The WKKF Racial Equity Anchors announced that they will be hosting a Twitter town hall on Tuesday, January 17, 2017, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s National Day of Racial Healing, at 3 PM Eastern. 

The WKKF “America Healing Racial Equity Anchor Collaborative,” is a unique partnership of 12 leading national organizations all dedicated to racial equity and racial healing. As racial equity Anchor Organizations, we have been long-term partners with the Kellogg Foundation in exposing structural inequities and barriers to opportunity in communities, remedying them and helping heal racial wounds.

The WKKF Anchor Organizations proudly collaborate with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) and more than 130 organizations for a National Day of Racial Healing on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017. More information on the day and resources can be found here. 

On that day, Jan. 17, our organizations plan to host a Twitter town hall to heal the wounds created by racial, ethnic and religious bias and build an equitable and just society where all children can thrive.

In the next few weeks, WKKF and its Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) collaborating organizations will carry out a variety of events to mark the first ever National Day of Racial Healing. The TRHT, community, corporate and non-profit partners represent a collective network of nearly 300 million Americans.

"Communities, organizations and individuals are being asked to acknowledge that there are still deep racial divisions in America that must be overcome,” said Dr. Gail Christopher, senior advisor and vice president for TRHT at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  “We have to come together to heal and commit to truth telling, engaging representatives from all racial, ethnic, religious and identity groups in genuine efforts to increase understanding, communication, caring and respect for one another."

National Urban League

"With hate crimes on the rise, the nation cannot afford to ignore the poisonous influence of the racial resentment flowing beneath our society's surface," National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said. "Hate is rooted in fear, and fear is rooted in ignorance. Only through honest engagement with our brothers and sisters from all racial, ethnic, religious and identity groups can we achieve understanding, empathy and mutual respect."

Demos

“In order for us to move forward as a country and a ‘demos’—a people—we must first come from a place of truth about our prejudice. We must recognize that racism is not necessarily overt; in fact, the most damaging kind of prejudice hides underneath the surface, in the form of ‘dog whistle politics’ and policies that hurt one community while uplifting another. It is only when we are honest about our fears and our hopes—when we are willing to be vulnerable and listen to one another—that we can move to a place of trust. Once we commit to truly understanding each other’s stories, we can create a new national narrative—together.” 

- Heather C. McGhee, President, Demos. 

Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum

“We strongly support the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s efforts to combat the false belief that any single racial ethnic group is better than any other," said Kathy Ko Chin, CEO and President of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF). "As America continues its journey on the pathway toward truth, racial healing, and transformation, we must consider the continuing impact of past injustices such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese American internment camps, illegal overthrow of the Native Hawaiian kingdom, and the histories of colonization in Asia and the Pacific.”

National Congress of American Indians

"Healing begins with understanding -- an understanding of and respect for the racial, cultural, political, and spiritual diversity that holds the key to what this country aspires to be -- the greatest democracy on earth. From America's original peoples to its newest arrivals, we must acknowledge one another's distinct humanity, and affirm the fundamental truth that when we create an environment where all of us can prosper, America is better for it."

- Jacqueline Pata, Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians

National Council of Asian Pacific Americans

“Our divided nation yearns to be healed, but that process will require each individual and each community to reach beyond their comfort zone and beyond what they think they understand. To be open to learning the histories, the hopes, and the concerns of people of different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. To seek their truths. In doing so, we will learn that no one benefits from a hierarchy of human value--regardless of where we might fall in that false narrative--and embark on a path toward transformation. The National Day of Racial Healing is an important day in this journey together, and NCAPA is proud to join the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in this essential endeavor.”

-Christopher Kang, National Director, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans

PICO National Network

“PICO National Network stands in solidarity with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s bold vision for the society we not only imagine -- one where all people, regardless of race, can thrive -- but intend to create. While part of our work involves rooting out embers of hate, we’re also called to be prophetic voices, outlining the change we know is not only possible, but within reach.”

- Scott Reed, Executive Director, PICO National Network 

Poverty & Race Research Action Council 

“Until we face our racial past, we will be unable to fully realize our potential as a nation. This involves understanding the ways that racial hierarchy has been built into our social and political structures, and continues today.  For white Americans, racial healing also involves acknowledging and rejecting our implicit biases, our privilege, and our separation from each other, and working to bridge the divide.”

- Philip Tegeler, Executive Director, PRRAC

Haas Institute

“To heal is to move towards being whole, and being whole as a society means we have a government that upholds and protects the foundational belonging of all people, as well as care and commitment to our living planet. Part of the work we must do in this country to advance a society based on inclusion and opportunity is to directly confront the racial exclusion and oppression that have held all of us back, while recognizing that these forces have impacted different communities in radically uneven ways. We must reject any policies or rhetoric that attempts to claim any human being is less than another. We are proud to take part in the W.K.Kellogg National Day of Racial Healing and to support their vision, one that we share, that true systemic transformation will require collective work in creating new narratives and structures that embrace our common humanity.”

• john a. powell, Director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society and Professor of Law, African American, and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

“The Journey toward racial Healing is a necessary process for our nation, that begins with justice. Only through the pursuit of justice for all groups, can a collective healing take place."

• Cornell William Brooks, President, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

National Council of La Raza

“After decades of progress, it’s clear that we’ve stepped back into a time of growing racial division in our country. More than ever, Americans need to engage in the difficult, sometimes painful, conversations to confront the sources of this divisiveness. The healing process starts with truth-telling, and we all need to be prepared to confront inconvenient truths. Then we can move toward a society where we are all truly recognized, appreciated and treated as equals.” 

– Janet Murguía, President & CEO, National Council of La Raza

Race Forward

“To unify our communities, we have to be able to come to a shared truth about the role of racism in our country, and a shared plan for changing the ideas, the actions and the rules that enable discrimination. Race Forward is honored to join the scholars, healers, organizers, philanthropists, policymakers and artists who are part of the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Enterprise. Together, we will build the boat that carries all of us to safe waters.” 

-- Rinku Sen, Executive Director of Race Forward and Publisher of Colorlines

Advancement Project

"The story of people of color in the Unites States is one of resistance, survival, humanity and resilience," said Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director of Advancement Project's national office. "On The National Day of Healing we pay tribute to that story and recommit ourselves to the fight for racial equity. With the understanding that victory is inevitable when we fight, we will build on the successes of our ancestors and our young leaders on the streets paving the path to victory. Our timeline does not depend on who is in office – opponents of equality have been losing power since before the country was founded. Together, we will tear down systemic barriers to our freedom once and for all.”

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About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.

The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti.