RACIAL JUSTICE & RECONCILIATION
The leadership of St. Thomas's recognizes that the legacy of the sin of racism continues in this nation. For several years, St. Thomas's has been endeavoring to understand more fully how white supremacy and anti-blackness have shaped American life and institutions, and how ingrained patterns and systems continue to harm black Americans.
The St. Thomas’s Racial Justice & Reconciliation group has identified three key actions and goals toward addressing this historic sin:
We are still discerning how we might fully lend our strength as a community to the fight for justice. Meanwhile, if you are interested in these issues but need help getting started, below is a list of resources that we have found helpful.
Online Resources
"So You Want to Talk About Race" - video talk by Ijeoma Oluo (her book, So You Want to Talk About Race, also gives a basic introduction to the concept of white privilege and the vocabulary of race)
“The Case for Reparations” - article in The Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Books
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown (see the author's discussion guide)
The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Dear Church: A Lover Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US by Lenny Duncan
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo and Michael Eric Dyson
Waking Up White by Debbie Irving
Third Reconstruction: How a Moral Movement is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear by the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and The Justice of God by Kelly Brown Douglas
The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race by Willie James Jennings
From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America by Elizabeth Hinton
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Bastards of the Reagan Era by Reginald Dwayne Betts
Felon: Poems by Reginald Dwayne Betts
Revolution of Values: Reclaiming Public Faith for the Common Good by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Who Governs? Democracy & Power in an American City by Robert A. Dahl and Douglas W. Rae (a book about New Haven)
City: Urbanism and Its End by Douglas W. Rae (also looks at New Haven’s history)
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Films
13th (a film by Ava DuVernay)
Just Mercy (a film by Destin Daniel Cretton)
Selma (a film by Ava DuVernay)
A Huey P. Newton Story (a film by Spike Lee)
Additional Links
The Episcopal Church in Connecticut: Advocacy, Racial Justice & Reconciliation
The St. Thomas’s Racial Justice & Reconciliation group has identified three key actions and goals toward addressing this historic sin:
- St. Thomas's will invite parishioners, neighbors, and friends to attend periodic conversations about books, poems, and films that address racial injustice.
- St. Thomas's will actively seek to network, partner, and ally with communities of color who inhabit radicalized spaces.
- St. Thomas's will develop and offer church space for workshops, lectures, and local initiatives that train and equip people for anti-racist action.
We are still discerning how we might fully lend our strength as a community to the fight for justice. Meanwhile, if you are interested in these issues but need help getting started, below is a list of resources that we have found helpful.
Online Resources
"So You Want to Talk About Race" - video talk by Ijeoma Oluo (her book, So You Want to Talk About Race, also gives a basic introduction to the concept of white privilege and the vocabulary of race)
“The Case for Reparations” - article in The Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Books
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown (see the author's discussion guide)
The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Dear Church: A Lover Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US by Lenny Duncan
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo and Michael Eric Dyson
Waking Up White by Debbie Irving
Third Reconstruction: How a Moral Movement is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear by the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and The Justice of God by Kelly Brown Douglas
The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race by Willie James Jennings
From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America by Elizabeth Hinton
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Bastards of the Reagan Era by Reginald Dwayne Betts
Felon: Poems by Reginald Dwayne Betts
Revolution of Values: Reclaiming Public Faith for the Common Good by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Who Governs? Democracy & Power in an American City by Robert A. Dahl and Douglas W. Rae (a book about New Haven)
City: Urbanism and Its End by Douglas W. Rae (also looks at New Haven’s history)
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Films
13th (a film by Ava DuVernay)
Just Mercy (a film by Destin Daniel Cretton)
Selma (a film by Ava DuVernay)
A Huey P. Newton Story (a film by Spike Lee)
Additional Links
The Episcopal Church in Connecticut: Advocacy, Racial Justice & Reconciliation
