Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation Commission

EDOD Racial Healing, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission led by Canon Carrie Headington

With God’s help, we will strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every humanbeing. (BCP, p. 305) 

OVERVIEW

The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas’ Racial Healing, Justice, and Reconciliation Initiative is an  advocate of equal justice for all people, a balm of healing from the sins of systemic racism,  and an agent of reconciliation within the diocese and wider community.

FORMATION

The EDOD Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation Commission is dedicated to equipping our parishes to be agents of healing, justice and reconciliation in their lives and wider communities.  We seek to form our diocese theologically, historically, and sociologically on the issue of race. We live this through being formed by the example of Jesus and through prayer, discernment, education, relationships and action.

DIOCSEAN WIDE READING:

* Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited by

*Eduardo Bonilla Silva, Racism Without Racists

PRAY

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – Prayer for the Human Family (Book of Common Prayer, p. 815)

Liturgies of Repentance 

DISCERN

From Becoming Beloved Community - The Episcopal Church 

Telling the Truth about our Churches and Race

Baptismal Promise: Persevere in resisting evil, and whenever we fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.
Core Questions:What racial/cultural/ethnic groups are in our church? Who have we excluded or included?

Proclaiming the Dream of Beloved Community

Baptismal Promise: Proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.
Core Questions:How has our city/town/area participated in racial injustice or healing over time? What's happening today? What is our dream for Beloved Community? What behaviors and practices foster it?

Practicing the Way of Love in the Pattern of Jesus

Baptismal Promise:Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Core Questions:How will we grow as reconcilers, healers, and justice-bearers? What activities, practices, learning and experiences would (trans)form us? How will we share stories and grow relationship?

Repairing the Breach in Society and Institutions

Baptismal Promise: Strive for justice and peace among all people & respect the dignity of every human being. Core Questions: What institutions and systems bear the signs of racial injustice? How will we participate in the repair, restoration and healing of people, institutions and systems?

EDUCATE

  1. Racial Reconciliation Clergy Days-September 2019 marked our first of s series of Racial Reconciliation Clergy Days. This day focused on framing the issue of racial reconciliation theologically, fostering dialogue, and hearing from a diversity of voices across our diocese. This day was an invitation to go deeper into the work, including diocesan reading groups, and city-wide action.
 
  1. Diocesan Webinars on Talking with Our Congregations about Race. This is an ongoing series via zoom which provides resources in how your parish can be agents of dismantling racism in your parishes and communities and be reconcilers, healers, and justice advocates.
 
  1. Racial Reconciliation Reading Groups- A select group of diocesan leaders (lay and clergy) read a book on race together monthly and discuss. The wider diocese is invited to be part of reading alongside and forming their own reading groups.
 
  1. Diocesan Racial Reconciliation Facebook Page and Resource Platform- A Facebook page and resource platform dedicated to sharing stories, resources, reflections, and action.. Facebook Page @edodracetheology. EDOD Race and Theology Reading Group Page.

 RESOURCES for EDUCATION

 WEBSITES

The Episcopal Church Resource Page

*Bishop Curry’s Message

*Responding to Racist Violence as the People of God

*Becoming Beloved Community

The Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing http://www.centerforracialhealing.org/

National Museum of African American History and Culture  https://nmaahc.si.edu/

Roadmap to Reconciliation by Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil https://www.roadmaptoreconciliation.com/

The Poor People’s Campaign   https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/

Films

*PBS Miniseries: The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross – written and narrated by Harvard Scholar Henry Louis Gates  and African American Lives 1 & 2 – also Henry Louis Gates

*Eyes on the Prize – 14 Hour series on the Civil Rights Movement. (1987)

 *Sacred Ground: A Race Dialogue Series, produced by award-winning filmmaker and Becoming Beloved

Community Consultant Katrina Browne: www.episcopalchurch.org/sacredground

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuaefVqS910  Dr. Khalil Gibran Mahammad

* Episcopal Reconciliation Pilgrimage to Ghana: www.episcopalchurch.org/reconciliation-pilgrimage

*13th   (2016)

*12 Years a Slave (2013)

*Selma (2014)

*Whose Streets (2017)

*Crime + Punishment (2018)

*Clemency (2019)

*Always in Season (2019)

*The Help (2011)

*Dear White People (2014)

*A Raisin in the Sun (1961)

*Boyz N the Hood (1991)

*Miss Juneteenth (2020)

*Self Made (2020)

*When They See Us (2019 – Netflix miniseries)

*I am Not Your Negro (2017)

*Malcom X (1991)

*Bamboozled (2000)

*King (1978 miniseries)

*Fruitvale Station (2013)

*In The Heat of the Night (1967)

*Let the Fire Burn (2014)

*Do the Right Thing (1989)

*Trouble the Water (2008)

*Blindspotting (2018) 

*The Butler (2013)

Books

Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman

Racism Without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla Silva

Roadmap to Reconciliation by Brenda Salter McNeil

Living into God’s Dream: Dismantling Racism in America by Catherine Meeks

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

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

How to be an Anti-racist by Ibram X. Kendi

Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly About Racism in America, by George Yancy

