participant guide

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2017 Lenten Book Study

AMERICA’S ORIGINAL SIN: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

PARTICIPANT GUIDE

America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America by Jim Wallis

Dear Lenten Book Study Participant, t has been our tradition here at Christ the King for several years to study a book together during the season on Lent, in several different small groups throughout the congregation. In addition to the traditional disciplines of Lent—prayer, fasting and acts of service—for many of us at CtK, this has been a helpful way to deepen our faith as we observe these 40 days together.

I

This year’s book is timely, as issues of racism and privilege have caught the attention of our society in many important ways in recent days. Written by pastor and public theologian Jim Wallis, it is a call for people of faith, especially Christians, to consider some of the most enduring problems facing our nation. In addition, I would echo what one of the Lenten book study pilot group members has said: “This is by far the hardest book we’ve read together for Lent.” This is true first for its sheer length. At over 200 pages it will take intentionality and commitment to read two chapters a week in order to enter into our discussions. It is also true for its subject matter. The crucial but difficult topics of race and privilege have a tendency to unmask disagreements, to heighten divisions, or even to further polarize people and their lived experiences. As our society in general, and our own community in particular becomes more racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse, there has perhaps never been a better time for us to have these discussions, difficult though they are. My prayer is that we would all enter these discussions with an open mind and an open heart, and that we would all listen deeply and respectfully to both the point of view of the author as well as to reflections and responses offered by one another. As we gather to read and discuss these tough and timely matters, may we see these small groups not only as “safe space,” where we can share our ideas without criticism or judgment, but also as “brave space,” where we can bear witness to the truth as we know it, even if it seems a little difficult at times. And lest we forget, these forty days of Lent do not exist for themselves, but better prepare us to encounter the life-giving reality of Easter. Similarly, these vulnerable, uncomfortable conversations about race, privilege and the role of faith in our wider society exist in order to build a bridge for us to new life as the people of God in this time and place. Grace and Peace, Pastor Peter Hanson 2

America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

Table of Contents Guidelines to Respectful Conversations................................Page 4 Discussion Questions

Session One..........................................................................Page 5



Session Two...........................................................................Page 7



Session Three........................................................................Page 9



Session Four........................................................................Page 12



Session Five........................................................................Page 14

Resource Appendix Statistics..............................................................................Page 16 Definitions...........................................................................Page 18

Audio and Video...............................................................Page 19



Books for further study.......................................................Page 22

America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

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Guidelines to Respectful Conversations 1. Speak for oneself: Use “I statements.” Own and offer your thoughts and feelings honestly; avoid grand pronouncements or stating positions of others. 2. Practice respect in speaking and listening; accept that others may have different views, without needing to debate or set them straight. 3. Be brief in comments; honor time frames and refrain from interrupting. 4. Listen carefully, especially when something is hard to accept; suspend judgment. 5. Respect confidentiality: After the conversations, do not attach names to comments made without permission. 6. Allow people to pass, or pass for now, if they are not ready or willing to respond to a question.

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America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

SESSION ONE: The Call to Action Forward, Preface Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2 Mission Statement

“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Churches have a key role in society to address racism. Christ the King can have a powerful influence. It is our moral obligation. “People of faith are going to have to raise their voices and take action. Reading this extraordinary new work by Jim Wallis is a very good place to start.” (pg. xiv)

Discussion Questions

1. Talk about the title of the book, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America. In John 8:32 Jesus says, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Referring to the second and third paragraphs on pg. xx in the Introduction, do you agree that racism is a sin? What is your definition of sin? Talk about the difference between personal sin and the Biblical concept of original sin. 2. When talking about racism as a sin, Wallis suggests (pg. xxi, Introduction) “To treat these issues as sin – which can be repented of and changed – is a deeper more effective way to solve these problems than just seeing them as political issues in an illusory “postracial” America.” Are we able to keep politics out of conversations on race? 3. In what ways can white experiences and privilege seem normalized?

America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

Session One | 5

4. What does God call us to do? What does it mean to be a child of God? Jim Wallis’s conversion passage is Matthew 25:45, (pg. 3) “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Refer to pg. 32 with reference to Martin Luther King’s quote. “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.” What do these texts mean to you? More importantly, what could they mean to CtK? 5. Were you surprised when the author said, “We are not now, nor will we ever be, a “postracial” society.” (pg. 10) 6. With the decision on Dylan Roof’s death sentence for the Emmanuel church shooting, are you surprised by the grace and love expressed by the parishioners?

