ORC Week 5: Cancelled. BLM, George Floyd, Racism
Week 5 of the One Room Challenge came at the most inopportune time: in the aftermath of a tragic event: the death of George Floyd by the knee of a police officer. His death, along with several others before him (Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin) brought to light many hard, but real, truths about people of color and our beautiful black community. For good reason, this brought all other irrelevant activities to a halt, including the One Room Challenge. We stopped to recognize, grieve with and reflect on the weight of it all. Why did it have to come to this?
Uriah and I thought we’d take a moment to share this quick post to express our empathy with the black and POC community and tell you our hearts are broken as well. As believers, we recognize that this world is so broken: filled with people who need deliverance. That said, it is not an excuse or what has been happening. We all can take steps toward restoration, the pursuit of justice, and a system that sees all people as equally valuable and beautiful, no matter their skin color. This starts with white people educating themselves to acknowledge and legitimize what most of the black and POC community lives with.
We curated a short list of resources (not exhaustive) to further this effort. Keep in mind that me and Uriah share a Biblical worldview, so some of these recommendations will also be Christian based and some will not. We look forward to adding these books to our reading list for the year.
*None of the following links in this post are affiliate links
Movies:
- Just Mercy
- 13th
- Malcolm X
Books:
- White Fragility
- One Blood
- Removing the Stain of Racism from the Southern Baptist Convention: Diverse African American and White Perspectives
- “Racism without Racists: Colorblind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States” by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
Educational Articles / Blog Posts
Articles / Blog Posts r/t Parenting :
Local / Groups:
- Raleigh Raw – specifically Conscious Conversations
- Undivided – on the North American Missions Board
We fully recognize that we don’t have all the right things to say nor all the answers, but do see that there is a problem. This is where we are starting our journey in practicing anti-racism: in our own home.
If you arrived here hoping to find the One Room Challenge series for 2020 or want to catch up, here is
