Racial Justice

• Leading Kids to Authentic Growth in Matters of Race by Cameron Cole
• Do Justice by Benjamin Wills
• Moving Towards Understanding: A Conversation About Diversity and Community by Rooted
• Equipping Our Children to Think About Race by Ben Sciacca
• Talking to Your White Kids About Black History Month by Seth Stewart

 

One Thing White Evangelicals Should Understand About Racial Reconciliation by Thabiti Anyabwile, TGC. “If I could have every white evangelical understand one thing about racial reconciliation…it would be to have them understand and embrace…their disproportionate responsibility to lead in it.” (video)

Singing the Songs of Injustice by David O. Taylor and David M. Bailey, Christianity Today. “As a leader, there is a temptation to control the public prayer life out of fear that something would be said that would cause division. We’ve found the opposite to be true. Allowing people to express their heart before God built intimacy with one another in ways that a well-crafted sermon or prayer can’t do. Since then we’ve always practice public lament services in response to tragedies.” (article)

George Floyd and Me by Shai Linne, TGC. For me, “life as usual” means recognizing some people perceive me as a threat based solely on the color of my skin. For me, “life as usual” means preparing my sons for the coming time when they’re no longer perceived as cute little boys, but teenage “thugs.” Long after George Floyd disappears from the headlines, I will still be a black man in America. (article)

I Have Only One Hope for Racial Justice: A God Who Conquered Death by Esau McCaulley, Christianity Today. “Where does my hope come from? Not from the usual places. Not from the fact that we’ve added more faces to our marches. My trust goes much deeper—to the Resurrection, and the way in which it reconfigures our spiritual imagination. God has a long history of giving his people a belief in the seemingly impossible.”

We Need to be Uncomfortable by Philip Holmes, TGC. “America still has a race problem. And even though it’s not as blatant as the racism experienced by my ancestors, it is still threatening black lives across this country. We have to confront partiality by listening, learning, and engaging.”

A Call to Prayer and Fasting in Order to Combat Racism and Injustice by Lemanuel Williams, ERLC. “George Floyd’s blood speaks to me. I have responded to it with grief, anguish, and anger. His death reminds me of the pervading presence and power of racism in our nation. But, it also has left me feeling helpless and powerless. Yet, there is a blood that speaks a better word (Heb. 12:24).”

A Guide for Praying Through Racial Reconciliation as a Family by Kevin Yi, sola.network. “SOLA Editorial Board Member Kevin Yi wrote this prayer guide for families to help them discuss racial reconciliation together. We want to encourage parents to be honest with their children so that we can openly fight the sin of racism and bring the light of Christ into our hearts, homes, and communities.”

On Talking to Your Child About Race by Dr. Michelle Reyes, the artoftaleh.com. “It’s not enough to just increase a child’s awareness of racial differences. The way we talk about others also plays a huge role in either reinforcing power structures or breaking them down—in rejecting “the other” or in planting the seeds for our children to view others the way God views them.”

How Can I Teach My Kids About Race and Racial Unity? A Roundtable Discussion with Trillia Newbell, Timothy Paul Jones, and Erica Ho, by Lindsay Nicolet, ERLC. “One of the best defenses against racism is recognizing beauty in those who are different from us instead of feeling discomfort or fear.”

What the Bible Has to Say About Black Anger by Esau McCaulley, New York Times

 

The Race-Wise Family: Ten Postures To Becoming Households of Healing and Hope by Michelle Ami Reyes. Read Rooted’s review here. 

Meals From Mars: A Parable of Prejudice and Providence by Ben Sciacca. “A fateful encounter late at night at a gas station in the hood brings together a white man from the suburbs and a young black man from the neighborhood. Stuck with each other for the night, they deal with their core prejudices, the walls that keep them from each other, and the discovery of their God-given humanity in one another.”

Mother to Son: Letters to a Black Boy on Identity and Hope by Jasmine L. Holmes. “Holmes deals head-on with issues ranging from discipleship and marriage to biblical justice. She invites us to read over her shoulder as she reminds [her son] that his identity is firmly planted in the person and work of Jesus Christ, even when the topic is one as emotionally charged as race in America.”

The Gospel in Color For Parents: A Theology of Racial Reconciliation for Parents by Curtis Woods, Jarvis Williams, and Pip Craighead. Through rich illustrations and approachable text, this book and its companion volume, The Gospel In Color For Kids, help parents present their kids with big ideas in an engaging way. Read Rooted’s review here. 

Becoming All Things: How Small Changes Lead to Lasting Connections Across Cultures by Michelle Ami Reyes. Read Rooted’s review here. 

Carved in Ebony: Lessons From the Black Women Who Shape Us  by Jasmine Holmes. Read Rooted’s review here. 

His Testimonies, My Heritage: Women of Color on the Word of God  by Kristie Anyabwile and Kim Cash Tate. Read Rooted’s review here. 

Resources for Young Children

Colorfull: Celebrating the Colors God Gave Us by Dorena Williamson. “Imani and Kayla are the best of friends who are learning to celebrate their different skin colors. As they look around them at the amazing colors in nature, they can see that their skin is another example of God’s creativity! This joyful story takes a new approach to discussing race: instead of being colorblind, we can choose to celebrate each color God gave us and be colorFULL instead.”

