Seeking Justice
Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation (The last words of John Lewis)
“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Resources on Fighting for Racial Justice
Backlash to the Protests:
–About 93% of Racial Justice Protests in the US have been Peaceful from CNN
–Black Americans Report Hate Crimes, Violence in Wake of George Floyd Protests and Black Lives Matter Gains from USA Today
–The Inevitability of a White Backlash to the George Floyd Protests from Milwaukee Independent
–Why Black Christians are Bracing for a ‘Whitelash’ from CNN
Recommended Articles & Audio on the Church & Racial Justice
–Where the Black Church Is in the Black Lives Matter Movement from Christianity Today
–Black Lives Matter in the Bible from Christianity Today
–5 Ways White Churches Can Work for Racial Justice from Missio Alliance
–I Have Only One Hope for Racial Justice: A God Who Conquered Death from Christianity Today
–Why Talking About Systemic Racism Can Be Difficult For Evangelical Pastors from NPR
–Evangelical Christians Grapple With Racism As Sin from NPR
–White, Black, and Blue: Christians Disagree Over Policing from Christianity Today
–Racial Reconciliation Conferences Don’t Work from Huffington Post
Recommended Books on Racism in Policing & Criminal Justice
–The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America’s Law Enforcement
–Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America
–The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America 2nd Edition
–Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment
–Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People
Recommended Articles & Audio Related to Protest
–Understanding the Social Movement Cycle from On the Media
–Why Protest Movements Are ‘Civil’ Only in Retrospect from NY Times
–James Baldwin: How to Cool It – 1968 Q&A on race in America from Esquire
–Parents Of Sandy Hook Shooting Victim Hope Protesters Will Hold Out For Real Change from NPR
Recommended Articles on Native Americans Killed by the Police
–The Police Killings That No One Is Talking About from In These Times
–Native Americans: The Forgotten Minority in Police Shootings from CNN
–Why Are So Many Native Americans Killed By Police? from Newsweek
–Native Americans Deserve More Attention in the Police Violence Conversation from Urban.Org
Recommended Articles & Audio on Policing those with Disabilities & Mental Illness
–The Overlooked Reality of Police Violence Against Disabled Black Americans from The Takeaway
–The Toll of Police Violence on Disabled Americans from The Guardian
–Half Of People Killed By Police Have A Disability From NAMI of Illinois
–Don’t Shoot, I’m Disabled from BBC News
Learn to do what is good.
Pursue justice.
Correct the oppressor.
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause.
-Isaiah 1:17