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Fix Racism Now!

damali ayo, one of our culture's most creative thinkers on issues of race relations, is presenting I Can Fix It! Speaker Corps Training to improving cross-racial relationships, scheduled Jan. 9-10 in Portland. damali is the creator of "The National Day of Panhandling for Reparations," "rent-a-negro.com" and author of How to Rent a Negro.

In this Q&A, damali explains why race continues to matter, and what we can do about it.

CoI: What is the workshop all about?

damali: The workshop is a two-day training based on the I Can Fix It! : Racism document. This is a 10-step practical guide to improving race relations among individuals. The 10 steps were suggested by my email list of 2,000 people and compiled by me. It is an effective, easy and fun tool for improving cross-race relations.

I will be teaching this corps of speakers how to give the I Can Fix It: Racism signature talk. This is one of the talks I give when i am on the road at colleges, universities, and communities. It's a fun and effective way to get to improving race relations among people. The fun part is that people will get to use their own stories and personal experiences to make their presentation unique even as they stick to the ten points of the ICFI document. Every speaker trained at the training will be a card-carrying member of the ICFI Speaker Corps and "certified" to give this presentation on their own, charge for it and spread the incredible document that ICFI is.

CoI: Who should attend?

damali: People who are interested in helping our collective community move forward in a real (not symbolic) way with regards to race relations. You should have experience talking about race. This is not a racism 101 course. This is a "train the trainers" type workshop. You don't
have to be prepared to speak in front of crowds of 400, you can just want to bring this to your school, community, church, wherever.

People of color and white people are both invited to apply. Applications are available at http://fixracism.com as well as a download of the guide and information on the training. People with questions should email me.

CoI: We just elected the first Black president, does race still matter?

damali: Yep. Let's not forget that once Obama leaves the senate to become president, the senate will again be all white. We have a long way to go. Plus there are still so many disparities in our society with regards to race. I think it's funny that people think that now little black kids in the US will know that they can become president- because Obama got elected. But many of these kids were poor and in bad schools the day before he was elected and remain poor and in bad schools after he was elected. One man is a wonderful accomplishment but we've got much more work to do. It's important to keep this work up, even now with all the conversation about race we still are at a low-level of understanding of each other in a real, meaningful way.

ICFI addresses how we interact with one another face to face. If we really work the ICFI tool, then we can create a culture that can support Obama's presidency to it's fullest.

CoI: I don't consider myself a race-conscious individual. Why should I care?

damali: You might not consider yourself to be race-conscious, but then you're really not paying attention. Race is everywhere- everywhere. More importantly race is a wonderful part of who we are as people and nations and the world. Race is not our problem, how we misuse race is. This training helps people to understand how to embrace race without making a mess out of it. You should care because achieving that will make your life and all of our lives richer, more fulfilling
and easier.

For more info on damali, click damaliayo.com.

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