The Listen/Learn group of the Diocesan Racial Justice & Reconciliation Team would like to make our suggestion for how your parish can begin discussing racism and white privilege. As we move through this year, from Juneteenth to Juneteenth, we are attempting to offer suggestions to parishes that are diverse. Perhaps your parish has already begun discussing race, so you might be looking for ideas to help you take a deeper dive. Perhaps your parish is looking for that next right step to help your conversation get started. Our hope is that we will offer something for everyone, somewhat like an a la carte menu. If your parish has begun “An American Lament,” which is a 7-week discussion series, or Sacred Ground, a film and reading-based conversation series for small groups, you may not need anything more at this time and that is fine. But if you have not yet dipped your toes into the discussion of race you may find one of our suggestions helpful.
For September, in honor of our students returning to school we would like to offer two youth-friendly suggestions. The first is the graphic novel series by the late Congressman John Lewis entitled March. These graphic novels are a unique way to begin the conversation with your youth, but do not be fooled into thinking that as adults they will not teach you anything. Our second suggestion is the book This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell. Again, while billed as a book for young adults, it contains many valuable lessons for any age.
