“Can you take a bit of time to reflect upon any conversations about race that you have had in the past, and how you found them? What is your response to the mention of race in everyday situations such as interactions between the police and people of color or people on the margin? Are you able to see how race intersects with most of our life experiences? Can you listen to conversations on race or engage in them without wishing or trying to change the subject? If you could frame a conversation on race around your deepest thoughts and feelings regarding it, how would it look? It would be good to spend a bit of your time with a journal when reflecting upon these questions, as well as with a therapist or spiritual director.

“We have to do far more than talk about racism, but the work of transformation must engage conversation. Transformation cannot take place in a vacuum, but it can emerge even from relationships that are complicated and painful. And even situations that are disturbing and appear mostly negative can result in change, sometimes almost without being notice. This is a good enough reason to work at finding the courage to stay in conversation with ourselves and others around race and its many challenging threads.”