The National Day of Racial Healing will include a community building and healing luncheon, followed by a documentary screening and panel discussion.
Elon University will honor the National Day of Racial Healing on Jan. 21, with a community building and healing luncheon, followed by a screening and panel discussion of the Emmy-award winning documentary “Talking Black in America: Roots.”
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation began its annual observation of the National Day of Racial Healing in 2017, commemorated on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The event is a call to action that works with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s national Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation effort, which is a community-based process that seeks to bring transformational and sustainable change. The luncheon will give participants time to reflect on shared values and collaborate on crafting the blueprint for #HowWeHeal at Elon.
“Over the past year, members of our community have witnessed or experienced harm and marginalization based on race, shared ancestry and other aspects of identity due to local, national and global events.,” said Carla Fullwood, director of inclusive excellence education and development. “This Community Building and Healing Luncheon will provide a space to share stories, raise awareness, repair harm and restore a sense of community. ”
The luncheon, hosted by the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Education Development (OIEED) and the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education (CREDE), is an opportunity to unite individuals in their shared humanity and create action toward building a more equitable world.
“This event offers a space to engage in meaningful conversations, discover shared values across communities and explore practical strategies to promote racial healing at Elon,” said Anna Matawaran ‘25, executive intern for the Division of Inclusive Excellence.
Following the luncheon, there will be a screening of the Emmy-award winning documentary “Talking Black in America: Roots,” followed by a panel discussion with producers and sociolinguists Walt Wolfram (N.C. State University) and Tracey Weldon (University of South Carolina). Elon’s Corey Roberts, assistant professor of Native American and Indigenous studies, will moderate the discussion. The documentary connects the stories of the peoples and societies of Ghana, the Bahamas, the Gullah Geechee people in the Southeastern United States and more to show how African American Vernacular English and Black culture developed.
“We organized the event for our Core Capstone courses, which explore the legacies of linguistic variation, like African American English, an English dialect spoken by African Americans and developed over time because of the history of the African diaspora,” said Amanda Kleintop, assistant professor of history. “We hope that it helps raise awareness of the importance of linguistic variation and how the interdisciplinary study of chattel slavery’s legacies can teach us to respond to racial inequity in new ways.”
Kleintop and Archie Crowley, assistant professor of English, organized the screening with sponsorship from African & African-American Studies, American Studies, Center for the Study of Religion, Society and Culture, Museum and Public History Studies, Elon’s Fund for Excellence in the Arts & Sciences and collaboration by the School of Communications.
The National Day of Racial Healing brings a clear understanding of racial healing and racial equity and the process helps individuals learn how to build relationships, trust and understand community
“National Day of Racial Healing represents hope for a future where BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities feel whole, valued and supported. It’s a day that encourages individuals to share their stories, reflect on their lived experiences and feel empowered to advocate for change,” said Matawaran.
The focus of National Day of Racial Healing aligns with Elon’s commitment to being a community that supports belonging and well-being. Elon University first hosted an event for the National Day of Racial Healing in 2022.
“As a campus community that values relationships and respect for human differences, we acknowledge the National Day of Racial Healing as an opportunity to continue building and strengthening connections across differences” said Fullwood.