Amplifying voices, building understanding
United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region strives to create an environment where every community member feels welcomed, respected, and valued. Our goal is not only to share knowledge but to help foster empathy and spark conversations that lead to positive change.
We believe education is a powerful tool for empathy. By sharing accessible, accurate, and culturally grounded resources, we aim to support individuals and organizations in becoming more informed, compassionate, and understanding.
Fostering Open Dialogue
We offer a collection of learning materials designed to broaden understanding, challenge assumptions, and highlight the experiences of communities whose voices are often overlooked. These resources support personal growth, spark meaningful conversation, and encourage thoughtful engagement with the world around us. Whether you’re beginning your learning journey or deepening an ongoing commitment to amplifying community voices, we invite you to explore, engage, and grow with us.
Community Conversation Resources
We welcome our nonprofit partners, volunteers, and the greater Dutchess-Orange region to join us in our mission to continue driving our work toward a just and fair community for all. We encourage everyone to interact with our Read, Watch, Listen resources below:
Day 1
MLK's Legacy
Read: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: His Life and Legacy | HISTORY
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Day 2
Intersection of Racial/Gender Equity
Read: The history of intersectionality and the Black feminists behind it - Assembly | Malala Fund
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Day 3
Two Steps Forward/One Step Backward
Read: 15-2 Following Rollback of Civil Rights Laws, Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout Grow
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Day 4
Legacy of Racism
Read: From birth to death | An AP series
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Day 5
Coping with Modern Mass Violence
Read: Mass Shootings | Everytown
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Day 6
Racism is a Public Health Crisis
Read: Racial Equity
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Listen: Podcast: Racism as a public health issue | WashU Medicine
Day 7
Environmental Consequences
Read: The Effects of Environmental Racism
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Day 8
Queer in America
Read: The State of the LGBTQ Community in 2020
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Day 9
Neurodivergence
Read: What is neurodiversity? - Harvard Health
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Listen: Episode 248: Ask Me Anything #9 with Emily Kircher-Morris - The Neurodiversity Podcast
Day 10
What is the Future of DEI?
Read: Overcoming Today's DEI Leadership Challenges
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Day 1
The History & Importance of Juneteenth
Read: Juneteenth: Acknowledging the past and crafting a path towards restorative justice
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Day 2
Hidden History & Legacy of Black Agrarianism
Read: 'Farming While Black': A Guide To Finding Power And Dignity Through Food
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Day 3
The Original Gentrification: Seneca Village, Manhattan
Read: Racist Map of Poughkeepsie Warned of ‘Negroes’ In Neighborhoods
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Day 4
Technology: Racial and Economic Inequities in the Age of AI
Read: The impact of generative AI on Black communities
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Day 5
Economics, Labor and Reparations
Read: Racial Inequality in the United States
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Day 6
Climate Change & Environmental Racism
Read: Why climate change is inherently racist
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Listen: Climate change denial's racist roots
Day 7
LGBTQ & Juneteenth
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Day 8
Black Press; Black Media
Read: Freedom’s Journal (1827-1829)
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Day 9
Black Spirituality
Read: Decolonising My Soul: My Journey to Reclaim African Spirituality
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Day 10
Celebrating Black Joy, Culture & Creativity
Read: Black Joy: Resistance, Resilience and Reclamation
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Day 1
Unknown Inspiring Women in History
Read: "Marsha P. Johnson"
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Day 2
BIPOC Communities & Climate Change
Read: "Racial Disparities and Climate Change"
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Day 3
LGBTQIA+ & Marginalization
Read: "LGBTQ+ Communities and Mental Health"
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Day 4
Black Maternal Health - Torie Bowie
Read: "US Olympian Tori Bowie’s Death Underscores Maternal Mortality Crisis in the United States"
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Day 5
Anti-Semitism
Read: "A new wave of antisemitism threatens to rock an already unstable world"
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Day 6
Islamophobia
Read: "The Roots of American Islamophobia"
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Day 7
Indigenous Schools
Read: "The History of Native American Boarding Schools Is Even More Complicated than a New Report Reveals"
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Day 8
BIPOC Health Disparities - Death of Dr. Moore
