As followers of Jesus - who hold firmly to this gospel and look forward to the day when Christ returns putting to death all pain, injustice, oppression and even death itself - we stand up for righteousness, truth, justice and love - because those things are definitive of life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
So, justice and reconciliation - especially regarding race - have been in the collective consciousness of our churches for the past several years.
We believe it’s timely to put resources, conversations, and teachings back to the forefront of our minds and invite us once again to be a force for change.
In the list of resources, we’ve also included links to organizations and opportunities for you to take further steps to stand up for justice and love. We’d ask that you’d prayerfully consider giving your voice, energy, and resources to these opportunities.
**Some items on this list were adapted from the article 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice by Corinne Shutack
Read, Watch and Listen:
**Inclusion on this list does not necessarily equate to an endorsement of everything the authors say, but we believe the following books and media are helpful and important when discussing race in America. Consider starting a book club with your LifeGroup and/or invite in people you are building with.
Read Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison.
Read The Color of Compromise by Jamar Tisby
Read The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.
Read Caught by Marie Gottschalk.
Read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Read A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.
Read The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah
Read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article, The Case for Reparations.
Watch these videos to hear first hand accounts of what our black brothers and sisters live. Then read everyday people’s experiences through the hashtag #realizediwasblack. Share with others.
Watch movies that portray the realities of America’s history Roots, 12 Years a Slave, and Selma are great films to begin..
Check out black movies, TV, and other media that show persons of color as lead characters and in their full humanity.
Watch “13th” - a documentary on the American criminal justice system and mass incarceration of African Americans.
Watch “The House I Live In” - a documentary on the American criminal justice system.
In sum, diversify your bookshelf and your watch/listen lists to include authors, speakers, stories and story-tellers of color.
Give, Buy, Share:
Advocate, Vote, Volunteer:
Engage in local elections, especially those involved in the criminal justice system, and advocate for legislative criminal justice reform. We tend to focus our attention on federal elections, but local and state elections (e.g., solicitors, sheriffs, town and county council) are very important as well.
Research your local police department. Do they currently outfit all on-duty police officers with a body-worn camera and require that the body-worn camera be turned on immediately when officers respond to a police call? If they don’t, write to your city or town government representative and police chief to advocate for it.
Multiply your voice by soliciting others to advocate as well, writing on social media about it, writing op-eds, etc.
Sign and share The And Campaign’s 2020 Presidential Statement.
If you are an educator, buy books that feature people of color as protagonists and heroes. A few good lists are here, here, here, here, and here. And/or purchase educational toys that feature people of color, such as finger puppets, Black History Flashcards, etc for their classroom. Use these items year-round, not just in February.
Work on ensuring that black educators are hired where black children are being taught. Listen to this episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast to understand why this is important and the difference it makes.
Work with your HR department to recruit African Americans. Recruiting from HBCUs is a good start.
Learn about criminal justice disparities and advocate for policy changes to address them by contacting your state representatives. For example, read up about mandatory minimum sentences and watch videos about this on Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM’s) website. Call or write to your state legislators and governor about reducing mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug crimes.
Research your local prosecutors. In South Carolina, our prosecutors are called solicitors. Solicitors have a lot of power in their decisions about which crimes to charge a person with, when to schedule cases (yes, solicitors schedule cases in SC not judges), and what sentence to recommend.
Find out how slavery, the Civil War, and the Jim Crow era are being taught in your local school. Advocate that history is taught correctly and certain parts are not skipped over or barely mentioned. Advocate that many voices be used in the study of history. Often these decisions are made by the local school board or set by the state Department of Education. Find out who makes the decisions and reach out to them. For example, when talking about slavery, is your school showing images such as Gordon’s scourged back, a slave ship hold, and an enslaved nurse holding her young master? Are non-white explorers, scientists, politicians discussed? Are non-white male and female authors on reading lists? Are Japanese internment camps being discussed? There are a lot of great resources out there with a little googling, like PBS’s resources for teaching slavery, this People of Color Online Classroom blog, Teaching for Change, and The National Association for Multicultural Education.
Get to know your local police department. Call and ask to meet the officers who work in the region you live in or set up a time for them to come meet you and your neighbors. Most departments have programs in place to set up these kinds of events.
Relationships, Parenting, and Etc:
Listen without ego and defensiveness to people of color. Truly listen. Don’t scroll past articles written by people of color — Read them.
Buy and read God’s Very Good Idea by Trillia Newbell with your children. Consider buying to give to others as a gift, too!
Provide and read books that feature persons of color as protagonists and heroes. The previous lists here, here, here, here, and here may be a helpful place to start.
Seek out a diverse group of friends for your kids.
Seek out a diverse group of friends for you. Practice real friendship and intimacy by listening when people of color talk about their experiences and their perspectives. They’re speaking about their pain.
Don’t be silent about that racist joke.
If there are black children/teens in your life, contribute to their college savings plans.
Be honest about your history - both American history and your own.
If you have a close relationship with a young person of color, make sure he/she knows how much you love them. Love and affirm that child.
Talk to the white people you know who aren’t clearly upset by white supremacy. Use “I” statements and “I care” messages (“I feel [feeling] when you [behavior]”). They need to know you see a problem. Call them out, and call them in.
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