Resources for Anti-Racism
Resources for Anti-Racism
On this page, we will curate resources (books, articles, podcasts, and films) and update this page often to help educate us all about racial reconciliation and justice. Please share resources that you have found helpful in your understanding (email). Some of these resources will be challenging and may make us feel uncomfortable, but they also cause us to see from a different perspective. As a community of faith, centered on Jesus, and committed to his way of love in the world, we joyfully proclaim the sacred worth of all and seek to educate ourselves by listening to and learning from the voices of those in our community who have experienced injustice.
Summer 2020 Reading for Adults
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
by Bryan Stevenson
To share my enjoyment of reading as a spiritual practice, I invite you to join me in reading a book together. Just Mercy is a book (and a movie) that educated, challenged, and inspired me. Its title resonates with the prophet Micah’s proclamation, “What does the Lord require of you? To seek justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God” (6:8). I challenge us all to listen to the voices of those who have been oppressed and seek to understand by doing the work to educate ourselves on how to love our neighbor as ourselves.
We do not have books available in the church office, but you should be able to order online or for pickup wherever you buy books. Recently Warner Brothers has made the movie available for free, and it is well done. Click here for the movie site. And you may want to listen to Bryan Stevenson’s TEDTalk.
~ Tommy Bratton
Books & Articles
Article: Who is your neighbor? Being Black in Waynesville by Brandi Hinnant-Crawford – Link
Dr. Brandi Hinnant-Crawford is an Associate Professor of Educational Research at Western Carolina University. She lives in Waynesville with her 8-year-old twins, Elizabeth Freedom and Elijah Justice, and her mother, Rose. Her children attend Haywood County Public Schools. Dr. Hinnant-Crawford was also Tommy Bratton’s Ed.D. advisor.
Article: Lewis and Vivian: Giving thanks and following their lead by Paul Baxley – Link
Dr. Paul Baxley is the Executive Coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF)
Article: Is America Possible? by Vincent Harding (2007) – Link
Article: Reflections on our Church’s History with Race by Wayne Caldwell – Link
Article: Open Letter to a Friend Waking Up to Racism by Ángel Flores Fontánez, SJ – Link
The aim of The Jesuit Post (TJP) is to show that faith is relevant to today’s culture and that God is already at work in it.
Article: ‘There Is No Neutral’: ‘Nice White People’ Can Still Be Complicit In A Racist Society – Interview with by Robin DiAnglo – Link
White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo says the question white people should be asking themselves is not have I been shaped by race, but how have I been shaped by race?
Article: Everything changes by Missy Ward Angalla – Link
Missy Ward Angalla serves as Field Personnel with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Kampala, Uganda where she serves as the Co-Director of Amani Sasa (www.amanisasa.org) alongside of her husband Francis.
Book: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander – Link
Book: I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown – Link
Book: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendri – Link
Book: How to Be Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendri – Link
Article: My White Friend Asked Me on Facebook to Explain White Privilege. I Decided to Be Honest by Lori Lakin Hutcherson – Link
Resources for parents:
Book: Raising White Kids by Jen Harvey – Link
Article: ‘Raising White Kids’ Author On How White Parents Can Talk About Race – Link
Board Book: Anti-Racist Baby by Ibram X. Kendri – Link
Videos
Video Interview: Between Two Fernwoods: An Interview with Clarence Batts
Clarence Batts was the first Black deacon at First Baptist Church of Asheville. In this wide ranging conversation with Matt Johnson, pastor of Fernwood Baptist Church in Spartanburg, Clarence tells about his experiences of overcoming a childhood illness, protesting segregation as a college student, and integrating integrating our church. He shares his love for Dietrich Bonhoeffer and reveals his lifelong commitment: following God’s leading at all times.
Facebook Live Video Link
Baptist Joint Committee: Conversation on race and Christianity
BJC Director of Education Charles Watson Jr. talked with Dr. Alphonso F. Saville IV. Dr. Saville is the Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral fellow for American Religion and Slavery in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University.
Facebook Live Video Link
CBF General Assembly Workshop: Racial Justice: Moving from Conversation to Action
Kimberly Freeman Brown is a transformational change consultant who specializes in working with organizations across the country on racial equity, inclusion and justice.
Vimeo Link
Netflix Documentary: 13th
In this thought-provoking documentary, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom. Oscar-nominated, won Best Documentary at the Emmys, the BAFTAs and the NAACP Image Awards.
YouTube Link
TED Talk: “The real story of Rosa Parks — and why we need to confront myths about black history” by David Ikard
Black history taught in US schools is often watered-down, riddled with inaccuracies and stripped of its context and rich, full-bodied historical figures. Equipped with the real story of Rosa Parks, professor David Ikard highlights how making the realities of race more benign and digestible harms us all — and emphasizes the power and importance of historical accuracy.
TED Talk Link
TED Talk: “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
TED Talk Link
Podcasts
Interview: Robin DiAnglelo and Resmaa Menaken in Conversation
From the On Being podcast with Krista Tippett – Minneapolis-based trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem joins in an open and honest conversation with Robin DiAngelo, the author of White Fragility.
Podcast Link
Code Switch Podcast (NPR)
Describes itself as “fearless conversations about race that you’ve been waiting for! Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race head-on. We explore how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and everything in between. This podcast makes ALL OF US part of the conversation — because we’re all part of the story.”
Podcast Site
“Fortifying Imagination” – An Interview with Jason Reynolds
From the On Being podcast with Krista Tippett
Podcast | Book Website | Twitter
“Who We Want to Become: Beyond the New Jim Crow” – An Interview with Michelle Alexander
From the On Being podcast with Krista Tippett
Podcast | Book Website | Twitter