There are many excellent resource lists about racism, racial justice and reconcilliation out there. This list for our Grandview Church community aims to be a concise place to start, and to focus on the place of the Christian church in pursuing racial justice and reconcilliation.
Articles
- Just Because Your Door is Open Doesn’t Mean I’m Welcome Here, Kathy Khang
- This article, in Christianity Today, addresses the lack of racial diversity in churches.
- Guilty Roots: Owning our Ever Present Past, Terry LeBlanc (in CBM Mosaic)
- This is an article in a Canadian Baptist magazine (our denomination!). LeBlanc pushes his readers to not exonerate themselves from the wrongs of the past, but see reconciliation as an on-going work to participate in.
- We Need a Pentecost, Keri L. Day
- This is an article that uses the story of Pentecost to envision a way forward in the context of a society that is intensely divided.
Videos
- Racial Justice: A Way Forward, Dr. Soong Chan Rah
- In this short video, Rah discusses how biblical lament relates to racial justice. Rah offers a challenge to listen to voices who have suffered the most from oppression.
- "Whiteness" Isn't European Ethnicity, "Race Has Always Been A Matter Of Geography", Willie Jennings
- This is a short video, which is a clip of a longer talk. In it Jennings discusses some of his perspective on Whiteness, and how ideas of race are linked to geography (this is near the center of his whole theological project; see his book below).
- Black Lives Matter: Is the Church Complicit?
- This is a panel discussion, with panelists from Great Britain and the US. It’s a little longer, but stimulating discussion of a difficult question.
Books
- Introduction to First Nations Ministry, Cheryl Bear
- An overview of First Nations theology, which includes the Indigeonous views of Creator, the Holy Spirit, the Incarnation, a theology of land, and a theology of missions.
- Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race, Willie James Jennings
- This is a big and academic work looking at where the modern conception of race came from, and the role of the church and theology in creating that conception. It’s considered a classic, even though it’s fairly recent.
- How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity, and the Journey Towards Racial Reconciliation, Jemar Tisby
- This work was published after the BLM movement in 2020, so it’s in pretty close proximity to our current moment. Tisby blends history, theology, and sociology to help resource Christians wanting to move towards racial reconciliation.
- Cracking Open White Identity Towards Transformation, Canadian Eecumenical Anti-Racism Network Examines White Identity, Power and Privilege, The Canadian Council of Churches
- A helpful resource book with activities and readings aimed at tackling white privilege and moving towards racial justice and reconciliation.
More Resource Lists
- Fellowship Center for Racial Reconciliation
- There is a link to a downloadable PDF for a “Starter Kit” for racial reconciliation work. This “kit” was created by a church in California.
- Anti-Racism Resource List (Cedar Park Church)
- This is a resource list created by a church in Delta. It is similar to, but more robust than, the list here.
- Guide to Anti-Racist Books and Resources: The Church & Racism
- This is a big list of books exploring topics of racial justice and the church; it was created by a university library in the USA.