Liberating Ourselves from Racism Resources
This is a list of articles, videos, and blogs recommended by the Diane D’Sousa of the Mission Institute who facilitated our Lenten discussion series, Liberating Ourselves from Racism. It is intended as follow-up and further reading to those in-person discussions. You can learn more about the Mission Institute here: http://themissioninstitute.org/
For those of you wanting to better understand or work with your emotions, the work of Karla McLaren inspires us. Here she challenges us to reconsider how we encounter guilt and shame.
Inspired by the many white men in the room, and for those who are interested I lift up Chris Crass’s thoughtful Tools for White Guys Who are Working for Social Change.
For those who want to think more about the tension between action and internal work, you might appreciate the reflection of Courtney E. Martin (columnist for NPR’s On Being) here.
To better understand the reality of Asian Americans, you can 1) read and watch here the reflections of Michael Luo, a New York Times editor, who shares his personal experiences and invites others to do the same #ThisIs2016. And 2) you can go here to hear Canwen Xu reflect on the TED stage on her Asian American experience (skip the 2 preliminary ads!).
Some of you may be inspired by “Fragile” by Joanna, who blogs as GraceRiot. Joanna speaks to her experience as a “multi-ethnic woman of color with a heart for engaging issues of social justice, cultural diversity, identity politics”. She reminds us that this work is not just an issue, but at the center of life for those among us who are people of color.
Here is the video we watched in Week 3 of the Lenten Series:
Deconstructing White Privilege with Dr. Robin DiAngelo
We also looked at the White Supremacy Culture document of Tema Okun and Kenneth Jones. You can find the online dRWORKS copy of the work here, and a fuller description of white supremacy culture here.
Reflection on White Supremacy from The Catalyst Project
Recommended TED Talks, including those we watched in Sunday morning adult forum:
- Why are we uncomfortable talking about race: https://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave
- Implicit Bias: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qTfX4U6C_0
- Lots of material on systemic racism in this video: https://world-trust.org/product/cracking-codes-system-racial-inequity/
- Privilege Walk: commfaculty.fullerton.edu/jhayes/000-Web-HCOM100/002-Games%20&%20Activities/Privilege%20Walk%20Activity.doc and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-BY9UEewHw&feature=youtu.be
- Danger of a single story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
- Racism in Boston: Busing crisis of the 70’s articles: http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/farah-stockman (of course this series also just came out)
- The wealth gap:
https://vimeo.com/133506632
and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETR9qrVS17g
and https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/one-time-pubs/color-of-wealth.aspx
Books recommended by group participants:
Anxious to Talk about it: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully about Racism by Carolyn B. Helsel
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
Living into God’s Dream: Dismantling Racism in America, edited by Catherine Meeks
Waking Up White by Debbie Irving
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do by Claude Steele
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
Tears we Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Dyson
The Third Reconstruction: How a Moral Movement is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear by William Barber
Homegoing by Yaa Gayasi
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families by J. Anthony Lukas
So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo