Mary Had a Baby: An Advent Study Based on African American Spirituals

This Advent season, Morning Blend will be reading Mary Had a Baby by Cheryl Kirk-Duggan and Marilyn E. Thornton. I got my book already, and it's time for you to order yours!

From the Cokesbury website:

"If the rousing lyrics and rhythm of “Go Tell it on the Mountain” are what stirs your soul, this is the Advent study that will speak to you. Each of the four sessions of Mary Had a Baby corresponds with the four weeks of Advent and features a Christmas Spiritual. You’ll listen to the music, examine related Scripture, and discuss biblical, historical, and contextual themes..." 

 About the authors (from bookshop.org): 

Marilyn E. Thornton (Master of Divinity, Vanderbilt) has degrees in music from Howard University and from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. She is the lead editor for Abingdon Press's Bible study series based on spirituals, the songbook Zion Still Sings: For Every Generation, and VBS programs. She has taught at Howard, Tennessee State, and Trevecca Nazarene universities and serves as Campus Minister of the Wesley Foundation at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan is Professor of Theology and Women's Studies and Director of Women's Studies at Shaw University Divinity School in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has authored many books, including Mary Had a Baby and Undivided Soul, both published by Abingdon Press.

Meetings will be virtual on Wednesday mornings November 25th-December 16th.

 

BTB101

This fall, Morning Blend will be following along with a series of virtual session offered by Be the Bridge called BTB101. Here's the description from the website: 

This class is designed for white people who want to learn more about how to be a racial bridge-builder in the church and in the world. You will be guided through initial learning, useful definitions, and self-reflection. This is a highly recommended pathway for white people who want to join Be the Bridge Discussion Groups.

The class will meet via Zoom on Thursday evenings, October 1, 8, 15, & 22 from 6:30 PM EST - 8:30 PM EST. However, classes will be recorded and you will be able to watch at your convenience. The price is $25 per person for the instruction and $10 for the cost of the guide. The 101 guide is available for purchase here: https://bethebridge.myshopify.com/products/be-the-bridge-101-foundational-principles-every-white-bridge-builder-needs-to-understand-pdf-dowload.

We will be discussing the four BTB101 sessions on Wednesdays October 14th-November 4th via virtual chat.

Christian Community Development Coalition - October 1st-3rd, 2020

Beth recommended this virtual gathering: https://www.ccdacollective.org/

From Beth: 

I attended a few years ago when Minneapolis hosted. I've been impressed with this group over all. 

There's a couple of park Ave connections, speakers including Efrim Smith and Cecilia Williams.

  

My fb feed ad for it showed speakers of which almost all are BIPOC. 

Austin Channing Brown & Glennon Doyle on the verdict in the Breonna Taylor case

From Amy T. :

Hi friends,

I wanted to share this Instagram Live conversation between Austin Channing Brown and Glennon Doyle following the verdict of Breonna Taylor. It is filled with truth and wisdom and power so I wanted to share it with you all. I am not sure how it will share given that it is on Instagram and if you don’t have Instagram it may not work. If you don’t follow Austin Channing Brown or know of her work, please do yourself a favor and check her out. She is brilliant. Glennon Doyle is another powerhouse author and speaker that I can’t get enough of. I hope this link works! If it doesn’t and you have Instagram, it is posted on Glennon Doyle’s page.

See this Instagram video by @glennondoyle: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFf9RM4lh8J/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Love ya’ll!

Virtual 2020 Distinguished Carlson Lecture: An Evening with Prof. Ibram X. Kendi - September 30th

This info came from June. This is a virtual lecture, and it's free for those who sign up! 

https://www.hhh.umn.edu/event/virtual-2020-distinguished-carlson-lecture-evening-prof-ibram-x-kendi

From the website:

Speaker(s)

Ibram X. Kendi, Angela Davis

September 30, 2020 - 6:00 pm CDT

Virtual Event 

The Humphrey School of Public Affairs is pleased to welcome Professor Ibram X. Kendi, prominent scholar and author of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller How to Be an Antiracist, as the next speaker in its Distinguished Carlson Lecture series.