For next time

Watch a 5:11 video from the New York Times, mentioned on the bottom of pg. 35. In this short documentary, young black men explain the particular challenges they face growing up in America.

6 | Session One

America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

SESSION TWO: How Can We Respond Today? Chapters 3 and 4 Mission Statement

“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Churches have a key role in society to address racism. Christ the King can have a powerful influence. It is our moral obligation.

“The church must, of course, get its own house in order.” Pg. 50

Discussion Questions

1. The most controversial sentence the author ever wrote is, “The United States of America was established as a white society, founded upon the near genocide of another race the enslavement of yet another.” (pg. 39). Why do you think this has been so controversial? Briefly discuss native American issues of today, especially the Dakota Access Pipeline article. What is the role of the church? 2. Discuss Romans 3:23, “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” How is racism a sin? 3. Should white people feel guilty? The people of the black community are not looking for that, according to the author, on pg. 36. What do you think? 4. Discuss the differences in systematic racism versus personal racism. 5. Explain what the author means that “repentance means more than just saying you’re sorry”? 6. The author talks about what repentance meant in the church in which he grew up. In that understanding repentance was mostly for inner sins and sexual sins. How does your view of repentance compare? Could your view of repentance include repentance for the sin of racism?

America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

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7. Describe how the church, or CtK can experience ‘metanoia,’ pg. 60. 8. How can we respond today? Can you think of other ways besides... ...listening? (pg. 53, letter to Franklin Graham) what does listening mean for you and for CtK in New Brighton? ...changing our consciousness? (pg. 60, first phrase of Walden’s quote) ...examining ourselves? Give an example of part of your consciousness that could use a tweak? ...that could help build a new bridge to America?

For next time

Take the implicit bias test found on pg. 84.

8 | Session Two

America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

SESSION THREE: Who are the children of God? Chapters 5 and 6 (You may want to commit to two hours for this session.) Mission Statement

“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Churches have a key role in society to address racism. Christ the King can have a powerful influence. It is our moral obligation. “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” Martin Luther King Jr., Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood Feb. 2, 1965. “We can no longer indulge in the luxury of obliviousness.” Pg. 96

Discussion Questions

1. Read together Genesis 1:27-28, pg. 81. We are all made in the image of God, so why do we have it in our core that we look at human beings that do not resemble us as “other?” Wallis points out in the second full paragraph on pg. 81 that we do not have dominion over one another. 2. What is the difference between racism and prejudice? 3. Do you believe the author’s idea that black people cannot be racist because racism is prejudice plus power? Why or why not? 4. Do you think that white privilege and white supremacy are the same thing? Why or why not? 5. In what ways does white fragility keep white people from recognizing their own privilege? 6. Discuss the results of people’s implicit bias test. Were you surprised? What did you learn about yourself? 7. Did you know that GI benefits were mostly given to white GI’s post WWII? Did you ever think about whites being beneficiaries of Affirmative Action? (pgs. 88-89) America’s Original Sin: Session Two | 9 Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

8. When envisioning the “beloved community” of God’s children, what would it look like? 9. Were you surprised by Martin Luther King’s quote? (pg. 97) “I am [ashamed] and appalled that 11:00 on sunday morning is the most segregated hour in Christian America? King made this statement about 50 years ago. Has anything improved? 10. Wallis suggests that Europeans of various cultural backgrounds “all became white when they arrived in America, taking on not only a new national identity but also new white cultural identity. Indeed being “white” meant being part of the “white race,” which in reality was a social and political construction, created to supply the ideology and justification for slavery and racial oppression” (Wallis, 74). Is this idea of ‘whiteness’ as a social construct new to you or something familiar? What challenges do we face with constructed whiteness, slavery, and racial oppression all being parts of our shared American history? What does this mean for us as North American Christians? 11. Wallis argues that ‘whiteness’ was used to justify slavery in this new American culture. And even when slavery ended with the Civil War, white supremacy was reestablished through Jim Crow laws in the south and systemic disenfranchisement in the north (Wallis, 75-78). This new social reality is one where “white privilege is normal in American society…the unspoken but everyday assumption is that America is still a white society and that it has minorities who have problems in regard to race” (Wallis, 79). Is this idea of white privilege new to you or something familiar? Where have you seen your white privilege benefit you? How could churches have allowed this to happen from the late 20th century well into the 21st century? What is Christ the King’s role now as we see black people treated so differently than whites? 12. Discuss the question Wallis poses on pg. 82 (end of the first paragraph.) “will white Christians demonstrate the faith to overcome racism by first rejecting the idols that have captured our identities away from God?”

