Activities for
Adults
During this season of Lent, we're committed to taking action against racism.
Browse action items by age or topic and select one or two that you can complete during Lent.
During this season of Lent, we're committed to taking action against racism.
Browse action items by age or topic and select one or two that you can complete during Lent.
Be prepared to interrupt racial jokes. Watch this video for tips on how to do that.
Make a list of 5 racist thoughts, sayings, fears, and feelings that happen automatically in your head/body then write a plan to overcome them.
Do the 28 daily reflections in the book Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor” by Layla Saad or at Arlington Library.
Write and pray a prayer or lament or confession for the sin of racial discrimination and persistent inequity.
At home, watch the video series, Subversive Witness, by Dominique Dubois Gilliard, about 3 hours, on Studygateway.com, with a free account through Mount Olivet.
List as many as you can of the privileges and blessings you experience that may have been greater due to your race.
Spend an hour reviewing the National Museum of African American History and Culture webpage on Being Anti-Racist.
Complete the Do the Work Anti-racist activity book.
Take the Harvard Bias Assessment
Watch Deconstructing White Privilege with Robyn Deangelo, author of White Fragility
Make a list of equity related words, such as woke, (white) privilege, gender non-binary, critical race theory and research them. Add to the list over the next year.
Watch White Men: Time To Learn Our Cultural Blind Spots, a Ted Talk.
If you have a Masterclass membership, watch the masterclass “Black Freedom, Black History, Black Love” about 10 hours.
List 5 accomplishments you worked for then for each one list 5 people, circumstances, or resources that helped you for those achievements.
Eat at Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street. Walk around to look at the murals on the U Street Corridor Walking Tour (then click on ‘locator map’).
Read three bios from Portrait Gallery - Americans Who Tell The Truth
Contact Potomac Art Therapy group for possible ways they and Mount Olivet can partner in art activities for children in Bridges and Doorways.
Discuss this anti-racist art lessons webpage (includes non-art lessons) with teachers you know.
Read a genre out of your comfort zone (fiction instead of non-fiction, romance fiction instead of crime fiction) related to social justice, anti-racism, or with main characters of color.
Read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Read Ibram X. Kendi’s How to be an Anti-Racist and discuss with a friend.
Read 5 Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment
Go to Poetry night or book reading by an author of color at Busboys and Poets.
Attend (in-person or by zoom) an adult or youth Sunday School class or the Wednesday evening class during Lent to discuss the video series, How to Fight Racism, by Jemar Tisby, focused on what church member and church actions.
At home, watch the video series, How to Fight Racism, by Jemar Tisby, about 3 hours, on Studygateway.com, with a free account through Mount Olivet. Also available as a book.
At home watch the video series, The Color of Compromise, by Jemar Tisby, about 3 hours, on Studygateway.com, with a free account through Mount Olivet. Also available as a book.
Watch 13TH | Netflix Official Site
Watch these movies: Selma, The Butler, Just Mercy, and The Green Book.
Talk to teenagers about “The Talk” that Black parents have with their kids to survive an encounter with police.
Learn about Offender Aid and Restoration and explore ways in which you may assist participants in this re-entry program.
Do a web search about the school-to-prison pipeline then ask our elected leaders how they are minimizing it in Arlington schools.
Write down your actions and feelings about your experiences with police during traffic stops. What have you heard about other people’s experience?
Watch the docuseries Philly DA on PBS.org then read for and against articles about cash bail.
Read for and against articles about the death penalty.
Review the Volunteer Arlington website to identify opportunities of interest to you, especially those with people from a different racial/ethnic/cultural background.
Explore what needs Arlington Free Clinic may have that Mount Olivet could respond to. A quick look at their website indicates a need for non-medical personnel in the areas of exercise instructors and Spanish interpreters.
Pray daily that your heart will be opened to the food needs of poorer Arlingtonians.
Join Arlington NAACP and actively serve on one of their subcommittees.
Read about Arlington's Food Security Task Force and NEW Strategic Plan for Food Security.
Volunteer at Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) or Donate to AFAC.
Volunteer at Path Forward (formerly ASPAN) OR donate to Path Forward.
Volunteer with Our Lady Queen of Peace food pantry.
Financially support local minority children by purchasing uniforms and admissions fees to participate in Arlington County youth sports programs.