Read: "Say her name: Dr. Susan Moore"
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Day 9
Neurodivergent BIPOC Community
Read: "Autism Awareness Special Edition: BIPoC and Autism"
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Day 10
Systemic Education Oppression of BIPOC
Read: "Inequality at School"
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Day 11
Substance Abuse in BIPOC
Read: "Alcohol Addiction in the BIPOC Community"
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Day 12
Mental Health in BIPOC
Read: "8 Outdoor Stories from BIPOC Living with Mental Illness"
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Day 13
Transphobia
Read: "Killing, harassment spotlight transphobia's impact on all people: advocates"
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Listen: “Protecting Women and Children" Is a Shield for Transphobia
Day 14
AAPI
Read: "Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the Making of the Nation"
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Day 15
Women in the Military
Read: "A decade of women in combat: 'I had everything they had, plus 120 tampons'"
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Day 16
Cultural Differences - Taking Care of the Family
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Day 17
Post Affirmative Action - Where Are We Now?
Read: "After Affirmative Action Falls, Students, Counselors, and Schools Seek New Roadmap for Admissions"
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Day 18
Transracial Families
Read: "The loneliness of being mixed race in America"
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Listen: On Being Biracial: Ep. 2 - "What Are You?"
Day 19
Seneca Village - What Gentrification Looks Like Today
Read: "Before Central Park: The Story of Seneca Village"
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Day 20
Redlining - Housing Shortage
Read: "2023 Housing Underproduction™ in the U.S."
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Day 21
Poverty & ALICE
Read: "Who is ALICE?"
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Day 1
What is Juneteenth?
Read: "The History of Juneteenth"
Watch: Lift Every Voice: Generational Conversations on Being Black in America
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Day 2
Rosewood Massacre
Read: "Rosewood Massacre (1923)"
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Day 3
Red Summer
Read: "Red Summer"
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Day 4
The Creole Case
Read: "The Creole Case (1841)"
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Day 5
Stop Asian Hate - Systemic Abuse, Then and Now
Read: "Timeline of Systemic Racism Against AAPI"
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Day 6
The Truth Behind Thanksgiving
Read: "The Real Story of the First Thanksgiving"
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Day 7
The Horrific Truth Behind the Birth of Gynecology
Read: "The Surgeon Who Experimented on Slaves"
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Day 8
The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks
Read: "Henrietta Lacks’ ‘Immortal’ Cells"
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Day 9
The Terrifying Rise of School Shootings in America
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Day 10
Homegrown Terrorism
Read: "The Rising Threat of Domestic Terrorism in the U.S. and Federal Efforts to Combat It"
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Day 11
The Red Palm: Systemic Sexual Abuse Against Indigenous Women
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Day 12
Women of Color: The Target of Human Trafficking
Read: "Human Trafficking: Modern Enslavement of Immigrant Women in the United States"
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Day 13
The Native Occupation of Alcatraz
Read: "We Hold the Rock - The Alcatraz Indian Occupation"
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Day 14
The Tuskegee Airmen
Read: "History of the Tuskeegee Airmen"
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Day 15
The US v Amistad
Read: "The Amistad Case"
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Day 16
The Marginalization of Black Women
Read: "You Can’t Improve Black Women’s Economic Well-Being without Addressing Both Wealth and Income Gaps"
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Day 17
The Unlikely Symbiotic Relationship Between The NY Mafia and the LGBTQ+ Community
Read: "How NYC’s gay bars thrived because of the mob"
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Day 18
The Disability Rights Movement
Read: "'Nothing About Us Without Us’: 16 Moments in the Fight for Disability Rights"
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Day 19
Current Round Up Bills Against Trans People
Read: "The GOP’s coordinated national campaign against trans rights, explained"
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Day 20
Queer/BIPOC Community Throughout History
Read: "The Intersection of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC Identities"
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Day 21
The Perpetuation of Slavery
Read: "How the Black Codes Limited African American Progress After the Civil War"
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Day 1
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Life, His Legacy
Read: "King in 1967: My dream has 'turned into a nightmare'"
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Day 2
The Equality Act and Equal Rights Amendment
Read: "The LGBT Equality Act Began Life in 1974. It's Still Waiting to Be Passed."
