Social justice workshop to examine biases

The Crestwood Civitan group and Woodlawn United Methodist Church want to talk to the Crestwood/Woodlawn community through a social-justice workshop led by local activist T. Marie King. 

The event, called “What’s Your Blueprint? Social Justice vs. Your Personal Bias,” will be at Woodlawn United Methodist Church Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m.

King will lead her “What’s Your Blueprint?” exercise, where attendees examine their backgrounds in order to understand their biases. The exercise will be followed by a discussion on bias, then a group discussion or Q&A. Admission is free, but the group will accept donations to help King continue her workshops. 

Derrick Lord, a member of the Crestwood Civitan and Woodlawn United Methodist Church, said the workshop was originally scheduled to be part of the civitan group’s monthly meeting, but in light of recent national events, the group said it would be a great opportunity to unite the community through the workshop. 

“When all the stuff in Dallas started going on and the problems started happening, it kind of changed our focus,” he said. 

Lord has been a resident of the Crestwood/Woodlawn area for 50 years and has been a member of Woodlawn United Methodist for 10 years. He said there has always been a divide between the black and white communities in the area, but he hopes the divide will diminish through events like “What’s your Blueprint?”

“Hopefully when we get through with all this, we’ll have had a good neighborhood discussion and be able to work together on some issues that affect all of us,” he said.