FSR Team’s Weekly Recommendations | August 31

In support of our vision for ELPC to live into its designation of being a Matthew 25 Church, the Facing Systemic Racism team recognizes that we cannot achieve this vision absent all of us being better informed about issues related to race, and, specifically African Americans in the United States. There are many resources available, so we will suggest a few options each week. Whether you chose from this list or have other books, films, etc., on this topic, please consider making time for this important faith work this summer. The FSR team challenges us to as a congregation read, watch, or listen to 1,000 books, TV programs, webinars, podcasts, or articles by Labor Day, September 7, 2020.

Below are resources for the upcoming week. Let us know what you and our family have watched, read, or listened to in the comment section!

Read

Choosing a School for my Daughter in a Segregated City from the New York Times
Pulitzer Prize-winner Nikole Hannah-Jones writes about the ways in which gentrification have shaped the options parents have for public school in New York City.

Listen

John Lewis on the 50th Anniversary of the Pettus Bridge Crossing from On Being
2015 interview with the late Civil Rights legend reflecting on his experience as a young activist and what the Pettus Bridge Crossing means 50 years later.

Watch

Fruitvale Station from Ryan Coogler (Available from Amazon)
Before he directed Black Panther, Ryan Coogler made his film debut with Fruitvale Station, a touching portrait of the last day of Oscar Grant’s life. Grant, a young black man living in Oakland, was shot and killed by a BART police officer on New Year’s Day in 2009.

Kids and Families

Racially Affirming Booklist from Center on the Ecology of Early Development
This comprehensive list of racially affirming books was developed in collaboration with Adelia Davis from Story Shifters, utilizing resources drawn from a variety of sources such as the Positive Racial Identity Development In Early Education Program in the Office of Child Development at the University of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Raising Race Conscious Children, and EmbraceRace.

Bonus Recommendations

• Take the Implicit Bias test, developed at Harvard to help individuals uncover racial bias they are likely not aware they possess.
• Watch the National Urban League’s State of Black America, which examines how COVID-19 and recent activism are impacting lives across the county and considers where to go from here.

Save the Date

PIIN (Pennsylvania’s Interfaith Impact Network) will virtually host their annual banquet on Sunday, August 30, at 7 pm, with the theme, So All Can Breathe.