Transforming Minds for Peace and Love

One of the most significant ways someone can change the world is by educating others. In a previous blog post discussing the legacy of Frederick Douglass, the author describes how “[Douglass] understood that enforced ignorance —both lack of education and isolation from the outside world—was a powerful tool for controlling slaves and freed people alike.” Martin Luther King combated this ignorance in the name of peace and brotherhood by educating people through his speeches and his writings. Authors such as Harriet-Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain created characters and stories that encouraged readers to broaden their awareness and ability to empathize with their fellow humans, having a significant impact on the cultural consciousness following the Civil War. Still today, incredible writers such as Angela Y. Davis, Maya Angelou, Ibram X. Kendi, Isabel Wilkerson, Resmaa Menakem and Anneliese A. Singh have all crafted compelling and world changing literature that continues to aid that mission of creating a more loving and understanding world.

In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King states that: “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action.”

It is clear that the injustices of racism, transphobia, homophobia, islamaphobia, antisemitism, and other forms of hate are as prevalent as ever, in the forms of seemingly subtle microaggressions and overt threats to the lives and well-being of marginalized folks in the United States and all over the world. Negotiations are happening in the form of public debates, private discussions within our interpersonal circles, and within ourselves as we regularly confront these issues on small and large scales. Self purification can occur through the elimination of internalized ignorance, and educating one’s self on proactive methods of engaging in anti-racist action can be one of the most significant steps on one’s journey to making a meaningful difference in this ongoing fight against hate.

ARCC’s Personal Transformation Experience Course provides the direction, materials, and guidance to support this process. By consolidating and curating the wealth of wisdom left to us by great orators and authors throughout our history, as well as those writing and speaking out against racism and hate today, the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition provides an invaluable opportunity for individuals to erase their ignorance about racism, educating themselves about anti-racism, and build the character to take action and change the world.

For Peace and Love,
Ash R. Long