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Day 3
New York State and Civil Rights Icons, Part One: The Seneca Falls Convention and Women's Rights
Read: "The Seneca Falls Convention: Setting the National Stage for Women’s Suffrage"
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Day 4
New York State and Civil Rights Icons Part Two: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Disability Rights
Read: "FDR and Polio"
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Day 5
New York State and Civil Rights Icons Part Three: Eleanor Roosevelt and her Contributions to Human Rights
Read: "Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
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Day 6
New York State and Civil Rights Icons Part Four: Jackie Robinson and Racial Equality
Read: "About Jackie Robinson"
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Day 7
New York State and Civil Rights Icons Part 5: Langston Hughes + The Harlem Renaissance
Read: "How Langston Hughes’s Dreams Inspired MLK’s"
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Day 8
New York State and Civil Rights Icons Part Six: Keith Haring and the HIV/AIDS Crisis
Read: "Facing death from AIDS, Keith Haring kept creating"
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Day 9
Latinx Communities in New York
Read: "How Does New York City’s Latinx Community See Itself?"
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Day 10
Youth Suicide Incidence
Read: "In pandemic’s isolation, an alarming number of teenage girls are attempting suicide"
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Day 11
Body Positivity
Read: "The Body Positive Movement Encourages Inclusion, Not Obesity"
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Day 12
Transgender Athletes & Interscholastic Sports
Read: "Four Myths About Trans Athletes, Debunked"
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Day 13
Medical Mistrust and Discrimination: Vaccine Hesitancy, COVID-19, and Other Health Inequities
Read: "In Covid-19 Vaccine Data, LGBTQ People Fear Invisibility"
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Day 14
Prejudice Against Racialized Names
Read: "Is Your Name Ruining Your Life?"
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Day 15
Disability
Read: "Long COVID Has Forced a Reckoning for One of Medicine’s Most Neglected Diseases"
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Day 16
Ageism
Read: "Exploring the Health Effects of Ageism"
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Day 17
Intersexuality
Read: "What's intersex?"
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Day 18
Gaslighting
Read: "How Gaslighting Manipulates Reality"
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Day 19
The Bury Your Gays Trope
Read: "Check Behind Your TV, There May Be A Lesbian Buried There"
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Day 20
Natural Hair Movement
Read: "Politics, Policy, & Social Media: How Natural Hair Has Influenced A Generation"
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Day 21
Backlash Against Juneteenth
Read: "In states where Juneteenth is still not a day off, activists see a missed opportunity"
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Day 1
Juneteenth
Read: "Slavery Didn't End On Juneteenth. What You Should Know About This Important Day"
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Day 2
Human Rights & You
Read: "Human Rights in the United States of America"
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Day 3
Talking About Race
Read: "Interpreting the African American Story"
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Day 4
Systemic Racism
Read: "A Time for Change"
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Day 5
Being Black in America
Read: "Strivings of the Negro People - W.E.B. Du Bois"
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Day 6
Adverse Childhood Experiences & Generational Trauma
Read: "3 Ways Intergenerational Trauma Still Impacts The Black Community Today"
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Day 7
AAPI Experiences
Read: "What Does It Mean to Be AAPI? 12 Young People Reflect on Their Identities"
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Day 8
Implicit Bias, Intersectionality & Privilege
Read: "What is White Privilege, Really?"
