University of Florida faculty run anti-racism training program
Faculty members at the University of Florida (UF) banded together to create an organization aimed at conducting 'anti-racism trainings' and related initiatives.
The organization, founded in 2020, is called 'Academics for Black Survival and Wellness' (A4BL).
Faculty members at the University of Florida (UF) banded together to create an organization aimed at conducting “anti-racism trainings” and related initiatives. Although the founders are UF faculty, other leaders in the organization come from various universities.
The organization, founded in 2020, is called “Academics for Black Survival and Wellness” (A4BL).
“(A4BL) is a personal and professional development initiative for Non-Black academics to honor the toll of racial trauma on Black people, resist anti-Blackness and white supremacy, and facilitate accountability and collective action. A4BL also is a space for healing and wellness for Black people,” the website explains.
A4BL also offers lectures and reading materials that are supposed to help “non-black academics” make “actionable change.”
Lecture topics offered for the “anti-racism trainings” include, but are not limited to, “Understanding Anti-Black Racism History and Systems,” “Appropriately applying intersectionality, White Terrorism and Black Resistance,” and “Whiteness in Academia.”
The organization also has a Call to Action Letter that asks “white academic colleagues to give up [their] privilege (e.g., research productivity) during this week.”
“Instead of advancing your own work, begin or continue the lifelong journey toward critical consciousness of anti-Black racism,” it continues.
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The organization also lists specific goals and objectives for the participants of the trainings, including how to “[d]eepen your understanding of the history and deep-rooted nature of anti-Black racism in the U.S.,” “[u]nderstand your personal relationship to white supremacy and anti-Black racism, and “[t]ake action that includes time, energy, financial resources, and accountability until Black liberation is realized.”
For two years, Academics for Black survival and Wellness has been recruiting and training individuals who work in academia for the purpose of making sure that universities throughout the nation are ushering “anti-racism” into education.
Campus Reform reached out to the co-founder and several other members of Academics for Black Survival and Wellness for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
