The GraceCity Collection on Racial Reconciliation – “always growing in resources”

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Dear GraceCity Family,

GraceCity, the first ship of enslaved Africans arrived near Port Comfort in the English colony of Virginia in August of 1619. Fluency with the subsequent 400 years through the lens of Black scholars and artists, helps all of us see the world through the eyes and walk the world in the shoes, of our Black sisters and brothers. You can reposition your starting point.

Since my teenage years I have been blessed to read such tomes, memoirs and essays as “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, “The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin, and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These classics and many more formed my earliest foundation around race, and I recommend them to you.

Immediately below you’ll find my reading/listening list this past year in Black history and sociology, along with great fiction from several Black authors. I am grateful for the education I’ve found here. Further on you’ll find more extensive curated bibliographies from various friends of GraceCity. Read, listen and watch. All these we offer for your reconciliation education in the years ahead. The list will keep growing. 

You can reposition your starting point.

The important thing is to begin. 

Pastor Bob

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Non-Fiction (Pastor Bob / 2019-20)

“The NYT 1619 Project” –  (collected essays – google it and start here if in doubt)

“How To Be an Antiracist” – Ibram X. Kendi

“Stamped from the Beginning” – Ibram X. Kendi

“Be the Bridge” – Latasha Morrison

“Between the World and Me” – Ta-Nehisi Coates

“Just Mercy” – Bryan Stevenson

“The Souls of Black Folk” – W.E.B. Du Bois

“Men We Reaped” – Jesmyn Ward

Fiction  (Pastor Bob / 2019-20)

“Homegoing” – Yaa Gyasi

“Parable of the Sower” & “Parable of the Talents” – Octavia Butler 

“The Bluest Eye” – Toni Morrison

“The Hate U Give” – Angie Thomas

Helpful Videos:

1. Ibram Kendi, author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America and How to Be an Anti-Racist, May 2020 Ted Talk on anti-racism: https://www.ted.com/talks/ibram_x_kendi_how_to_build_an_antiracist_world

2. Dorothy Roberts, author of Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty First Century, 2016 Ted Talk on race-based medicine: https://www.ted.com/talks/dorothy_roberts_the_problem_with_race_based_medicine?language=en

3. Khalil Gibram Muhammad, author of The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, on education and learning from history, 2012 Children’s Defense Fund presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIJL_6QYlvY

4. Khalil Gibram Muhammad on crime, interview: https://www.vox.com/2020/6/6/21280643/police-brutality-violence-protests-racism-khalil-muhammad 

5. Sandy Darrity, co-author with Kirsten Mullen of From here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-first Century, 2019 C-Span conversation: https://www.c-span.org/video/?458905-4/washington-journal-william-darity-discusses-reparations-campaign-2020

6. Mindy Fulliove, author of Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What We Can Do about It, Ted talk – “Four Centuries of the Black Experience in America”: https://www.ted.com/talks/mindy_fullilove_the_ecology_of_inequality

7. Angela Simms, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Urban Studies, Barnard College at Columbia University, “The Backstory to Racism in America”: 2020 lecture at Renaissance Church, Harlem, NYC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m804DB4aGjM&feature=youtu.be&mc_cid=7946adf82e&mc_eid=2a7b346e85

8. Phil Vischer, Media Innovator, Creator of Veggie Tales, “Race in America”: 2020 Holy Post Vlog.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGUwcs9qJXY

Other curations (from friends and friends of friends of GC)

Books

Articles

Scientific Literature

LISTEN

WATCH

FOLLOW

PUT IT TO ACTION

A Conservative View 

Non-FictionDiscrimination and Disparities – Thomas Sowell
My Grandfather’s Son – Clarence Thomas
The Content of Our Character – Shelby Steele
Winning the Race – John McWho

GC Happenings 6/8 – The Next-Gens Need YOU!

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Graduation Cards for DHHS Students
June 18th deadline

Graduations are grand community events where mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, neighbors and friends gather to celebrate young men and women and proudly exclaim, “That’s my baby!”  While restrictions on gathering size are changing the look of these ceremonies, we want the Seniors of Digital Harbor High School to move forward with the same level of love and encouragement.  Therefore, we are looking to collect 250 graduation cards that express to these students that we love them, we’re proud of them, and we cannot wait to see them change the world for the better.  Will you help us reach our goal? You can print the attached card and write your on note on it or get a few of your own cards and drop off by Thursday, June 18th to either our Southside location Kristen.Hubbard@gracecitybaltimore.orgor Eastside location marylou.gradisek@gracecitybaltimore.org 




SHARPkids Graduation Caravan Parade
Saturday, June 13, 2020 – 12:00pm

Despite this difficult season of quarantine due to COVID-19, our SHARPkids family has so much to celebrate.  At the end of the school year we have 4 rising middle schoolers, 5 rising high schoolers, and 2 graduating high school seniors!  That is a VERY BIG DEAL, and we want to celebrate them in a big way.  So, GC family, help us make these scholars feel special by joining us for a “Graduation Caravan” to drive through the Sharp-Leadenhall community on Saturday, June 13th.  We would love to have 20 cars in our caravan decked out with balloons, congratulations signs, and candy and ready to make some noise for these amazing kids and families to send them off to their next steps!  To sign up to be in the caravan, please click on the needs request link below. Once you are signed up, you will receive an email with more information. If you have any questions please email lil.gurney@gracecitybaltimore.org.

To sign up follow the link:
https://gcbaltimore.ccbchurch.com/need_detail.php?need_id=212




Wednesday Word
Pastor Corey Barnes & GC Erin Lonon / GC Youth Director
Wednesday June 10, 2020 – 12:00pm noon Tune in to Facebook Live on Wednesdays at noon for a midweek recharge with the Pastors. This week’s guest is GraceCity’s Youth Director, Erin Lonon.  Currently working as a physical therapist and center manager, Erin has always had a servant’s heart and a passion for helping young women and men to know who Jesus is and to find their identity in him!  Erin has been GraceCity’s Youth Director for the past four years. Tune in to hear more of her story and how a generational commitment to our youth leads to stronger communities.




GC Youth Trivia Night
Thursday June 11, 2020 – 6:00pmAre you smarter than a middle schooler?  Let’s see how your trivia knowledge stacks up against GraceCity’s youth group, the Harbor on Thursday, June 11th at 6pm. As the African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child,” our youth need all of us! If you’ve been considering volunteering with them, this is a great way to get to know the GC youth!You will need to download Kahoot! https://kahoot.com/Email Erin Lonon with questions erin.lonon@gmail.com
To join trivia night click the zoom link below.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87272375308?pwd=ODA3WXluckQ0eWlYNWdiL1ZpS2ZZdz09