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Day 9
Microaggressions Towards Black Women
Read: "The Microaggressions Towards Black Women You Might Be Complicit In At Work"
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Day 10
Violence Against Trans Women of Color & LGBTQIA+
Read: "2021 is now the deadliest year on record for transgender people"
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Day 11
New York's Place in LGBTQIA+ History
Read: "Six Ways the LGBTQ+ Community Has Made History From the Hudson Valley"
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Day 12
Poverty, Racial, and Health Disparities
Read: "What is Homelessness in America?
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Day 13
The Racial Wealth Gap
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Day 14
Black Maternal Health Crisis
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Day 15
Structural Violence and Abuse Against Black Women
Read: "How Domestic Violence Varies by Ethnicity"
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Day 16
War on Drugs - Modern Day Jim Crow Pt. 1
Read: "Race, Mass Incarceration, and the Disastrous War on Drugs"
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Day 17
Voter Suppression - Modern Day Jim Crow Pt. 2
Read: "The Impact of Voter Suppression on Communities of Color"
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Day 18
Racial Color Blindness
Read: "Being "Color Blind" Doesn't Make You Not Racist—In Fact, It Can Mean the Opposite"
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Day 19
White Savior Complex & Voluntourism
Read: "A Savior No One Needs: Unpacking and Overcoming the White Savior Complex"
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Day 20
Representation and Misrepresentation
Read: "The Importance of Equitable Representation in the Media"
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Day 21
Mixed Race Discrimination
Read: "'You think you’re Black?' Exploring Black mixed-race experiences of Black rejection"
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Day 1
Elder Financial Abuse
Read: "Elder Financial Exploitation"
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Day 2
Anti-Blackness
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Day 3
Model Minority
Read: "Debunking the Model Minority Myth"
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Day 4
#MeToo Movement
Read: "#MeToo is at a crossroads in America. Around the world, it’s just beginning."
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Day 5
Xenophobia
Read: "The Other Problematic Outbreak"
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Day 6
Lift Every Voice and Sing, the Black National Anthem
Read: "A History of the Newly Resurgent ‘Black National Anthem’"
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Day 7
Protect Black Women
Read: "Megan Thee Stallion: Why I Speak Up for Black Women"
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Day 8
Ableist Microaggressions
Read: "Ableism 101: What it is, what it looks like, and how to become a better ally"
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Day 9
Veteran Suicide
Read: "Suicides among post-9/11 veterans are four times as high as combat deaths, a new study finds"
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Day 10
LGBTQ+ Workplace Discrimination
Read: "Half of LGBTQ+ People Have Faced Discrimination at Work, New Study Finds"
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Day 11
Mental Health Challenges in the LGBTQ+ Community
Read: "LGBTQ+ Communities and Mental Health"
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Day 12
Hunger and Food Insecurities in Minority Communities
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Day 13
Interracial Dating & Marriages
Read: "Family Relations After Interracial Marriage"
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Day 14
Cancel Culture
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Day 15
Disability & Autonomy
Read: "Disabled people don't need to be 'fixed'"
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Day 16
Gender Neutral & Gender Inclusive Pronouns
Read: "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Gender-Neutral Pronouns"
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Day 17
The CROWN Act
Read: "The Crown Act"
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Day 18
Islamophobia
Read: "Two decades after 9/11, Muslim Americans still fighting bias"
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Day 19
Missing White Woman Syndrome
Read: "Gabby Petito and one way to break media’s ‘missing white woman syndrome’"
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Day 20
Mental Health Crisis Surrounding the Pandemic
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Day 21
Indigenous People & Identity
Read: "Indigenous People's Rights"
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Day 1
Juneteenth
Read: "The Story of Juneteenth"
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Day 2
Slavery
Read: "An American Tragedy: The legacy of slavery lingers in our cities’ ghettos"
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Day 3
White Supremacy
Read: "4 Myths About White Supremacy That Allow It To Continue"
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Day 4
Medical Experimentation on Black People
Read: "40 Years of Human Experimentation in America: The Tuskegee Study"
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Day 5
