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Anti-racism resources

1. "The Two Faces of Racism" - Zenebe Abebe

2. "The 1619 project" is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to re-frame the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative." A free account is needed to access the articles and podcasts.

3. Book list compiled by Brad Yoder. Books marked with an asterisk are particularly recommended by Barbara and Zenebe Abebe and/or Brad Yoder and Jeanne Smucker. Brad has all of these books and is glad to lend them.

 

4. Documentaries ordered for our church library include:

  • “Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965” (14 parts)

  • “Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise” (4 parts)

  • “Race: The Power of an Illusion” (3 parts)

 

5. Attucks: The School That Opened a City - A two-hour-long documentary about Indianapolis' own Crispus Attucks High School that now houses a small museum to Indianapolis African American history. The documentary can also be viewed by subscribers on PBS.

 

6. "Race: The Power of an Illusion." Available as e-video or DVD (Indianapolis Public Library)

7. "History of Redlining--Indianapolis IN"

8. Indiana Michigan Conference anti-racism resources

Books

  • Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, Random House, 2010

  • Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents, Random House, 2020

  • Resmaa Menakem, My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Mending of our Bodies and Hearts, Central Recovery Press, 2017

Films

  • 13th, 2016, Ava DuVernay (documentary about mass incarceration—Best Doc Oscar and Emmy)

  • I Am Not Your Negro, 2016, directed by Raoul Peck (documentary based on James Baldwin’s writings and speaking, nominated for Best Documentary Oscar and won BAFTA Award for best documentary that same year)

  • Just Mercy, 2019 (based on true story about Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative)

Podcasts

  • “Code Switch” (NPR)—hosted by journalists of color, explores the impact of race on pop culture, politics, sports, etc.
     

Shalom Mennonite Church Statement on Becoming an Anti-racist Church  July 8, 2020

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