January 21st is the ninth annual National Day of Racial Healing (NDORH). This year’s theme is “How We Heal” and seeks to address the effects of racism. Working to create a sense of belonging and shared connection, participants are invited to learn about each other’s backgrounds, cultures, perspectives and lived experiences.

The theme comes from the president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation LaJune Montgomery Tabron’s new book “How We Heal: A Journey Toward Truth, Racial Healing & Community Transformation from the Inside Out.” Because this work should begin at an early age, there is also a children’s book titled “Our Differences Make Us Stronger: How We Heal Together.”

A statement from the Foundation reads, “This annual observance is hosted by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) and was created with and builds on the work and learnings of the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) community partners. Fundamental to this day is a clear understanding that racial healing is at the core of racial equality. This day is observed every year on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.”

This healing is encouraged by courageous truth-telling and active listening concerning past wrongs as well as the detrimental impact of personal and systemic racism. Because Jerry Tello, an international expert on transformational healing, racial justice, and community peace, is right when he says, “If we don’t transform our trauma, we will transfer it.”

It’s an all-hands-in approach, an invitation that extends to business, community and faith leaders as well as policymakers and the media to examine what we carry from our racialized identities. It calls for a show of hands when naming what white supremacy does to maintain this social hierarchy. 

Racial healing is described as “the experience shared by people when they speak openly and hear the truth about past wrongs and the negative impacts created by individual and systemic racism.” The Foundation believes this approach engenders trust and aids in communal wholeness, which are critical to this healing work and the task of racial equity, wherein one’s life expectations and outcomes are not defined by one’s racialized identity or ethnicity.

While it requires communal participation, the work is not limited to doing. This is not a project or a part of a social justice to-do list. 

Instead, we must also be all ears, engaged in active and transformative listening. This work is embodied.

The National Day of Racial Healing offers face-to-face encounters and the possibility that we will see each other differently. Following a day of community service in honor of the work and witness of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is an opportunity to tell our stories to ensure everyone gets a fair hearing. 

Host a luncheon or conference. It doesn’t need to be a big or fancy gathering. Click here for the digital tool kit, which features promotional and programming resources.

There are many ways to do this work and to pass along the message. You can share an image on social media from the social media toolkit or submit an op-ed like the one I’ve written. 

A national initiative and a community-based approach, the goal is sustainable change and authentic relationship-building that addresses not only the historical but also the contemporary effects of racism. This is how we heal. 

To keep the conversation going and because healing from the effects of racism is not a one-day conference stay, event planners and participants are offered an event checklist, a conversation guide as well as a social media toolkit. All these resources can be accessed here to ensure you take concerted action. 

In addition, there are downloads for children, youth, and communities, as well as for artists, members of the media, and policymakers. Finally, to order Tabron’s memoir, click here. For her children’s book, “Our Differences Make Us Stronger: How We Heal Together,” click here.  

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