Civil Rights Movement
Read: "American Civil Rights Movement"
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Day 6
Sundown Towns
Read: "Sundown Towns"
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Day 7
Affirmative Action
Read: "Affirmative Action"
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Day 8
Redlining
Read: "A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America"
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Day 9
Mass Incarceration
Read: "Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2020"
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Day 10
Stereotyping
Read: "How to Beat Stereotypes by Seeing People as Individuals"
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Day 11
Racial Representation in Media
Read: "The racial divide on news coverage, and why representation matters"
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Day 12
Adverse Childhood Experience and Trauma to Healing
Read: "How to Reduce the Impact of Childhood Trauma"
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Day 13
Mental Health
Read: "It’s time to recognize mental health as essential to physical health"
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Day 14
Black Identity Crisis
Read: "Black Identity and America's Lingering Racism"
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Day 15
Xenophobia
Read: "U.S. Immigration Timeline"
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Day 16
Tokenism
Read: "What Is Tokenism, and Why Does It Matter in the Workplace?"
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Day 17
Cultural Appropriation
Read: "A Guide to Understanding and Avoiding Cultural Appropriation"
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Day 18
LGBTQIA+ People of Color
Read: "For LGBTQ People of Color, Discrimination Compounds"
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Day 19
Colorism
Read: "The people fighting 'light skin' bias"
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Day 20
Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans
Read: "Hate Crimes Targeting Asian Americans Spiked by 150% in Major US Cities"
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Day 21
Black Lives Matter Movement
Read: "Black Lives Matter: From social media post to global movement"
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Day 1
Racism/Bias in Medical Care (Historically)
Read: "Coronavirus Crisis Highlights Major Disparities"
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Day 2
School Segregation
Read: "Still Separate, Still Unequal: Teaching about School Segregation and Educational Inequality"
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Day 3
The School-to-Prison Pipeline
Read: "Stop the School-to-Prison Pipeline"
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Day 4
The History of Voter Suppression
Read: "In the US, voter suppression will remain the norm"
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Day 5
Racial Disparities
Read: "Racial Disparities in Incarceration and Coronavirus"
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Day 6
Maternal and Infant Mortality
Read: "America is Failing its Black Mothers"
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Day 7
Racism Hurts Everybody
Read: "Dutchess County forum addresses racism within community, sparks calls for reform"
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Day 8
Representation Matters
Read: "Why on-screen representation matters, according to these teens"
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Day 9
Structure of Racism
Read: "What is systemic racism? Here's what it means and how you can help dismantle it"
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Day 10
Institutional Racism
Read: "The Many Ways Institutional Racism Kills Black People"
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Day 11
Internalized Racism
Read: "How Internalized Racism Amplifies White Supremacy"
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Day 12
The Intergenerational Trauma of Racism
Read: "What Is Intergenerational Trauma, and What Does It Have to Do with Racism?"
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Day 13
Wealth & Income
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Day 14
Understanding Privilege
Read: "But that was so long ago"
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Day 15
The Effect of Racism
Read: "Racial inequality in Hudson Valley: Leaders, activists discuss divide, solutions"
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Day 16
Disability
Read: "Does my wheelchair make you uncomfortable? How my disability may have cost me a job."
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Day 17
Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace
Read: "The Ugly Truth About Diversity 'Initiatives'"
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Day 18
Gender Expression & Identity
Read: "Gender Identity vs. Gender Expression: What's the Difference?"
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Day 19
LBGTQ+
Read: "Anti-LGBT discrimination has a huge human toll. Research proves it."
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Day 20
Allyship
Read: "Allyship (& Accomplice): The What, Why, and How"
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Day 21
Racial Equity Action Plan
Read: "Harvard Business School Launches Action Plan for Racial Equity"
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