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America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

For next time

Watch “Elevating the Issues: Mass Incarceration” is a 7:54 minute video clip referred to on pg. 130. The Rev. Darren Ferguson, a pastor who first found his faith while in prison for attempted murder talks about what must be done to keep black men out of prison. His story is one of mass incarceration and the broken criminal justice system, but it’s also a story of hope If interested, watch TED Talk by Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow,” 23:38 minutes.

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SESSION FOUR Humanizing the Criminal Justice System Chapters 7-8

Mission Statement

“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Churches have a key role in society to address racism. Christ the King can have a powerful influence. It is our moral obligation. “If we do an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will be a blind and toothless nation.” Martin Luther King Pg. 135 “Our current criminal justice system is failing. However, there is an alternative, and it is literally as old as the Bible itself. It’s called restorative justice, a biblical conception of justice that seeks to repair the damage that crime brings to victims and the community, and that the offender brings upon himself as well.” Pg. 166. From “Restorative Justice: A Win-Win-Win,” by Chuck Colson.

Discussion Questions

1. Plato states in The Republic that for there to be an ideal state, there is the need for a “guardian” type of person. (pg. 127-128) Do we see police behaving more like guardians or warriors in America today? 2. Talk about your personal experiences with law enforcement through¬out your life, positive and/or negative. Police may be reacting out of a sense of fear and not a sense of well-being themselves. Discuss the quote from “Officer and Wellness and Safety,” on the top of pg. 137. 3. Michelle Alexander in her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, says in the quote from her book on pg. 156 that “Politicians claim that the enemy in this war is a thing – drugs – not a group of people. The facts prove otherwise.” Having read these chapters, would you tend to agree with her point? Why or why not?

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America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

4. Read silently (or aloud) pg. 158 in the group. After this reading, what is your opinion about the current status of the war on drugs? 5. What rights taken from incarcerated people today are similar to the rights taken from African Americans before the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s? (bottom of pg. 160-161). On pg. 161, the first full paragraph says, “Such a system of systematic disenfranchisement would never be accepted in America if it were being directed at white people.” Why is it okay to target African American and Latino people? 6. Discuss the differences between our traditional criminal justice system (retributive justice) and restorative justice. How could you see yourself, or CtK, working towards bringing about the transformation of the justice system?

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SESSION FIVE How Can We Build a Bridge to a New America? Chapter 9 and 10

Mission Statement

“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Churches have a key role in society to address racism. Christ the King can have a powerful influence. It is our moral obligation. “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:35-36)

Discussion Questions

1. “I was a stranger and you invited me in,” comes from within the Matthew 25:35-36 text. What are your heartfelt thoughts about welcoming the stranger into the United States? 2. Matthew 25:40 says, “And the king [Jesus] will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” How do we as Christians reconcile Jesus’ message with our current immigration situation? 3. Read aloud the final paragraph on pg. 181. What are your experiences with prayer and fasting? 4. “We hoped to connect beyond and beneath politics by going deeper into our hearts as parents, fellow human beings, and people of faith.” (bottom, pg. 182) How can we participate in going beyond and beneath politics and become part of the ‘soul force?’ 5. By 2045, the United States will have “become a majority of minorities,” pg. 188. How will that change the concept of white privilege in America? If this makes you afraid, what is your fear based on?

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America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

6. “Seeking, finding, learning, welcoming, embracing, and creating new relationships and frameworks for a richly multiracial culture, with economics and politics that reflect our diversity, is the great task before us now.” Pg. 194. Wallis believes that these actions will take us over a bridge to a new America. What can we do as a faith community to bring that bridge to New Brighton? 7. Wallis gives examples of his personal life and professional life and how living within a poor community changed him and changed the neighborhood. On pg. 208 he says that “We would all probably say that what most changed us was proximity to the poor.” Do you believe there are poor people in Christ the King’s immediate neighborhood? What are we doing, or what could we be doing, as a faith community? 8. The author’s contention is “Stories are what change us.” (pg. 195) How are we doing with living out what Wallis further on page 208 suggests: “And that is what changes us in the end – who we see, who we meet, who we know, who we hang out with, whose families become like our families, whose joys and pains we come to understand and even begin to share?” 9. What has most impacted you in reading this book?

