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The last
Art of Race program
of the year
Sold Out Again!
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On November 16th, the CFR hosted its 5th session of the Art of Race at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum. The program, first initiated by the CFR in 2016, provides opportunities to go behind the scenes in the museum's Photographs, Drawings and Prints Department, meet the curators and discuss rarely seen works of art
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Our program director Elon, and the RISD Museum's Mellon Curatorial Fellow, Anita Bateman curated a pop-up exhibition of art and artifacts that explored the intersections of race, gender, class, nationality, status and time. Participants examined a set of three items that were created more than 200 years apart to figure out what tied them all together. Then moved on to images that questioned stereotypes about what do poor or middle class Americans look like, provoked inquiry into the "Back to Africa Movement" of the 1920's and inquired as to whether its still cultural appropriation when performed by people of color.
Intrigued?
The Center for Reconciliation will be scheduling new Art of Race events in the Spring! Stay tuned for more details.
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CFR Receives the Sister Ann Keefe Community and Faith Service Award 2017
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The Center for Reconciliation (CFR) is honored to have been named the 2017 winner of the Sister Ann Keefe Community and Faith Service Award.
Presented by the Reverend Donald Anderson, Executive Director of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, it is awarded to an individual or organization that has worked with the faith community to achieve shared goals. The award was accepted by Elon Cook, the Program Director and Museum Curator for the CFR.
Click
HERE
to watch the presentation and hear her speech.
Sister Ann was a Catholic nun, fierce social justice advocate, and founder of several community organizations in Rhode Island. It is an honor to receive an award named in her honor.
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Envisioning "Race":
A Special Showing
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Thursday, October 19
6-8 pm
Cathedral of St. John
271 North Main Street
Providence
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On October 19th, the CFR hosted a brand new program called Envisioning Race. Senior historian of New England Slavery, Joanne Pope Melish, and Center for Reconciliation Board member, Del Glover, mined their personal collections for objects and documents related to slavery and the slave trade. For example Dr. Melish shared 200 year old money, cowrie shells and a bill of sale all to represent different ways that enslaved people were bought and sold. Mr. Glover displayed a set of chains that may have been used to imprison an enslaved person. Participants had the opportunity to get up close and inspect each object in the midst of the discussion. Did you miss
Envisioning Race
? A second showing will be scheduled in the Spring!
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Martin Luther King Jr.
Program Series
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Between January and March 2018 the Center for Reconciliation will host a four-part series of programs inspired by Dr. King's writings on the "Beloved Community." Join us as we celebrate his work through the perspectives of several local faith leaders, and as expressed through music, and in art.
The first in the series will be,
“Reconciliation as Expressed in Four Faith Traditions."
It will be hosted
Thursday, January 11th at 7:00 PM at Grace Church in Providence
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Tour Guide Training Planned
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Interested in becoming a Center for Reconciliation tour guide?
The Center for Reconciliation will be hosting workshops to train new and experienced guides in the principles of interpreting race and slavery starting in March 2018. Contact Elon@cfrri.org for more details.
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CFR Racial Justice Events Calendar
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The CFR maintains a Racial Justice Events Calendar, showing events around the state that connect with our mission of racial reconciliation. The calendar is updated monthly. To see the calendar,
visit our website
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Racial Reconciliation Work Around Rhode Island
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St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Providence
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On October 16, young people from St. Martin’s Church visited Youth In Action on Broad St. in Providence. Together, the group decided to support Youth In Action youth to lead two discussions on the subject of racism, privilege and oppression, power structures and stereotypes. These discussions will take place on Dec. 3 and 10 from 5-7pm, for young people in grades 8 through 12. "These discussions will help them to start to pull apart the systems of oppression that continue to bind us and what that means. They will also provide youth with the opportunity to delve into how they can best use their own stories to feel empowered and informed enough to start to impact change." said Court King, Program Director of Youth In Action.
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Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Newport and
St. Columba's Chapel, Middletown
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Betsi Dwyer of Emmanuel Church in Newport and Judith Sutphen of St. Columba's Chapel in Middletown presented a 3-part film series called
Race - The Power of an Illusion
in October. The screening took place at Emmanuel Church and was attended by an average of 13 participants. The series, aired by PBS in 2004, investigates the concept of race in science, history, and society and was deemed by all of the participants to be extremely relevant to today's society.. The information in the videos, such as the fact that there is no DNA that determines race or that public policies have institutionalized segregation and racism, were new concepts for many. In future events, Betsi and Judith hope to have deeper discussions about the legacies of slavery and how to act to promote racial justice
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Are you or an organization you are connected with hosting an event related to racial reconciliation? Let us know! We are happy to share the details right here in our newsletter. Please send your name and contact info, the title of the program/event, the date, time, location and a brief description to
INFO@CFRII.ORG
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In this season of giving consider making a donation to the Center for Reconciliation.
Donate online HERE
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