Donate clothing at Greenbriar Baptist Church. Parking lot at S. Greenbriar and 7th Road S.
Donate clothing at Casa Mira Flor - at 4701 Arlington Blvd - Wed and Thursday 11 AM to 4 PM
Support a local Arlington Black-owned business.
Serve meals at Martha’s Table in DC each week between now and summer.
Research the founding of your private primary school alma mater or your child’s private school to see if it was to maintain segregation after Brown vs Board of Education.
Learn about Arlington County’s eight Title 1 schools (45% of the students receive free or reduced fee lunch) Abingdon, Barcroft, Barrett, Campbell, Carlin Springs, Drew, Hoffman-Boston, and Randolph. Meet with an administrator and ask for demographic information about the racial and ethnic background of the students and teachers. Inquire about needs the students have and identify ways you might offer your assistance to help them.
Volunteer to serve on one of the Arlington Public Schools advisory committees. Use your racial equity lens when studying policies and procedures under consideration by the group. Ask for data showing student performance by race/ethnic group, gender, school.
Attend a meeting of the Arlington County Public School Board. Learn about policies and procedures being considered and use your racial equity lens when you review them.
Learn about the Mount Olivet Foundation Equity Scholarship Fund. Talk with Cheryl Moore, Mount Olivet Foundation Board President. Contribute to the Equity Scholarship Fund. Let students who meet the eligibility criteria know about the scholarship.
Meet with the Librarian at your neighborhood school or a Title 1 school to learn whether there is the need for books about people of non-white racial or ethnic backgrounds/culture or written by people who are non-white and whether there are opportunities to read books to students or listen to students who are working on their reading skills.
Meet with an administrator of your neighborhood school or a Title 1 school (Abingdon, Barcroft, Barrett, Campbell, Carlin Springs, Drew, Hoffman-Bost, and Randolph) to learn whether there is a need for school supplies for students whose families have limited resources. Help organize a drive to obtain these supplies.
Attend a PTA meeting at your child’s school or neighborhood school to learn about their programs and activities that assist students in need. Learn how you might participate.
Explore whether there are needs for volunteer tutors or school supplies for children living in affordable housing programs sponsored by Wesley Housing, Arlington Housing Corporation, and Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH).
Explore whether there are needs for volunteer tutors or school supplies for children living in temporary housing at Doorways for Women and Children and Bridges to Independence.
Volunteer to help adults learn to read through the Literacy Council.
Volunteer to help adults learn English through the ESL and Immigrant Ministries program.
Develop a list of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice (DEIJ) questions for candidates for Arlington County Board and School Board candidates. Press for specific answers.
Research the donation needs of Arlington County Public Schools - a clothes closet, school supplies, new library books - and host a drive or personally donate items.
Contact school counselors in high percentage minority schools to see what needs exist for volunteer support - tutoring, mentoring, after-school help with homework, etc.
Support school counselors by offering thank you initiatives such as a special lunch brought to the school, notes of appreciation, flowers/plant with thank you note, etc.
Read 4 articles about Critical Race Theory and prepare 3 points you could make in a discussion about CRT.
Research the racial history of your primary and secondary school (or your child’s).
Research the racial history of your college or university.
Research property tax-based public school funding and school vouchers.
Follow the Facebook group "Black Parents of Arlington" to learn more about their concerns and actions and successes.
Visit Dorothy Hamm Middle School. Read the historic markers about the Black students who were the first to integrate a Virginia public school. Learn about Dorothy Hamm for whom the school (formerly Stratford Junior High School) was named.
Read the memoir/journalism Something Must Be Done about Prince Edward County (VA), by Kristen Green about school segregation. 349 pages, available at Arlington Library.
Research Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Consider attending one that has an exceptional program in your interest area.
Read an argument critical of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Read an article defending CRT. Find other articles to compare.
Read your employer’s Equity Action Plan and participate in the plan. Here is a sample from Veterans Affairs.
Review your employer’s policies regarding race, affirmative action, and history regarding race.
Managers and Supervisors, read the book, The Inclusive Language Handbook, A Guide to Better Communication & Transformational Leadership.
Research affirmative action and prepare 3 points you could use in a discussion.