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RESOURCE APPENDIX Statistics

The following statistics are found in the book. Original references for these statistics found on pages listed. • Black drivers are 31 percent more likely to be pulled over than whites; they are more than twice as likely to be subject to police searches as white drivers; and they are nearly twice as likely to not be given any reason for the traffic stop, period. (pg. 138) • African Americans are about three times as likely to be arrested as whites. (pg. 138) • African Americans comprise 14 percent of regular drug users but are 37 percent of those arrested for drug offenses. From 1980-2007 about one in three of the 25.4 million arrested for drugs was African American. (pg. 138) • Black offenders receive sentences that are 10 percent longer than those for white offenders for the same crimes. (pg. 139) • African American drug defendants are 20 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison than white drug defendants. (pg. 139) • More than 60 percent of the people in prison today are people of color. (pg. 139) • Black men are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white men, and Hispanic men are 2.5 times more likely. (pg. 139) • For Black men in their thirties, 1 in every 10 is in prison or jail on any given day. (pg. 139) • 1 in 3 African American men will be imprisoned at some point in his lifetime. This compares to 1 in 6 Latino men and 1 in 17 white men. (pg. 139)

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America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

• In 2003, black men were nearly 12 times more likely to be sent to prison for a drug offense than white men. (Whites and African Americans use and sell drugs at roughly the same rates.) (pg. 139) • African Americans, who are 12 percent of the population and about 14 percent of the drug users, make up 34 percent of those arrested for drug offenses and 45 percent of those serving time for such offenses in prisons. (pg. 139) • Although the United States has five percent of the world’s population, it contains nearly 25 percent of the world’s known prisoners. (pg. 156) • Nearly seven million people were under some form of “correctional supervision” (prison, jail, parole or probations) in 2013. (pg. 156) • There are more African American adults under correctional control today – in prison or jail, on probations or parole – than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began. (pg. 156) • By the year 2045, the majority of US citizens will be descended from African, Asian, and Latin American ancestors, according to the US Census Bureau projections. (pg. 188)

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Definitions Explicit bias—conscious bias Implicit bias—unconscious bias. Jim Crow Laws—state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. The New Jim Crow—the criminal justice system leads to a new system of segregation and disenfranchisement of people others than Whites. Personal racism—an individual’s racist assumptions, beliefs or behaviors and is “a form of racial discrimination that stems from conscious and unconscious, personal prejudice.” Prejudice—a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Racism—prejudice plus power. (pg. 45) Retributive justice—punishment of the perpetrator. Restorative justice—repairing the harm caused by the crime. Systemic racism (or systematic racism)—the form of racism which is structured into political and social institutions. It occurs when organizations, institutions or governments discriminate, either deliberately or indirectly, against certain groups of people to limit their rights. White fragility—a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as, argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. (pg. 92) White privilege—a term for societal privileges that benefit people identified as white in Western countries, beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. White supremacy—the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races, especially to the Black race, and should therefore dominate society.

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America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

Audiovisual Resources

Please go to lifeatctk.org/bookstudy for direct links to these resources. Session One

• “Get Home Safely: 10 Rules of Survival” Video Length: 1:53 Use: Recommended to watch together as a group. https://vimeo.com/116706870

• “It’s Time to Talk About ‘Black Privilege’” Video Length: 1:32 minutes Use: Recommended to watch together as a group. http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/30/us/black-privilege/

• “White Privilege Is The Benefit Of White Supremacy” Video Length: 3:40 minutes; other option

https://newsone.com/3129495/rev-jim-Wallis-white-privilege-is-the-benefit-of-whitesupremacy/

Session Two

• “A Conversation About Growing Up Black” Video Length: 5:18 minutes

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/07/opinion/a-conversation-about-growing-upblack.html

• “The Conflicts Along 1,172 Miles of the Dakota Access Pipeline” by Gregor Aisch and K. K. Rebecca Lai Preview the New York Times article,

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/23/us/dakota-access-pipeline-protestmap.html

• The Implicit Bias test Mentioned on pg. 84 https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html

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Session Three

• “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught” from South Pacific First performed on Broadway in 1949, lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Referred to on pg. 82. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diYlHI8Ghkg

• Martin Luther King’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

• A letter from Christian Churches Together (2013) ELCA is a member of the organization Christian Churches Together.

http://www.brethren.org/gensec/documents/cct-response-to-birmingham-jail-letter.pdf

