Resources on Racism

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Dear Blacknall,

Hope you are well. I miss you. I hope that when we finally emerge, we will be changed. I hope we can “keep in step with the Spirit.” Let’s read, pray, repent of patterns of injustice in our country. Let’s work to make things better for everyone. We’ve been invited to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds”  (Romans 12). I count on Jesus’ words in John 16:  “The Spirit of Truth will lead you into all truth.”

Margaret Frothingham

 People who recommended resources are in parentheses.

A SONG | PORTER’s GATE

More information about the Porter's Gate Worship Project here. Artists included that I am familiar with are Sandra McCracken and Audrey Assad. (John Nicholson) 

A COMMUNITY | Be The Bridge

LaTasha Morrison (follow her, too!) is the heart behind the facebook community of people who share a common goal of creating healthy dialogue about race and racialization in the U.S. (Heads up: joining this community requires more of you than clicking a button. Learn more.) (Margot Hausmann, Rachel Freyer)

BOOKS

  • Be The Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Reconciliation. (Hearts and Minds Bookstore will mail you one if you give them some money! Truly, it's magical. (Margot)

  • Anti-racism Books for Christians—A Reading Guide. Organized by Englewood Review of Books. (Margaret)

  • White Fragility by Robin D’Angelo. This anti-racism educator examines how white defensive responses to conversations about race and racism reinforce inequality and prevent meaningful dialogue. She then offers ways white people can work against white fragility to engage in more constructive ways. There are many free on-line resources connected with D’Angelo’s work. Check out this YouTube video on the topic. (Margot, Margaret, Rachel)

  • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Written in the 1960’s, the reviews talk about how much "Baldwin's seething insights and directives, so disturbing to the white liberals and black moderates of his day, have become the starting point for discussions of American race relations: that debasement and oppression of one people by another is ‘a recipe for murder’; that ‘color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality’; that whites can only truly liberate themselves when they liberate blacks, indeed when they ‘become black’ symbolically and spiritually; that blacks and whites ‘deeply need each other here’ in order for America to realize its identity as a nation."(Susie Meghdadpour)

Blacknall Library Books

The Blacknall library is open Thursdays, 10-5 p.m. Carol Smith will let you in the building. Thanks Mindy Lance for compiling.

  • White Awake, By Daniel Hill 

  • The Color of Compromise, By Jemar Tisby

  • Be the Bridge, By LaTasha Morrison (Margot & Rachel recommend this one)

  • Nonviolent Action, By Ron Sider

  • One Blood, By John Perkins

  • Dream with Me, By John Perkins

  • More than Equals, By Spencer Perkins and Chris Rice (Chris was an elder here at Blacknall for many years)

  • Living in Color, By Randy Woodley

  • Same Kind of Different as Me, By Ron Hall and Denver Moore

  • What Difference Do It Make?, By Ron Hall and Denver Moore

  • Divided by Faith, By Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith

Reality Ministries Video |  Voices Against Racism 

An important way to engage people in what is happening in our country.  (Margaret)

MOVIES

  • Just Mercy (2019) - After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or those not afforded proper representation. One of his first cases is that of Walter McMillian, who is sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite evidence proving his innocence. In the years that follow, Stevenson encounters racism and legal and political maneuverings as he tirelessly fights for McMillian's life.

  • Best of Enemies (2019) - The true story of the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader. During the racially charged summer of 1971, Atwater and Ellis come together to co-chair a community summit on the desegregation of schools in Durham, N.C. The ensuing debate and battle soon lead to surprising revelations that change both of their lives forever. (Blacknall members Anne and Vic Moore participated in the community summit).

  • I am not your Negro (2017) – Written by James Baldwin (Susie Meghdadpour)

ARTICLES

  • Summer of the Red Shirts – This essay begins, "... I want to reflect a little bit on our history and how we got here-how we came to be such a divided people, why our racial divisions seem to run so deep and why our country remains the land that James Baldwin once called, these yet-to-be-United States.” My good friend, Diane Robertson sent me this recommendation. She writes, “David is an excellent storyteller, historian and friend whose deep roots in North Carolina makes his work personal.”

  • Not Just Tulsa:  Five other Race Massacres that Devasted Black America. – From Susie Meghdadpour: My friend Carolyn Parks (African American professor of public health) suggested this compilation of historical events similar to Tulsa.

  • The 1619 Project (Nicole Hannah Jones)

  • Nation on Fire Needs the Flame of the Spirit — Here is a compelling article published in Christianity Today the day after Pentecost Sunday when rioting in many cities was breaking out.  Written by Dr. Esau McCaully, Julie Newberry’s friend and colleague  at Wheaton in the New Testament department. He calls our attention to three things as we watch what is going on:  the gospel brings us together; the gospel brings us out; the gospel gives us hope in the coming kingdom.  McCaulley has a book coming out from InterVarsity  Academic Press  in September. Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation  as an Exercise in Hope Paperback – looks at the tradition of African American biblical interpretation and argues that the Bible rightly understood and read from a decidedly black perspective can speak a word of hope to African Americans in the United States. 

A PLAN 

  • 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice. – Feeling helpless to effect change? Check out this list. Reminder: Yes, there's lots of work to be done. But don't rush to "do" if right now you're being called to lament, listen, learn. (Margot)

SHOP

  • Support local black owned businesses. I'd like to personally vouch for Jeddah's Tea and the Zen Succulent downtown. Black woman owned. Zweli's is a wonderful Somalian restaurant also know for huge charitable work. (Rachel Freyer)

RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES

 Children’s Books

3 Things to Consider as a Parent

(Leslie Ruth Petree)