INTRODUCING THE

Resilient

Racial Justice Leadership
Certificate Program

THE PROGRAM AT-A-GLANCE

Do you long to be a resilient racial justice leader? We begin to embody resilient racial justice leadership when we are:

  • free of toxic emotions like fear and shame

  • supported by somatic and spiritual practices that reliably connect us to hope

  • empowered by cutting-edge social science research that illuminates and demystifies the structural impediments to liberation

  • resourced with practical and accessible tools for liberating ourselves and others

Integrating social science research, dynamic storytelling, playful body movement, and mindfulness practices, the Resilient Racial Justice Leadership Certificate Program supports holistic, integrated and long-lasting transformation.

MEET THE FACILITATOR:

Christena Cleveland, Ph.D. is a social psychologist, public theologian, author, and activist. She is the founder and director of the Center for Justice + Renewal which supports a more equitable world by nurturing skillful justice advocacy and the depth to act on it. Learn more about Christena here.

DETAILS AT-A-GLANCE:

  • This is a virtual certificate program. We meet on Tuesdays from 7:00 pm EST - 9:00 pm EST starting on August 13, 2024 and ending on November 26, 2024. Replays will be made available within 48 hours for those who cannot join live.

  • The investment for this certificate program is $3000. Generous payment plans are available and a limited number of full scholarships are available to our Black trans kin.

WHO IS THIS CERTIFICATE FOR?

The Resilient Racial Justice Leadership Certificate Program is for earnest justice advocates of all races, creeds, and backgrounds who seek to sharpen their understanding of the social realities that maintain injustice while also stimulating the soul’s enormous capacity to resist and transform those realities. Teachers, entrepreneurs, human resource specialists, clergy, parents, activists, social workers, corporate executives, artists, and more – whether you hold a formal leadership title or not, you are welcome in this program.

Need help applying for continuing education credits with this program? Email us and we’ll share a program outline with you.

WHY WE CREATED THIS CERTIFICATE PROGRAM

Martin Luther King Jr. famously proclaimed, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Though this spiritual statement is ultimately hopeful, it wisely acknowledges the physical and social realities: the journey toward justice is long and it’s not always apparent that justice will in fact prevail. Committed racial justice advocates know this reality all too well. In the wake of yet another anti-Black police shooting, repeated failures to pass meaningful immigration reform laws, persistent white supremacist theologies, restrictive health care laws that disproportionately affect Black women, painful encounters with the white supremacist structures that are baked into our communities and organizations, ongoing voter suppression, and more – it’s not easy to stay rooted in hope, free from fear and shame, and committed to our collective racial liberation. It’s not easy to embody MLK Jr.’s hope and allow it to infuse our intersectional journeys toward racial liberation.

But there’s good news! 

Though injustice runs deep in our society, the soul’s capacity to resist and transform injustice runs even deeper. Indeed, as Black poet and activist Langston Hughes chronicled his own journey toward liberation, he summarized by saying “My soul has run deep like rivers.”  

We at the Center for Justice + Renewal believe that resilience is the embodied evidence of souls that run deep like rivers. With 20+ years of racial justice leadership experience among our team members, we have come to believe that resilience is the key to effective, long-term racial justice leadership. When we are free of toxic emotions like fear and shame, supported by somatic and spiritual practices that reliably connect us to hope, empowered by cutting-edge social science research that illuminates and demystifies the structural impediments to liberation, and resourced with practical and accessible tools for liberating ourselves and others – we begin to embody the resilient hope that King and Hughes modeled for us. Like King and Hughes, we can boldly face the injustice around us without losing hope, we can speak truth to power without fear, we can navigate complex and confusing white supremacist systems without becoming overwhelmed, we can carve a justice path that suits our personal strengths and vulnerabilities without feeling isolated, we can spearhead and collaborate on justice initiatives without succumbing to internalized white supremacy, and we can honestly assess our missteps on the road to liberation without shame.  

Our souls can run deep like rivers too.

In collaboration with the Center for Justice and Renewal, this online leadership certificate program

NURTURES RESILIENT justice leaders IN 3 KEY AREAS:

 Transforming Toxic Emotions

Resilient leaders are healing from toxic emotions. Whether it is fear of standing up for what is right, fear of getting off the plantation, or fear of making a mistake – fear impedes every aspect of our leadership by preventing us from moving forward into holistic liberation. In a similar manner, shame stifles us. Whether we are ashamed of our internalized white supremacy, ashamed of our racial/family legacy, or ashamed of our ignorance – shame impedes our liberation by preventing us from asking for help precisely when we need it most. As we learn to diffuse our own shame and fear, we develop the skills and depth to hold space for and transform others’ toxic emotions.

