FEBRUARY 2021 RACIAL JUSTICE CHALLENGE MONTH
SPONSORED BY THE RACIAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WILMETTE
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Every Monday in February, an email will go out to the congregation with resources and links to a particular category/theme related to Racial Justice.
We present this month of challenges as only one of many steps on a long journey to raise our own Awareness, build Relationships and grow in our Commitment as a Church to dismantling the sin of racism and hastening the day when justice will truly be equal for everyone.
We hope you will interact with the resources presented each day, or as your schedule allows.
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Monday, February 22, 2021
Poetry, Prose, and Essays
Written more than a century ago, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” holds a powerful place in American history. While the hymn is known as the Black National Anthem, it is also a history lesson, a rallying cry, and a pledge of unity as people work toward equality and justice for all people.
Click here to learn more about the history and cultural impact of this song and to hear a range of voices singing this beautiful song.
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Tuesday, February 23, 2021
History We Didn't Learn in School
The Tuskegee Airmen
African American pilots were not allowed to fly for the U.S. military in World War I. Even after the Harlem Hellfighters of that war proved the courage and ability of Black soldiers in combat, a 1925 Army War College classified report concluded among other things that the intelligence of African Americans “was lower than that of whites” and that they lacked courage, were superstitious, and were dominated by moral and character weaknesses. Others - African Americans and white Americans - believed differently and advocated for change. Please click here to learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen.
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Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Family, Kids, and Youth
Reading for Racial Justice – Focus on Fiction with non-white protagonists.
“Being intentional about the books we choose to read with our children can help them identify with all kinds of people and help counteract the damaging message that whiteness is normative.” - Lindley Traynor, Director of Children and Family Ministry.
Click here to read Lindley’s message about the importance of reading with and for our children and how to develop our home libraries with a focus on diversity.
Click here for this week’s recommended titles. All choices center on Black characters and almost all are the work of Black authors and illustrators.
Youth bring a powerful voice to Racial Justice activism.
Click below for a weekly link to an article about teens working for racial justice.
These stories will also be shared by Youth Director, Scott McElhenie, at the Tower youth gatherings this month. Please click this link to access the article.
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Thursday, February 25, 2021
Today's Leading African American Voices
Ibram Kendi is one of America’s foremost historians and leading anti-racist scholars. He has become one of the country’s most in-demand commentators on racism and is the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. In 2016, Kendi won the National Book Award for non-fiction with his book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. At 36, he was the youngest author ever to win the prize. Since then, he has published several more books including How to be an Anti-Racist in 2019 and Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America 1619-2019 which was just released this month. Kendi was included in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. To learn more about this leading anti-racist scholar please click here.
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Friday, February 26, 2021
Recent Accounts of Racial Inequities
Nearly 87 years ago in May 1954, Brown vs. Board of Education determined that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, celebrating a defining moment in US history. But the promise of that court decision remains elusive. A new report from UCLA’s Civil Rights Project shows that, since 1988, the number of “intensely segregated minority schools” (those that enroll 90 percent to 100 percent non-white students) has more than tripled. Today, the pandemic continues to exacerbate divides along race and class lines, leaving behind low-income students—disproportionately students of color—who may lack the necessary technology to engage in remote learning. Please continue to learn more about the disparities that exist in our current educational system…most of which pre-date the current pandemic. Please click this link to learn more about the many issues around this important subject.
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Saturday, February 27, 2021
Call to Action
Subscribe to an email that gives a voice to the many diverse experiences in the African-American community.
Anti-Racism Daily is a daily free email subscription that acts as a clearinghouse for critical current events related to racism and systemic oppression. It pairs current events with historical context and provides personal reflections on the persistence of racism in the U.S. Included is a Take Action section where you can participate in the call for equity and justice.
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Sunday, February 28, 2021
Grounded in The Word
Our final challenge for the month brings us back to the biblical and theological foundations of this crucial ministry. Dismantling racism is essential to the gospel, for it breaks God’s heart, as does anything that separates us from God’s vision of love and peace and justice and flourishing for all. Like last week’s Sunday challenge, we’ve selected another powerful excerpt from the PC(USA)’s antiracism policy adopted in 2016, “Facing Racism: A Vision of the Intercultural Community.” Read in click this link to grapple with more what the Bible and church tradition have to say that invite us into this deep and urgent work.
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