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Responding to Racism

Last Friday, we had a small gathering to listen, unearthing questions we all had regarding the injustice our Black brothers and sisters continue to face.  We listened to each other as we were listening for God to guide us.  We prayed as we read Psalm 7, and after our time several participants shared resources that we have compiled and made available below, so that as a community seeking the wisdom and lead of God’s Spirit, we might listen well, learn together, pray, and above all to RESPOND. 

We left with the extraordinary encouragement of loving unity that only the Spirit of God can bring in a time of pain like this, but we know there is a long road ahead to seeing love heal and revive our communities.  The questions are weighty and the injustices run deep.  The voices surrounding these important issues are many, and we need to discern His voice to guide us. Thank you Angel, Elisabeth, Regina, and Vanessa for sharing with us; if you have any other resources you feel should be on this list, please email us.

Books

  • So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo – A great survey of Black/White race issues that also touches on some other aspects of privilege and discrimination.
  • How to Be an Anti-Racist, Ibram X. Kendi – Also a great survey across the various spectrums of privilege/discrimination. A little more academic.
  • Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates – Essentially a letter to his son; helpful from the male perspective.
  • I’m Still Here, Austin Channing Brown – Targeted towards Christians / those in the non-profit space.
  • The Person You Mean to Be, Dolly Chugh – A great resource for those trying to move from intention into action.
  • We Were Eight Years in Power, Ta-Nehisi Coates – A collection of essays on a range of race related topics each published from a year during the Obama administration; as an alternative, all of these essays are available on The Atlantic (but you’d miss out on his reflections in between). Suggest starting with these ones if you don’t read the entire book: “The First White President”, “The Case for Reparations”, “Why do so few Blacks Study the Civil War?”
  • Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson – Stories regarding the criminal justice system and inequitable treatment of people of color and low-income individuals. The book is preferred over the movie because he talks about a wide variety of issues and “categories” of cases in the book that don’t get included in the movie.
  • The New Jim Crow (more academic), Michelle Alexander
  • White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo
  • Notes from a Native Son, James Baldwin. Many of his essays are also available online.
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
  • Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
  • Fire Next Time, James Baldwin
  • Healing Racial Trauma, by Sheila Wise Rowe
  • The Hidden Wound, by Wendell Berry
  • A Testament to Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., edited by James M. Washington.

Articles 

  • 1619 Project (NY Times) – an article series on the history and legacy of slavery in America (also a podcast below). There is a book project in the works to expand on what they’ve started.
  • The America We Need (NY Times) – a NYT Opinion series that touches on justice in the midst of the pandemic.
  • Walking While Black

Podcasts

Films

  • 13th
  • The Color of Fear
  • Just Mercy
  • BlacKkKlansman
  • Burden

Videos

Organizations/Other

Websites

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