without Violence. Join us the third week of October, as we raise awareness, elevate survivor voices, talk with policymakers, and more with a common goal: centering survivors so that together, we can end gender-based violence.