Kendi will discuss his book as well as his groundbreaking career advocating for equity and antiracism in conversation with Angela Davis, host of MPR News with Angela Davis, on September 30, 2020 at 6 p.m. CDT. The event will be presented virtually.

Go to the link above to register.

 

Beth Moore on Latasha Morrison’s BTB podcast

Since our group has used some Beth Moore materials, ya'll might find this interesting. Thanks to Arlette for the link:

https://bethebridge.com/episode-8-faith-leaders-raising-their-voices-with-beth-moore/

From the podcast website: 

"This episode brings together Be the Bridge founder Latasha Morrison and bestselling author, evangelist, and Bible teacher Beth Moore as they talk about racial reconciliation in the Christian faith. Beth details her own experiences speaking against injustice, dealing with the backlash, and waking up to her responsibilities as a faith leader. She also gives some insight on how Christians can become bold reconcilers who move beyond head knowledge of Christ into heart knowledge and action."

Politics & Devotion: Dear Evangelicals, I’m tired of sitting in the balcony

 This article was recommended by Nora. Thanks, Nora!

https://marybutlercoleman.com/2020/08/24/politics-devotion-dear-evangelicals-im-tired-of-sitting-in-the-balcony/

Diversity in the Church - Advanced Ministry Lectureship Series: Christina Cleveland

This video is recommended by Be the Bridge. Arlette shared the link a few weeks ago. Thank you!

https://youtu.be/xMRqZjZzRxw

From the YouTube summary: 

"The Advanced Ministry Lectureship series are talks given by guest lecturers of the Doctor of Ministry & Master's in Applied Theology programs for local area ministry leaders. Dr. Cleveland discusses the value of diversity and how it can be pursued. Dr. Cleveland is passionate about overcoming cultural divisions in groups. She is associate professor of reconciliation studies at Bethel University."

Racism Resources - Podcasts

From Arlette: 

Bert & I just started listening to this podcast. Really thought provoking.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/nice-white-parents-serial.amp.html

The website for the above podcast says: "From Serial and The New York Times: “Nice White Parents” looks at the 60-year relationship between white parents and the public school down the block."

From Beth:

I also listen to integrated schools podcast. (Aimed at white privileged parents). There's a local chapter for integrated schools as well.  

https://integratedschools.org/podcasts/

Racism Resources - Books for all ages, Movies, Articles for parents

Tesha passed along the following list:

Speaking of resources, here is a book list to talk about racism with kids. It's compiled by a white woman:

https://readaloudrevival.com/series/00-race/

Here's a book list of books with diverse characters from the same woman, Read Aloud Revival's Sarah Mackenzie:

https://readaloudrevival.com/series/01-diversity/

St. Paul Public Library has put together some great book lists, as well:

Graphic Novels about race:

https://sppl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1170754297/1667103409

Black Lives Matter: 25 books for teens

https://sppl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1170754297/1667104569

Picture Books To Celebrate Blackness

https://sppl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1130695727_sppl_youthservices/1663095209_picture_books_to_celebrate_blackness

Junteenth Resources for the Whole Family

https://sppl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1130695727_sppl_youthservices/1652671219_juneteenth_resources_for_the_whole_family

100 Best Black Movies

https://sppl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1135422437/1661142690

Books about Hope and Resilience

https://sppl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1130695727_sppl_youthservices/1647908239_books_about_hope_and_resilience

Talking with Children and Teens about Racism

https://sppl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1170754297/1647844589

Teen Books on Racism

https://sppl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1130695727/1647282949

Racism Resources - Reconstruction Era & Forgiveness

Arlette sent the following links related to our Be the Bridge discussions over the past few weeks: 

PBS series about the Reconstruction Era: https://www.pbs.org/video/reconstruction-extended-trailer-pkhs21/

 

Forgiving Her Son's Killer: 'Not An Easy Thing': https://www.npr.org/2011/05/20/136463363/forgiving-her-sons-killer-not-an-easy-thing

 

Keep learning!

Racism Resources

As Morning Blend has been reading through Be the Bridge this summer, we've been compiling a list of additional things to read and learn. 