Individual Racial Identity Development 

Resilient leaders are stalwarts on the path to liberation. But in order to get free, we must understand the architecture of our white supremacist conditioning. As we stimulate our sociological imaginations and awaken our conscious awareness of the structures that impede our liberation, we begin to chart a clear path to freedom.  

Anti-racist Organizational/Community Change

Resilient leaders are effective change-makers. As Harriet Tubman taught us, we get free so that we can help others get free. With an eye toward collective change, we can sharpen our understanding of the social realities that maintain injustice while also stimulating the soul’s enormous capacity to resist and transform those realities. In doing so, we can identify powerful ways to use our unique gifts in our respective communities.

What people are saying about our learning communities…

“This has been the single most informative and shaping course of my twenty years in justice spaces.” - CN

In addition to a certificate of completion from the Center for Justice and Renewal, participants can look forward to these

TRANSFORMATIONAL OUTCOMES

  • Learn the different stages of racial identity development for BIPOC and for whites 

  • Discover how to pinpoint and resist the nonconscious behaviors and emotions that impede your racial identity development journey

  • Learn how fear and shame hold you back at each step of your racial identity development journey, and how to transform these emotions into courageous and compassionate action

  • Identify your Signature Shame Spiral and learn to recognize it across the various aspects of your life

  • Cultivate healthy collaborations with people within your race and outside of your race

  • Discern where you presently are on your racial identity development journey and chart a personalized, practical, and research-informed path toward deeper liberation and leadership

  • Learn the stages of anti-racist organizational change and discern your unique role in your leadership context

  • Learn how the recognize, assess, and resist the white supremacist structures in your spheres of influence

  • Discover 3 evidence-based, field-tested models for community/organizational change and discern which is/are most effective in your leadership context

  • Learn how to hold compassionate and liberating space for others while diffusing their toxic emotions

  • Identify your racial justice leadership purpose in light of your unique giftings, passions, identity, and social location

  • Develop embodied practices that foster resilience within yourself and your community

HOW WE FLOW IN THIS PROGRAM

Integrating social science research, dynamic storytelling, playful body movement, and mindfulness practices, the Resilient Racial Justice Leadership Certificate Program supports holistic, integrated and long-lasting transformation. To this end, participants will strengthen and tone their resilient racial justice leadership muscles in 3 different learning formats:

Deepening Teachings

These bi-monthly, power-packed learning sessions are designed to foster knowledge and insight. In these gatherings, social psychologist and somatic practitioner Dr. Christena Cleveland will present 5 stages of BIPOC racial identity development, 5 stages of white racial identity development, as well as 5 stages of anti-racist organizational development. For each racial identity stage, she will share research that uncovers what’s going on beneath the surface, the primary fear that keeps individuals/organizations trapped in that stage, the Signature Shame Spiral that wreaks havoc on that stage, and integrated steps toward greater liberation.. Additionally, for each organizational stage, Christena will impart data-driven and field-tested applications for anti-racist structural and community change.

Liberation Labs

These monthly experiential sessions are designed to empower embodied action. Through community conversations, racial affinity breakout groups, individual and collective practices, and playful risk-taking, we will increase the alignment between our behaviors with our racial justice convictions. The Liberation Labs will focus on developing viable skills for transforming fear and shame into tangible, courageous, and compassionate steps, as well as facilitating collective anti-racist change. 

Integration Weeks

These monthly pauses from the live gatherings are designed to support practical integration in participants’ everyday lives. Each Integration Week self-paced assignment will invite participants to take an easeful breath, pose reflection questions to help participants process what they have learned, and offer creative exercises to support intentional yet easeful integration into participants’ specific lives, communities, and spaces of influence.

Embodiment Circles

White supremacist colonialism wants to trap us in our heads and disconnected from the infinite possibility that lies within our embodied wisdom. When we are trapped in our heads, we often get lost in a hopeless maze of individualism, linearity, and perfectionism. But when we reclaim our ancestral connection to the body, we begin to practice justice from a place of connection, expansive creativity, and a surprising ability to hold ourselves and others with care. Each month, we will gather together for an optional embodiment practice session, in which we will engage in breath work, play, and movement to strengthen our connection to each other and to our embodied wisdom. Note: Though the weekly cohort sessions will take place on Tuesday evenings, Embodiment Circles will take place on the 4th Saturday of each month from 11 am - 12:30 pm EST.)

Office Hours

No two justice leaders are the same and no two justice challenges are identical. As an extra personal touch, we're adding monthly office hours to the cohort schedule. Cohort participants are encouraged to stop by Dr. Cleveland's virtual office to talk specifics and get practical about their unique needs and challenges.

WHEN WE FLOW

WHEN WE FLOW

This is an online, LIVE certificate program. We will meet on Tuesdays from 7:00 pm EST - 9:00 pm EST starting on
August 13, 2024 and ending on November 26, 2024. Call replays will be available within 48 hours.

