Following the death of George Floyd in 2020, there were so many questions in the El Paso community. People wanted to know what role they could play in changing systems, what racism looked like in our community, how they could support members of our community, etc. Our community also wanted to learn, teach, engage, and be heard. While the first event surrounding racism was originally billed as a virtual panel, it soon became obvious how difficult these conversations were to have. Our panelists and participants shared their own emotional and traumatic experiences in an effort to educate their fellow community members. They were incredibly brave in doing so. And so YWCA’s Courageous Conversations were born.
These events are free, interactive conversations. Sometimes they feature a panel and sometimes a one-on-one interview. Either way, the point of these events is for people to learn from each other, hear new points of views, and grow.