Rutgers invites you to a Daring Discussions Potluck: a place for people of all backgrounds and beliefs to come together to discuss issues facing our community. Too often we are stuck ‘preaching to the choir’ and too worried to have honest or inclusive conversations with those with opposing views. Daring Discussions break down those walls and allows challenging yet important conversations to occur with people of all political beliefs and socio-economic backgrounds to occur. Bring you favorite dish and join us to practice this with one another, to bring solidarity to action, and to build communities and relations by getting to know each other.

Daring Discussions are about having one-on-one conversations that confront and begin to dismantle white supremacist messages and beliefs. Many people are struggling with where to begin, navigating confrontation, defusing defensiveness and finding some common ground. Although Daring Discussions are one-on-one, we know that we can’t do this without supporting each other.

The violence in Charlottesville, as well as the appearance of a number of planned rallies by this dangerous coalition of white extremists and terrorists, has been incredibly traumatizing, mentally and emotionally, for people of color, Jews, women, immigrants, LGBTQIA people and all who are targets. As time has passed, we've seen more incidents of hatred, heard more speeches filled with bigotry, and witnessed an even larger rise of white supremacy. While it may be tempting for white people to respond with shock and anger, for most people of color, these events are not surprising.

As we bring people together to challenge the rise of white nationalism and racist violence in this country, it’s important that our collective responses center the people directly experiencing the violence and oppression of white supremacy. Recognizing the emotion labor that Black people especially Black women are expected to perform on a daily basis, it is critical that white people and non-Black women of color challenge the ways that anti-blackness shows up in our families, workplaces and communities.