WAYS to LEARN ABOUT and WORK AGAINST RACISM

"I'm Still Here.. Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness." ​Author and web series host, Austin Channing
Brown, will visit the UTK campus on Thursday, February 13th at 6:00pm. The event is in the Howard Baker Center
Toyota Auditorium and is free and open to the public.​ ​http://www.csw.utk.edu/events/channing-brown2020.htm

Read about Black History month: knowing the past opens the door to the future, ​this article written by
Lonnie Bunch from the National Museum of African American History and Culture reiterates the importance
of continuing to celebrate Black History month. Bunch delves into the challenge of forgetting as well as the
power of inspirations from the past and present. Read more here:
https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/knowing-past-opens-door-future-continuing-importance-black-history-month

Read ​How 17 Outsize Portraits Rattled a Small Southern Town​ written by Audra D. S. Burch from the New
York Times discusses the growth of diversity within the community of Newman. Burch shares a story about a
small town that displayed portraits of different individuals from different ethnic backgrounds in order to
unravel the cocoons that individuals had created within the community. Read more here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/19/us/newnan-art-georgia-race.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Curious about ​how the 2020 Census will ensure outreach to marginalized populations​? ​Kimberly
Smith, Census Specialist​ ​will be speaking on​ ​Feb 27​th​, Thursday 7-9 PM at​ Blount County Public Library, 508
N Cusick St. Maryville.

Explore the ​online 1619 Project​ (developed by the New York Times to examine the legacy of slavery in this
country on the 400​th​ anniversary of enslaved people arriving here) or check out the print version, the August
14, 2019 issue of The New York Times Magazine (available at the Blount County Public Library).
https://nyti.ms/2mg00Re

Save the date for the ​Alcoa-Blount County NAACP Freedom Fund Gala​ on ​Thursday, Feb. 27 ​at the Airport
Hilton. ​Let us know if you want to sit with other SURJ friends.​ Tickets ($50/$500 table) are available
through alcoablountnaacp@gmail.com. Funds go to scholarships offered by our local NAACP.

Curious about the Racial Wealth Gap?​ Blount County SURJ and the Blount County United Education
Committee are offering ​an interactive simulation on Sunday, March 1 at 2pm at The Bird & The Book,
1509 E. Broadway Ave., Maryville​. Please register: BCUEdCmte@gmail.com

Attend a BLOUNT COUNTY UNITED meeting​: 4​th​ Sat. at 1:00 pm at St. Paul AME Zion Church, Maryville
Invite Blount County United’s Education Committee​ to develop a program for your church or civic group.
For more information, contact BCUEdCmte@gmail.com.
Join the Alcoa/Blount branch of NAACP​: 4​th​ Sat at 11:45 am at St. Paul AME Zion Church, Maryville.
You can find a digital version of this publication under the “Take Action” tab on our website:
https://blountcountysurj.weebly.com/​ and older issues under the ‘Archive’ tab.
To receive ‘Ways’ on a monthly basis and share comments after reading/watching any of the suggested
resources, sign up for our email list​: Contact us at blountcountySURJ@gmail.com
Visit and share our Facebook page:​ ​https://www.facebook.com/blountcountysurj/

A publication of Blount County Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) February 2020