Simply put, Pizza and Social Justice is a framework to assist people in their personal awareness of individual prejudice and the system of Racism in our Society. We use social interaction and discussion to educate ourselves and to become aware of the biases, racial attitudes and unconscious privilege that we come into contact with and are a part of. That awareness is the first step in being able to deal with issues.
We start by “breaking bread” together as that is a time honored method of bringing people together. Also, if you feed them, they will come. This is used as a opportunity to give people a chance to get to know each other.
At the start of the meeting we have announcements so people can share what they are doing with the meeting.
After announcements we share the inspiration for the meeting:
"One of the lessons the civil rights movement taught us is that we can desegregate the lunch counter, and we can desegregate the bus station and the airport and the courtrooms, but until we desegregate the kitchen table and until we desegregate the living room sofa, until we desegregate those places where loving is done and where friends are made and where we express those things that really matter, we will not have achieved the dream of bringing the human family together."
Next we share with everyone the guidelines/rules that we adopt to foster orderly discussion.
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Work to create a judgment free zone. We want people to feel comfortable being open about their feelings without concern of someone challenging them or how they feel.
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Avoid making it a forum for political discussions but make it a focus on the systems of Racism, not individuals or groups.
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Encourage people in your discussion to be brief as we wish to allow as many people as possible to have an opportunity to speak.
When the discussion starts we give each individual 2 minutes to express their thoughts and/or feelings on the presentation or topic uninterrupted, and once everyone has had a opportunity to talk, then the discussion is open for everyone to exchange ideas and opinions.
The host or another individual should act as moderator to enforce the guidelines and to direct the conversation to avoid staying into partisanship, or attacks and should always remind the friends, if necessary, that the purpose of the conversation is to educate each other, be respectful of each other and the goal is Unity, not division. Also that you can disagree and remain civil as well as friends.
We are here to learn from each other, and we are hear to learn about other perspectives so we can better understand each other.
Invite some friends over for pizza (it doesn’t have to be pizza), show a video (have a speaker, pick a book selection, a news article, or something else) to spark the discussion, and have a conversation; make connections, learn and support each other. With that it will become easier and you will also make changes in yourself for the better.
We do offer assistance with getting started. Just contact us and we will be happy to help.
More in information can be found at: https://www.pizzaandsocialjustice.org/do-it-yourself-pizza-and-social-justice