Creative God, Colorful Us by Trillia Newbell. “This short, colorful book (written with grade-schoolers in mind) will share the truth of God’s Word with them. The truth about how we were made with differences, how we sinned, how God rescued us, and how—if we understand that God’s diverse creation will be together in Heaven—it should motivate us to love one another on earth!”

https://bethebridge.com/. Founded by author Latasha Morrison, Be The Bridge is a Gospel-driven organization that seeks to inspire change for racial reconciliation, equip bridge-builders with a heart for healing, and partner with existing organizations for justice, restoration, and reconciliation. More specifically, Be The Bridge Youth “is committed to helping young people — from middle school through college — create brave spaces on their campuses and in their communities where the truth is told, justice is fought for, and reconciliation is possible.” Check out their Resources page specifically directed at teens.

Brownicity.com. “Brownicity: the word and the work provides space to live in the tension of restoring one human family that has been fractured by the lies and injustice of race/ism. We are dedicated to advocacy, education, and support for racial healing and antiracism.

Thewitnessbcc.com. “The Witness is a black Christian collective that engages issues of religion, race, justice, and culture from a biblical perspective. We are changing the way Christians engage the church and the world by challenging them to think and act according to the holistic message of Christ. We consciously draw on the expansive black church tradition to address matters of personal faith while also speaking to issues of public righteousness. We believe that the Christian message applies not only to our eternity but also to our present-day circumstances and lived reality.”

Thefrontporch.org. “Driving the conversation is what matters most to us, namely, our Triune God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the necessity of faith in him. We hope to discuss the essentials of the Christian faith, reformed theology, and how these intersect with the African-American Christian experience.  We pray these conversations build faith and lead to faithfulness (Rom. 10:17; 12:1-2).”

Urbanfaith.com. “At Urban Faith, we interact on a variety of topics related to contemporary Christian life from an urban, African American, and multiethnic perspective. We hope to become your online destination for relevant and stimulating conversations about news, faith, and culture.”

Jude3project.org. “The vision of the Ministry encompasses apologetics that address current issues and the intellectual struggles of Christians of African descent in the United States and abroad. We are committed to equipping the local Church that the mandate of Jude 1:3 might be fulfilled – contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”

Andcampaign.org. “Urban Christians have a unique and powerful sociopolitical perspective that is not fully represented by either of the two predominant political ideologies.  It is a Gospel-centered worldview that is committed to redemptive justice (&) values-based policy.  However, we have allowed the urban political class to abandon the latter.”

• Partnering with Parents to Raise Race-Wise Teens With Dr. Michelle Reyes
• Fear Factor: Fear of Talking with Our Children About Race with Dr. Michelle Reyes

Grace, Justice, & Mercy: An Evening with Bryan Stevenson & Rev. Tim Keller. “In brokenness we are filled with grace and mercy. There is this love that fills all of those broken spaces that strengthens us. It is in brokenness that we can find the pathway to mercy, it is in brokenness that we understand compassion, it is the broken that can teach us the way justice works.“

Listening Well & Taking Action: A Conversation About Race and the Church with Dr. Chris and Dorena Williamson by Your Enneagram Coach, iTunes. “This episode is an open and honest conversation about [Dr. Chris and Dorena’s] experience as Black Americans. Our God is a God of equality and redemption. He is making all things new, and He has invited us to be part of the solutions. It’s our prayer that you are encouraged and inspired to move forward into greater understanding, empathy, and action.”

Racial Justice and the Uneasy Conscience of American Christianity, by Russell Moore. “Martin Luther King is relatively non-controversial in American life, because Martin Luther King has not been speaking for 50 years. It is easy to look backward and to say “if I had been here I would have listened to Dr. King,”—even though I do not listen to what is happening around me in my own community, in my own neighborhood, in my own church.”

One Thing White Evangelicals Should Understand About Racial Reconciliation by Thabiti Anyabwile, TGC. “If I could have every white evangelical understand one thing about racial reconciliation…it would be to have them understand and embrace…their disproportionate responsibility to lead in it.”

EJI Presents: Reconstruction in America, 1865-1876, Equal Justice Initiative. “The report examines the 12 years following the Civil War when lawlessness and violence perpetrated by white leaders created an American future of racial hierarchy, white supremacy, and Jim Crow laws—an era from which our nation has yet to recover.”

Jude 3 Project. “The primary mission of the Jude 3 Project is to help the Christian community know what they believe and why they believe it. Distinctive in its strong emphasis in equipping those of African descent in the United States and abroad.”

Just Mercy. “A powerful and thought-provoking true-story, Just Mercy follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice.” (for Rooted discussion questions look here and further topics of discussion, see here.)

Harriet. “The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman‘s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.”

Selma. “The unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement.”

13th. “An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation’s history of racial inequality.”

12 Years a Slave “Based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty personified by a malevolent slave owner, as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive but to retain his dignity.” (Rated R)