EVENTS TO GET INVOLVED:

• KCMO Community Health Improvement Listening Sessions - The Kansas City Health Commission is hosting sessions for resident input on key health issues to inform the KC Health Improvement Plan Committee of important topics and outcomes.  These community sessions will allow the Health Commission to update the key health issues the City is facing. It will take strong white allied voices from the Northland for change to happen.  Kendra reminds us that being silent is being part of the problem of racism, and that this is an opportunity to demand our tax dollars purchase equity for all.

• Video of August 10 Liberty City Council Meeting - Hear the voices of community members discussing the Confederate statue in the Fairview Cemetery.  Click on the video link next to the August 10 meeting. 

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LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AND INFORMATION:

• Clay County African American Legacy, Inc. - Organization honoring the accomplishments of outstanding African Americans of Clay County.  The primary focus of the organization is improving the quality of life for its citizens by educating adults, and especially youth, of the cultural diversity that exists in the Northland.

• African American Historical Sites in Liberty, Missouri - Download a PDF of this brochure put together by the Garrison School Cultural Center.

• Redlining maps for Kansas City metro - Like so many other government agencies during the New Deal, the Home Owners' Loan Corporation shaped Americans' lives and livelihoods profoundly during and after the Great Depression of the 1930s, with impacts on neighborhood investment and racial diversity that persists today.

• Editorial by the KCMO School Superintendent in the July 26 Kansas City Star newspaper.  Marjorie Yates took a picture and shares it with us, saying, "I found it surprising and insightful."

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BOOKS, MOVIES, VIDEOS, ETC:

• Book:  My Vanishing Country: a Memoir by Bakari Sellers - Recommended by Louise Ahrens

• Book:  White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo - Recommended by Louise Ahrens

• Movie:  Hidden Figures - Tells the true story of Katherine Jonson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, brilliant African-American women working at NASA who served as the brains behind the launch into orbit of astronaut John Glenn, a stunning achievement that turned around the Space Race. The visionary trio crossed all gender and racial line and inspired generations. - Recommended by Pastor Mike

  • Book:  Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly - also available as a book

• Book:  Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson - A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. - Recommended by Karen Orrill

  • Movie:  Just Mercy - The movie is based on the book and tells of a black man in Alabama who is wrongfully convicted of murder and placed on death row.

• Interesting note:  John Newton, author of the hymn "Amazing Grace" spend part of his life as a slave trader before conversion and writing the hymn.  His licentious and tumul­tuous sailing life included joining his father at sea when he was eleven, attempted desertion, captivity by a slave trader, and being a captain of a slave ship himself.  Several factors contributed his decision to give up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, became an ardent abolitionist. - Shared by Marjorie Yates

  • Movie:  Amazing Grace - Tells the inspiring story of William Wilberforce and his passion and perseverance to pass a law ending the slave trade in the late 18th century.  Several friends, including Wilberforce's minister, a reformed slave ship captain who penned the beloved hymn Amazing Grace, urge him to see the cause through. - Recommended by Pastor Mike (who is willing to loan you the DVD)

• Documentary:  13th by Ava DuVernay - available only on Netflix - It is one hour 40 minutes in length and focuses on the history of the justice system since passage of the 13th amendment and how changes in laws have led to the disproportionate number of blacks in prison in the United States. - Recommended by Karen Orrill

• Youtube Video:  White Privilege 101: Unequal Justice Under The Law - A Timeline Of Injustice In America - Karen Orrill shares this video saying, "This YouTube is less than four minutes and lists laws and policies throughout the history of the United States where other than whites have been marginalized."

• Book:  Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving - Pastor Mike recommends this book that has helped him better understand the concept of white privilege, including many assumptions "white people" unconsciously make and the opportunities they unknowingly take for granted.

• Book:  Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US by Lenny Duncan - Formerly incarcerated, Lenny Duncan is a black preacher in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), who sees a direct line between the church's lack of diversity and the church's lack of vitality.

• Living Lutheran Article:  How to talk to kids about race - Talking about race and racism begins with you. Focus less on getting it right and realize that this is an ongoing journey.

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RESOURCES FROM THE ELCA AND THE WIDER CHURCH

• ELCA Anti-Racism Pledge - Pledge to commit to study, prayer and action to become an anti-racist individual in an anti-racist church.  More than just this pledge, this website links to many other resources, including information about the church's work to dismantle racial injustice and deepen relationships.

• Declaration of the ELCA to People of African Descent - Statement and its explanation by our church body formally apologizing to people of African descent for the church's historical complicity in slavery and its enduring legacy of racism in the United States and globally.  We lament the white church’s failure to work for the abolition of slavery and the perpetuation of racism in this church. We confess, repent and repudiate the times when this church has been silent in the face of racial injustice.

• ELCA Social Statement - Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture - This study resource adopted by the church in 1993 expresses the ELCA’s calling to celebrate culture and ethnicity by confronting racism, engaging in public leadership, witnessing and deliberating on these matters, and advocating for justice and fairness for all people.

• Racial justice posts on the ELCA Blog - Articles, reflections, and stories related to race in America.

• National Council of Churches Anti-Racism Resources - Over the years, NCC member communions have developed educational resources and tools fitting their context to further the struggle for racial justice and equity.  Here you can find a library of materials for study, discussion, analysis, strategizing, and organizing.