Partner with NAACP and Calloway Church on their efforts to promote affordable housing.
Read this report about Arlington zoning development since 1880.
Research articles and watch videos about “NIMBY” (Not in My Back Yard)
Lyon’s Legacy V: Laws, Land, and White Hoods
Lyons Legacy (includes advocacy for Arlington expanded housing options initiative.) Read an article critical of the expanded housing options middle initiative.
Read this NPR article about redlining in NoVA including Arlington
Tour Arlington House with special emphasis on the exhibits and information about the enslaved people who resided there and Freedman’s Village. Share the new things that you learned with family and friends.
Reflect on your experiences or memories of the civil rights era. Write them down, record them or tell someone.
Read this fun story WAMU story about Hall’s Hill, an historically Black neighborhood near Mount Olivet. After church walk to the football field and notice the historical marker for the segregation wall near 4715 17th Road North.
Read Chocolate City: History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital by Chris Myers Asch, about 400 pages, available at the Arlington Library.
Visit The Black Heritage Museum of Arlington, Virginia.
Explore Alexandria’s Black History and Culture
Visit Arlington Historical Museum
Visit the African-American History at ANC
Visit Wrought, Knit, Labors, Legacies
Visit Alexandria African American Heritage Park
Visit In Memoriam 2022: Joseph McCoy April 23, 1897
Read McCoy-Lynching-Narrative.pdf
Read In Memoriam 2022: Benjamin Thomas August 8, 1899
Read Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror
Read Lynching in Virginia - Encyclopedia Virginia
Watch this link to Arlington Library's Nikole Hannah-Jones presentation about past and current racist history in our area. There is a long intro; start at minute 16.
Read about and visit this Arlington historical marker
Complete this Black History Month scavenger hunt.
Interview one or more adults about their experience or memories of the civil rights era.
Read about and visit this Greater H Street NE (DC) Heritage Trail and eat at a Black-owned restaurant on H Street NE.
Research the controversy over antebellum homes and plantations as wedding venues.
Tour the Arlington Black Heritage Museum. Identify information about Arlington’s history that is new to you and conduct further research.
Read articles about renaming Lee Highway to Langston Boulevard and other renaming efforts.
Read about and take a walking tour of Arlington neighborhoods.
Read about the discrimination in states’ implementation of the GI Bill for Black Veterans.
United States Colored Troops and Arlington House - Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Watch this online class called “We Return Fighting: African Americans in WWI”.
Listen to the song “Freedom Road” then read about Langston Hughes and the Double V Campaign (1944-1945), about winning victory abroad and equal rights at home.
Watch Go-Go City: Displacement and Protest in Washington, DC
Learn the words of Lift Every Voice and Sing, known as the Black national anthem, #519 in the United Methodist Hymnal.
Watch the Ken Burns documentary about Mohammed Ali, on PBS.org
Reflect on your first reaction to Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem then watch this YouTube video of Beto O’Rourke. What are your current feelings toward similar, ongoing protest movements (kneeling, sport team protest tee shirts, etc.)?
Before there was Colin Kaepernick, there was Mahmoud Abdul-Ruaf. Watch this video. What are your current feelings toward similar, ongoing protest movements (kneeling, sport team protest tee shirts, etc.)?
Research the history of racism or complicity with racism of your home state (especially a non-southern state) including current actions being taken to overcome racism.
Watch Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism on Netflix.
Watch The 1619 Project with a Hulu subscription.
Listen to a video/podcast from Mount Olivet’s weekly racial resources each week during Lent.
Spend at least 5 hours at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Timed tickets are required during peak seasons.
Visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
Visit or revisit Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to review its reckoning with enslavement.
Check your voter registration.
Learn more about the 15th Amendment and the history of voting rights.
Watch a Martha S. Jones on Black Women & the Suffrage Movement
Sign up to receive information from the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP) on issues that the group is prioritizing for the 2023 legislative year and beyond.
Join your local chapter of the League of Women Voters.
Go to vote.arlingtonva.gov to volunteer as an Election Officer or assist with voter registration and more.
Get to know your legislators and their voting record.
Learn more about the history of voting rights in Virginia Black Women and the Right to Vote | The History You Didn't Learn
Read about why you should vote: “If You Don’t Vote, You Don’t Count” from Arlington Library
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