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
Black people in Allegheny County Twice as Likely to Get Coronavirus Compared to White People by Ryan Deto, Pgh City Paper
July 8 article that examines the outsized impact the pandemic is having on communities of color right here in Allegheny County.
Read
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas—from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities—that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.
Watch
Power to Heal, presented as part FSR’s Anatomy of Disparities in Health Care series
Join us Saturday, July 18, at 5 pm for a viewing of the documentary, followed by a panel discussion. Through these programs, we seek to increase awareness, explore ideas, and create plans to address the preventable differences and disparities in health care for African Americans in the U.S.
Watch
Crisis Pedagogies: Communities, Education, and the Public Good
Every Thursday in July, join the free webinar to hear a panel of Pittsburgh students, educators, and advocates take a closer look at how various communities – youth, parents/families, community members, teachers, and administrators – have been affected in the wake of these crises. With this year’s theme, we hope to foster deep thinking about (in)justice and (un)learning in the U.S. and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, more specifically. A related aim is sharing ideas and strategies for intervention and change that insist on life, equity, and liberatory education as essential to the public good. Presented by the University of Pittsburgh Center for Urban Education
For Kids and Families
How To Talk To Your Kids About Race, Racism And Police Violence from On Being (Podcast)
Guidance for parents to talk to children about both current events, including acts of police violence and the subsequent protests, as well as broader conversations about how they see race and racism in their own lives.
So far I’ve read The Warmth of Other Suns, The Underground Railroad, and The Fire This Time in the last three weeks, and my partner Isaac and I completed a 6-hour Antiracism Workshop together! I’ll update again next week.
Attended “A City Divided” with David Harris and “The U.S. Senate and its Institutional Racism” with Wesley Hiers, both on Zoom provided by Pitt’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Read The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, which has some remarkable scenes and writing about racism and colonialism at the turn of the 19th Century. .
Read: ME AND WHITE SUPREMACY and JUST MERCY.