  • Week 9 (October 8) - Deepening Teaching

  • Week 10 (October 15) - Deepening Teaching

  • Week 11 (October 22) - Liberation Lab

  • OPTIONAL: Embodiment Circle (October 26 at 11 am EST)

  • Week 12 - (October 29) - Integration Week (no live session but Dr. Cleveland will host optional office hours)

  • Week 13 (November 5) - Deepening Teaching

  • Week 14 (November 12) - Deepening Teaching

  • Week 15 (November 19) - Liberation Lab + Closing Celebration

  • OPTIONAL: Embodiment Circle (November 23 at 11 am EST)

  • Week 16 (November 26) - Integration Week (no live session but Dr. Cleveland will host optional office hours)

  • Week 1 (August 13) - Deepening Teaching

  • Week 2 (August 20) - Deepening Teaching

  • OPTIONAL: Embodiment Circle (August 24 at 11 am EST)

  • Week 3 (August 27) - Liberation Lab

  • Week 4 (September 3): Integration Week (no live session but Dr. Cleveland will host optional office hours)

  • Week 5 (September 10) - Deepening Teaching

  • Week 6 (September 17) - Deepening Teaching

  • Week 7 (September 24) - Liberation Lab

  • OPTIONAL: Embodiment Circle (September 28 at 11 am EST)

  • Week 8 (October 1) - Integration Week (no live session but Dr. Cleveland will host optional office hours)

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

COMPLETE YOUR ENROLLMENT TODAY!

PAY IN FULL

$3000

PAYMENT PLAN

$600/month for 5 months

MEET THE JUSTICE + RENEWAL TEAM

DIRECTOR + FACILITATOR

Christena Cleveland, Ph.D. is a social psychologist, public theologian, author, and activist. She is the founder and director of the Center for Justice + Renewal which supports a more equitable world by nurturing skillful justice advocacy and the depth to act on it.

DR. CHRISTENA CLEVELAND

  • A weaver at heart, Dr. Cleveland integrates psychology, theology, storytelling, and art to help justice seekers sharpen their understanding of the social realities that maintain injustice while also stimulating the soul’s enormous capacity to resist and transform those realities. 

    Dr. Cleveland holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California Santa Barbara, a B.A. from Dartmouth College where she double majored in Sociology and Psychological and Brain Sciences, as well as an honorary doctorate from the Virginia Theological Seminary. An award-winning researcher and author, Christena is a Ford Foundation Fellow who has held faculty positions at several institutions of higher education — most recently at Duke University’s Divinity School, where she was the first African-American and first female director of the Duke Center for Reconciliation, and also led a research team investigating self-compassion as a buffer to racial stress. In 2022, she published her second full-length book, God is a Black Woman (HarperCollins), which details her 400-mile walking pilgrimage across central France in search of ancient Black Madonna statues, and examines the relationship among race, gender, and cultural perceptions of the Divine.  Her work has been featured in a number of major media outlets including the History Channel, PBS, Essence Magazine, the Washington Post, NPR, and BBC Radio.

    Though Dr. Cleveland loves scholarly inquiry, she is also an avid student of embodied wisdom. She recently completed the Art & Social Change intensive somatic training for millennial leaders, and is currently deepening her mind-body-spirit integration in a year-long embodied leadership cohort for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

    A bona fide tea snob, lover of Black art, and Ólafur Arnalds superfan — Christena makes her home in Boston.

OPS ARCHITECT

Renee Barreto is an operations strategist, avid learner, and care conjurer. She collaborates with the teachers, healers, and world-builders to operationalize liberatory values in business practices and creative projects. 

RENEE BARRETO

Interested in learning more about the Resilient Racial Justice Leadership Certificate Program?

Add your email below and we’ll be in touch!

FAQS

  • All call recordings will be uploaded into the membership portal within 48 hours of each live call.

  • This program centers BIPOC folks in general and Black women in particular.

  • There are no refunds. All tuition fees go towards our ongoing liberation efforts, including offering full scholarships to our Black trans kin.

  • Below are the requirements to receive the Certificate of Completion:

    • Attend the live sessions or watch the recordings.

    • Complete a 1500-2500 word essay or 5-7 minute video response for the integration assignment. People with special needs can request an alternate assignment that accommodates their needs.

    • Submit full payment or complete your payment plan in full.

  • We're encouraging participants to allot about 2-2.5 hours per week for this program, 90 minutes of this allotment will be used for our live lectures and labs and the other 30-60 minutes could be used to explore the resources and practices that we will share for further integration and learning. Once a month we will have an Integration Week and during that week will not have a live lecture or lab, but rather a self-paced assignment to take an easeful breath and reflect on your learnings, so that week you might only need to allot 30 minutes to be with the material.