Past Projects

Frankfort Juneteenth

a roundtable with poetry & song

Saturday, June 19th

Together, we learned the history and context of the Juneteenth holiday and heard from key members of Frankfort's educational, spiritual, and cultural organizations as they engaged in dialogue about the concept of freedom in Frankfort’s past, present and future. We were uplifted by poetry, prayer, and song shared by local community leaders and artists. 

Partners: Focus on Race Relations, Josephine Sculpture Park, The Grand Theatre, Frankfort Plant Board, Together Frankfort and Beta Upsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Sponsored by Joe and Debbie Graviss

More information about Juneteenth is available at togetherfrankfort.org.

To watch a portion of the presentation, click here.

Franklin County Cooperative Extension Service in partnership with FORR presented a six part series of community conversations on Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation.

FORR: Frankfort held two candidate forums on race relations which were well attended by candidates and constituents. These forums gave candidates the opportunity to share their current understanding of racism and privilege. This also served to start a community dialogue about these issues and how they play out locally. One of the things that we learned is that there are gaps between those who are on the receiving end of racism and those who are privileged enough to go through life unaware of the racism around them. FORR: Frankfort held these forums with the goal of helping the community begin building the tools to begin bridging these gaps.

Watch Candidate forums for Frankfort Mayor and City Commissioners on FORR's YouTube Channel.   

Using curriculum and discussion outlines from Be the Bridge, we hosted groups for White Bridge Builders and later multiracial Be the Bridge Discussion Groups. The idea behind the White Bridge Builders is to familiarize white allies with terms and concepts necessary to move forward into conversations with people of color. Since racism is a very painful experience, it would be unfair to ask people of color to explain it to white people. In order to avoid causing unnecessary pain, the White Bridge Builders group will use already existing curriculum. An informational session for our first White Bridge Builder discussion group was held on Monday, February 11. The group met each Monday starting February 25 from 6-7 at First Presbyterian Church, 416 West Main Street.

Juneteenth Virtual Celebration in partnership with Josephine Sculpture Park.

FORR’s Education Committee partnered with the Kentucky Historical Society to offer two virtual workshops for educators. The first workshop presented teachers with opportunities to discuss true personal narratives in which individuals had encountered racism in a K-12 educational setting.  The second workshop focused on implicit bias, a topic identified as a high priority by participants in the first workshop. The second session opened with the presentation by Michelle Pennix, a consultant whose work focuses on actionable ideas and practical strategies around racial injustice and culturally responsive environments in the community and school, and used true scenarios to generate discussion about the role of implicit bias in specific school-based incidents. Both workshops were funded in part by the Kentucky Storytelling Association.

FORR’s Education Committee also evaluated hundreds of online resources to create resource pages especially for parents and educators.  

In February 2019, FORR: Frankfort sponsored an event to facilitate learning and conversations between officials at Kentucky State University and officials in city and county government.  It was agreed that racism still exists in our community. Participants were told that to begin to address these race and race-related issues it would be necessary for them to step outside of their comfort zone and to engage in open, honest, face to face conversations about race and race related issues. No longer can they be afraid to talk about race.  Dr. Crystal deGregory, Ph. D was the event speaker.

Using curriculum and discussion outlines from Be the Bridge, we hosted groups for White Bridge Builders and later multiracial Be the Bridge Discussion Groups. The idea behind the White Bridge Builders is to familiarize white allies with terms and concepts necessary to move forward into conversations with people of color. Since racism is a very painful experience, it would be unfair to ask people of color to explain it to white people. In order to avoid causing unnecessary pain, the White Bridge Builders group will use already existing curriculum. An informational session for our first White Bridge Builder discussion group was held on Monday, February 11. The group met each Monday starting February 25 from 6-7 at First Presbyterian Church, 416 West Main Street.

Working with the Equal Justice Initiative we commemorated lynching victims from Franklin County through educational displays and a community-wide event in August 2019. See the Events page, The Singing Bridge for more details.  Watch news coverage.  See exhibit at Kentucky State University. 

We began working with local schools to encourage more diversity in the curriculum and more discussions about race.  As part of the  activities in association with the Soil Collection Event, we distributed educational materials from the Equal Justice Initiative to all our middle and high schools.

Visit our K-12 Educators Resource Page.