• What Happened When a Black and White Church Merged in Florida A large, growing urban Black congregation reaches out to a suburban White congregation to join as one, Shiloh Baptist Church and it is working very well. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/two-fla-churches--oneblack-one-white--merge-in-racial-reconciliation-effort/2017/02/07/a95dde72e287-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.031348ee1bb2&wpisrc=nl_ rainbow&wpmm=1

Session Four

• Elevating the Issues: Mass Incarceration Video Length: 7:54 minutes Referred to on pg. 130. Recommended from the end of last session.

https://summitforchange.com/portfolio-item/elevating-the-issues-mass-incarcerationsummit-2014/

• Washington Post statistics on fatal police shootings since 2015

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2016/

• Steven Colbert’s interview with the Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow.” http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ad10bn/the-colbert-report-michelle-alexander,

• TED talk by Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow.” Video Length: 23:38 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ6H-Mz6hgw,

• The Enduring Myth of Black Criminality Ta-Nehisi Coates explores how mass incarceration has affected African American families. Video Length: 3:09 minutes https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/404674/enduring-myth-of-blackcriminality/

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America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

Session Five

• The Refugee Screening Process Explained Former Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, explains the process of refugees entering the US. Video Length: 4:00 minutes https://sojo.net/articles/watch-refugee-screening-process-explained

• Faith Groups Push for Immigration Reform Evangelical Latino Pastor speaks about immigration Video Length: 4:32 minutes

http://www.cnn.com/videos/bestoftv/2014/07/09/salguero-on-immigration.cnn

• 100 Women 100 Miles: A Call for Immigration Reform Video Length: 1:49 minutes One person speaks in Spanish and it is not translated, but the messages from the other women are good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAu8cU02-rw

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Other Books Related to Racial Justice A mix of fiction and non-fiction.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. Scholar and activist Michelle Alexander examines the impact of law enforcement and mass incarceration on race relations in present-day America. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, the book galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Toni Morrison has described this debut book from Ta-Nehisi Coates as a “required reading.” In the form of a letter to his teenaged son, Coates distills what it means to be black in America today. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Published in 1960, this novel about a white lawyer defending a black boy falsely accused of raping a white woman takes on a whole new meaning in the wake of the release of Harper Lee’s follow up, Go Set A Watchman. Citizen by Claudia Rankine. Poet Claudia Rankine meditates on police brutality, racial fatigue, depression and the denigration of black bodies. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison’s first novel perfectly captures the effects of racism and colorism, telling the story of an 11-year-old black girl with low self-esteem who prays desperately for her eyes to become blue. Race Matters by Cornel West. Still considered one of activist Cornel West’s most important books, Race Matters bluntly takes on everything from affirmative action, to black crime, to religion within the black community — and what solutions, if any, there are. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. In this seminal 1952 novel, an unnamed narrator recounts his epic life-story, from his coming-of-age in a rural Southern town, to his migration to the violent streets of Harlem. The Sellout by Paul Beatty. Beatty infuses comic humor and biting political commentary into this racial satire about a modern-day slave owner.

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America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America

Slavery by Another Name, by Douglas A. Blackmon. Writer Douglas A. Blackmon exposes the horrific aftermath of the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery, when thousands of black people were unfairly arrested and then illegally “sold” into forced labor as punishment. The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone. Reconciling the gospel message of liberation with the reality of black oppression and suffering during the lynching era. Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. This important book, by one of the 20th century’s most prominent black theologians, explains how the Gospel of Jesus is really good news to those who have been marginalized by society. Over a half-century after it was written, it still stands as essential reading for anyone who cares about justice. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou. This extraordinary memoir narrates Angelou’s experience as a black woman growing up in Arkansas in the 1930s. Her story offers deep insight into the racial situation in America. At its heart, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a story of liberation, leading novelist James Baldwin to call it “a Biblical study of life in the midst of death.” Ferguson and Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community, Gunning Francis. Dr. Leah Gunning Francis interviewed over two dozen faith leaders who have been a part of the protests of today’s Civil Rights Movement since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Through these interviews, the book is able to present many voices, talking about how clergy and lay leaders must join in the movement for racial justice. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned. Simply punishing the broken only ensures that they remain broken and we do, too. Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

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Christ the King Lutheran Church, ELCA 1900 7th Street NW, New Brighton, MN 55112 • 651-633-4674 www.lifeatctk.org