Confronting Whiteness and Racism

Confronting Whiteness and Racism Working Group

The Confronting Whiteness and Racism Working Group (formerly the Dismantling Racism Working Group) is dedicated to raising awareness of the effects of racism in ourselves, our systems, our society, and discerning how we are called to build the Beloved Community, based on love, justice, and equal opportunity for all. For more information contact Marty Roers at mroers@csjstpaul.org.

 

Events and Opportunities 

Current Events in the Twin Cities

“I AM” film screening
I AM is an utterly engaging and entertaining non-fiction film that poses two practical and provocative questions: what’s wrong with our world, and what can we do to make it better?
Thursday, January 16, 2020
7:00-9:00 pm at the Eastside Freedom Library in Saint Paul  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/minnesota-peacebuilding-film-series-saint-paul-tickets-80694845455

and
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
7:00-9:00 pm at the Birchwood Cafe in Minneapolis https://www.eventbrite.com/e/minnesota-peacebuilding-film-series-minneapolis-tickets-80669315093

“I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO” film screening
Monday, January 20, 2020
at Penumbra Theatre in Saint Paul
I Am Not Your Negro envisions the book James Baldwin never
finished: a radical narration about race in America, using the writer’s
original words, as read by actor Samuel L. Jackson. Alongside a
flood of rich archival material, the film draws upon Baldwin’s notes
on the lives and assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and
Martin Luther King Jr. to explore and bring a fresh perspective to
our current racial narrative. Raoul Peck’s Oscar-nominated
documentary is a journey into black history that connects the past
of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter.
The CWAR group has some tickets to this and plans to carpool.
If you would like to join us, please contact Marty Roers at mroers@csjstpaul.org.
Or you can order tickets yourself online or by calling
651.224.3180 Monday through Friday, from 10am-4:30pm.

Tuesday, February 11 ~ peace prayer
The Sisters of St Joseph and Consociates hold a Peace Prayer at 6:30 pm on the 11th day of each month in our chapel at 1880 Randolph Avenue in Saint Paul. All are welcome. This month we will focus on Black History. Please join us.

Ongoing Events in the Twin Cities

• 4th Monday of Each Month Coming to the Table meetings 7-8:30 p.m. at the Wedge (info at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coming-to-the-table-south-minneapolis-instigating-racial-healing-in-minnesota-tickets-85500924567)
• Discussions That Encounter: Twice-monthly gatherings for open discussions about race, racism and white privilege. More information here, and email Bill Keatts at wkeatts@austin.rr.com to be added to the mailing list for meeting updates.
• Penumbra Theatre – Plays, classes, film, discussions.

Exhibits

• Minnesota African American Heritage Museum & Gallery – Founded in 2018, the Museum’s purpose is to preserve, record and highlight the achievements, contributions and experiences of African Americans in Minnesota.  This mission is carried out through exhibits, workshops and events that educate and inform the public about the history, culture, and art of African Americans in Minnesota. Read MPR’s story about the new MAAHMG.
• “Race:  Are We Really So Different?”  Minnesota Science Museum’s Race Exhibit.

 

Resources

Bookshelf

• Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race and Being, by M. Shawn Copeland.  A powerful book that asks us to consider the Body of Christ from the perspective of where Christ lived: among marginalized people.  Dr. Copeland records the voices of African American women after their enslavement, bringing to life their dehumanizing experiences.  Dr. Copeland’s book is a call for Christians to take Eucharistic Solidarity seriously, to turn toward each other and transformation.
• “Dear White America” by Professor George Yancy (https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/dear-white-america/) Even though Professor Yancy’s December 2015 article was written with compassion and care, in turn he has received death threats and agonizingly vile responses.  In 2018, Professor Yancy published a book,Backlash, which discusses those responses and the critical need for those of us who are silent and complicit in the ongoing racist systems to dismantle racism.
• White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson:   Louise Erdrich’s blog on the Birchbark Books website discusses the book.  https://birchbarkbooks.com/blog/white-rage   
• My Grandmother’s Hands — Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, by Resmaa Menakem
• White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo

Websites

• Dismantling Racism.org
• Equal Justice Initiative (https://eji.org/racial-justice) with noted author Bryan Stevenson (Just Mercy,) provides helpful information about racial injustices, along with information about The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama
• Minnesota Historical Society: helpful information about three African-Americans who were lynched in Duluth, Minnesota: Duluth Lynchings
• Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice: Resources on Acknowledging Systemic Racism and Unpacking Whiteness
• The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project (pdf here). Additional curriculum resources related to the project from the Pulitzer Center here.

Video and Audio

• “The Fierce Urgency of Now” M. Shawn Copeland’s address at Boston College on the 50^th Anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z34KlYy8Bo
• “Redeeming the Soul of America” with Fr. Bryan Massingale, STD.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhFyaNYkK
• Eula Biss, Let’s Talk about Whiteness https://onbeing.org/programs/eula-biss-lets-talk-about-whiteness-jan2017/
• “Jim Crow of the North” on Minnesota Experience, Twin Cities Public Television