Pat Clark wanted to share this article about racism in Minneapolis housing: https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2019/02/with-covenants-racism-was-written-into-minneapolis-housing-the-scars-are-still-visible/

Beth sent us all this review of the book Jesus and John Wayne: 

Hey all my historian prof friend wrote a review of Kirsten DuMez's Jesus and John Wayne:

I finished Kristin DuMez' _Jesus and John Wayne_. It's accessible to a general audience and I *highly* recommend it as a way to understand evangelicals' multi-decade love affair with John Wayne characters--portraits of domineering and pugnacious manhood, coupled with demure femininity. I wrote a short review below.

The book is both a history of this love affair with "complementarianism" (the idea that men and women should be different and complementary, and men should be in charge), and a history of how evangelicals have actualized these prescriptive gender roles through foreign policy and narratives about foreign policy. I've honestly read a very large fraction of the books published on the topic of the Religious Right, and the role of gender in empire-building. But, this book is original in a lot of key ways. It does so much vital work to illustrate how the War in Iraq actualized the rhetoric of pugnacious manhood that had been stirring among evangelical men for decades. She shows how this prescriptive literature of manhood and womanhood had consequences: it really hurt a lot of innocent people, especially Muslims in the period after 9/11. DuMez painfully illustrates, as she puts it in the subtitle, "How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation." From the start, she defines evangelicals by the cultural products (books, decor, leisure, etc) that they consume. In the end, she reminds us that evangelicals have been deeply entrapped by cultural prescriptions that are not at all indigeous to the Christian faith.

The book left me really upset at the ways evangelicals have contributed toward the suffering of Muslim Americans, and a whole lot of innocent people, especially Muslims, abroad. This wasn't new to me, of course. But, I never quite contemplated how evangelical gender complementarianism could provide the springboard for such real expressions of violence (not only, but especially through the American military). DuMez argues that Ronald Reagan and George W Bush were fore-runners to Trump in their "Big and Strong!" foreign policy initiatives and ability to get evangelicals to vote as a block. Trump, she argues, carries on this tradition of rebelling against both gender equality/sameness and the historic foreign policy initiatives that emphasize the "feminine" virtues of peace, alliances, and diplomacy.

 Tesha sent the following links: 

Here are the resources from the United Methodist Church site - they have quite a bit on racism right now, with a conversation guide and tips for talking with kids. There is also the Town Hall video link from July 1 that included a bunch of great leaders.

www.umc.org/

https://www.umc.org/en/how-we-serve/advocating-for-justice/racial-justice/united-against-racism


Here’s the direct link to the town hall:

https://www.umc.org/en/content/dismantling-racism-town-hall


Also - Here is the link to Denise Pike's stuff on Mapping Prejudice. She put together an art/history display for the Hennepin History Museum at one point, called Owning Up. It may be at Sabathani now.


http://designatmnblog.com/2018/09/owning-up-racism-and-housing-in-minneapolis/

Here's her own site:


https://denisepike.wordpress.com/
https://denisepike.wordpress.com/portfolio/


The Mapping Prejudice site:

www.mappingprejudice.org

Arlette sent this out: 

Here is an interview that Kerri Miller did yesterday on MPR with Kristin Kobes Du Mez, the author of "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation."

https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2020/07/28/the-impact-of-white-evangelicals-on-us-politics

If I missed anything that you all would like to share, feel free to share in the comments or send me an email. I'll make another post as we add more things. 

 

 

 

Be the Bridge

This summer, Morning Blend is reading through Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison. Morrison founded the organization Be the Bridge in 2016, with a mission to promote racial reconciliation and unity in America, and especially in the church. She is also a Certified Trainer in Cultural Intelligence and Unconscious Bias. 

Be the Bridge's website is packed with resources, and is an excellent place for those who are getting started on a journey toward racial reconciliation or those who have been on that journey for a while: https://bethebridge.com/. Through the organization's Facebook page, our group also found a quick 5-day study by Latasha Morrison, which our group completed before our Be the Bridge books arrived. That study can be found here: https://my.bible.com/reading-plans/16910-the-bridge-a-5-day-youversion-by-latasha-morrison

From the website about the book, Be the Bridge: 

This power-packed guide helps readers deepen their understanding of historical factors and present realities, equipping them to participate in the ongoing dialogue and to serve as catalysts for righteousness, justice, healing, transformation, and reconciliation.