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By Kathy Reincke, director of communications
This summer, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation launched a partnership with Academy Award-nominated actor Colman Domingo to bring a new voice to our signature National Day of Racial Healing, observed every year on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. Through this, the foundation aims to inspire year-round conversation and action to advance racial healing.
While I didn’t attend the ESSENCE Festival of Culture in July, I was intrigued by the energizing session on the Global Black Economic Forum stage when Colman joined our President and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron for a racial healing conversation, which I watched afterwards by livestream, in advance of interviews they had together with several reporters at the end of August.
I was honored to support La June as she prepared for these interviews and I listened to each conversation, where reporters asked them about racial healing, what it is, how do you do it and why it’s necessary.
The resulting stories showcase the meaningful and authentic engagement that happened that late summer day with La June, Colman and these reporters during these interviews. As you read through this collection of articles, you’ll find how racial healing can help us move forward – on a daily basis, as a simple daily practice. And how doing this requires self-reflection; while also understanding we all have a role to play in racial healing, together.
As La June told James Pollard with The Associated Press:
“When we look at Colman and his work around just lifting up all of humanity and creating an empathetic response to stories, that’s exactly what the core of racial equity and racial healing is all about.”
Amid the divisive context we find ourselves living in today, I’m confident you’ll find hope and simple actions as takeaways from these conversations. I hope you find each story as compelling and encouraging as I have.