This breakout session, led by Suzanne Haley, was a thought-provoking workshop that allowed the participants to reflect on racial biases and unconscious assumptions that lead to inequality. Through videos like “The Danger of a Single Story” and small group discussions, the attendees engaged in important cross-cultural conversations and had the opportunity to reflect about perceptions, misperceptions and assumptions that shape the way we engage the world and the way we interact in the church.
As the transformational session developed, the participants were actively engaged; one of the attendees expressed, “If we don’t start thinking, we don’t start changing.” The workshop finished with Haley emphasizing that The UMC is supporting its members to move forward and to engage in a plan that enables improvement in cultural competence. She encouraged attendees to find an accountability partner, to take the IDI assessment offered by the NC Conference and to continue working to override racial biases and to create a lasting change.
———-Marisol Hernandez