In 1938 Langston Hughes wrote a poem about lynchings. This month it was set to a new set of images by Frank Chi and Terrence Green, showing how pertinent it remains. Please share it.

Stacey Patton has written a lyrical, eloquent, clear piece that is particularly useful for white people who can’t understand why Black women would be angry this summer. Honestly, as a white woman myself, I have a hard time understanding why white people would think it wrong to be angry in the midst of what is going on. But if you need a piece to help someone “hear” more deeply, this is it.

Many white people find themselves confronted by the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and respond by saying “all lives matter,” thoroughly missing the point. It can be hard to help them see what’s wrong with their sentiment, but here’s a quick and helpful explanation to which to point them.

Here’s a powerful set of reflections from kids talking about race:

Many people in dismantling racism contexts do some kind of “privilege walk exercise” as a way to help participants see the diversity of experiences people bring into this work, as well as the systemic nature of racial oppression. Here’s a video which has been widely shared recently, talking about one such exercise. This link includes the list of questions used.

It often is the case that white people have little or no grasp of the history of enslavement in the US. Here’s a powerful essay by a woman who once led tours at a slavery museum, with the set of questions she was often asked.

The Church of God In Christ extends truly deep and sincere condolences to the families of the 9 innocent victims who lost their lives during a Bible study at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church on Wednesday, June 17th in Charleston, South Carolina.

We join with the millions of voices throughout the world in decrying the senseless shooting of worshippers at Mother Emanuel Church. Sadly, we are living in an increasingly perilous time.

We believe this particularly egregious hate crime to be indicative of the bitter fruit that hate always produces. Hate crimes against the African American community are instigated by powerful voices that misinform susceptible individuals about the desperate plight of our community. Instead of honestly addressing the systemic causes, voices of ignorance and hatred attribute problems within the African American community to race. Buying into this lie justifies actions such as we witnessed in Charleston, SC last night.

The tragedy at Mother Emanuel Church is yet another wake up call to the entire African American Church, calling for effectual prayer coupled with sustained action. In this moment, our hope is that the Body of Christ will come together in unity, as never before, to address the violence, the poverty, the racism, the economic disenfranchisement and inequality that is ripping the fabric of our communities and indeed the entire nation apart.

While it is certainly difficult to comprehend such senseless acts of hate and terror, we stand in solidarity with Christians everywhere, believing that the peace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, surpasses all of our understanding. May the hearts of the victims’ families be comforted by this sustaining truth alone

Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr.
Presiding Bishop
Church of God in Christ, Inc

Our hearts are breaking… there are really no words to describe the latest act of terrorism to hit in the US.  But words may be our most powerful immediate response as we gather and organize and respond. Here are some of the pieces circulating:

• Emmanuel AME’s 200 years of staring down racism
• more on Emmanuel’s history
• yet more on Emmanuel’s history
• historical context more broadly 
• more on the 9 people murdered
• the 9 people brutally killed
• on righteous anger
• on racialized violence
• The race war isn’t coming, it’s here (Jennings)
• a prayer for Emmanuel Church
• a prayer from the metropolitan DC AME church
• questions white folk should be asking
• the cost of white comfort
• biblical resources for preaching
• a reminder of resources for preaching
• bearing witness to pain and violence
• talking with children about Charleston
• a call to action from a “lilywhite mama”
• the #CharlestonSyllabus collection
• information on Denmark Vesey and more history of Vesey
• and yet more on Denmark Vesey
• resilience in the face of hatred
• James Fallows’ on President Obama’s eulogy of Sen. Pinckney
• from Rev. Waltrina Middleton
• the WCC’s condemnation of the mass killing
• ELCA statement
• statement from the Dean at Perkins/SMU
• Ella Baker Center statement
• COGIC statement
• 5 sentences that we must read
• Charleston shooter killed mostly Black women
• Blessed are the peacemakers
• Jon Stewart’s response
• Rev. Fakir’s response locally (Twin Cities)
• Juneteenth is for everyone (NYTimes)
• Charleston and the Age of Obama (New Yorker)
• terrorism in Charleston (New Yorker)
• Peter Marty
• call the shooter what he is, a terrorist
• one wildly different way a senator responds…
• “what this cruel war was over…” (Ta Nehisi Coates on the confederate flag issues)

Please remember that you can make contributions to the church directly on their website.

Here’s another useful set of statistics pointing to the ways in which racism is built into our systems, and reinforces biases in ways of which  people are not even conscious.

There has been a lot of really thoughtful reflection emerging these past few days. I’m starting a list here, please add to it as you come upon pieces worth sharing:

• four ways we can wrestle with the Baltimore protests
• a profoundly righteous rage, written in order to survive
• grieving with Baltimore
• from Ferguson to Baltimore
• for every 1000 people killed by a police officer, one officer is convicted
• faith leaders respond to the Baltimore riots
• “rules” for maintaining a racially hostile environment (sarcasm!)
• seeing God in the face of Freddie Gray
• David Simon on Baltimore’s anguish
• How do we seek the peace?
• Searing pictures from Baltimore