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston

Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women by Susan Burton & Cari Lynn

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflection on Race by Damon Tweedy

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Vine Deloria Jr

Dear White Christian: For Those Still Longing for Racial Reconciliation by Jennifer Harvey

Deep Denial: The Persistence of White Supremacy in the United States History and Life by David Billings

God of the Oppressed by James Cone

If Beale Street Could Talkby James Baldwin

I'm Still Here -- Black Dignity in a World Made for Whitenessby Austin Channing Brown

Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching, Michael Denzel Smith

Jesus Dub by Robert Beckford

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Brian Stevenson

Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman Jr

Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Race Matters by Cornell West

Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin

The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America by Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey

Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalis tby Eli Saslow

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibrahim S. Kendi

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

The Price of the Ticket: Collection of Non-Fiction, 1948-1985 by James Baldwin

The Underground Railroad(fiction) by Colson Whitehead

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

There is a River: The Black Struggle for Freedom in America by Vincent Harding

Three Narratives of Slavery(African American) by Soujourner Truth, et al

Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving

We were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Tanehisi Coates

White Fragility - Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo

White Trash: The 400 Year History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg

Pre-Post-Racial America: Spiritual Stories from the Front Lines by Sandhya Rani Jha

Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White Americaby Michael Eric Dyson

White Rageby Carol Anderson

The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein                     

Middle Grades

New Kid by Jerry Craft

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramee

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Blendedby Sharon Draper

Genesis Begins Again by Alicia Williams

Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds

This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell & Aurelia Durand

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Linda Blackmon Lowery

If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson

Counting Descent by Clint Smith

X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz & Keklah Magoon

High School

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance by Bethany Morrow

I’m Not Dying with You Tonight by Angie Thomas

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X Kendi.

Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals

Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickels, America's First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone

The Beast Side: Living and Dying While Black in America by D. Watkins

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore

Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow by Leon Litwack

RELATE – Form RELATIONSHIP

BELOVED COMMUNITY Story Sharing Practices. Share stories with one another in your congregation. Invite others from your wider community to share stories with you. See resources in how to do this. https://episcopalchurch.org/beloved-community-storysharing

Unity in the Gospel Project– Pastors from primarily African American South Dallas Churches and a diverse group of Episcopal priests meet monthly to study scripture, eat, and pray together.This group is dedicated to sharing personal stories and forming beloved community.

Diocesan-Wide South Dallas Awareness Pilgrimage led by Canon Carrie Headington and leaders of the Greater Dallas Coalition.

ACT

In addition to the formation initiatives detailed above, the Diocese of Dallas is dedicated to ensuring we have a diverse clergy, racially and ethnically. We also support and champion our Latino, Sudanese, Nigerian, Bhutanese, and Middle Eastern refugee congregations.   

Our City-Wide Reconciliation Initiative is called PROJECT:US (Unite and Serve).

PROJECT US: Unite and Serve OVERVIEW

Project US: Unite and Serve is the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas’ Outreach and Reconciliation Initiative living out Jesus’ call to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be reconciled to one another, and to seek justice in the city as one body. This initiative, in its third year, implements aspects of Bishop Sumner’s Episcopal Diocese of Dallas Strategic Plan to foster ecumenical outreach, racial reconciliation, and diocesan unity through racial reconciliation, and common mission especially, serving those in need (focusing on the youth and poor in the Southern Sector of Dallas).

In previous years, outreach, racial justice, and care for the poor has been relegated almost entirely to service on the parish level. Each parish carries out its own outreach projects (both with parish volunteers and finances) to care for those in need in their respective communities. In 2016, Bishop George Sumner encouraged parishes to continue their own outreach projects AND to join diocesan wide projects which focus our entire diocese on specific outreach initiatives we can do together as a diocese and join the wider body of Christ in ecumenical outreach and racial justice. Bishop Sumner especially called on centrally located Dallas parishes to join together to be part of reconciliation in Dallas and to care for those in poverty and dismantle racism in South Dallas. The Southern sector of Dallas has the highest child poverty rate per capita in the US and the highest poverty rate of any city with a population over 1 million people. Over 90% of homes in South Dallas do not have a father figure and South Dallas youth are struggling emotionally, spiritually and physically with many going hungry and less than 10% being college ready. Furthermore, Dallas is the 4thmost divided city in America both racially and economically, with the Southern Sector comprised of  almost entirely people of color. Often churches do not come together across denominations to address the need to dismantle racism and poverty in the city. In response to these needs (Matthew 25) and to the ecumenical imperative (John 17), knowing we cannot be the body of Christ without working as one body as a diocese and with our brothers and sisters from churches in the Southern sector, Project US commenced in 2017. This launch is due in large part to the Episcopal Foundation Grant and to the leadership team comprising of diocesan and parish volunteers.

PROJECT US: Unite and Serve includes the following Initiatives:

EDOD/ Greater Dallas Coalition Connection and Mobilization Initiative– The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas partners with the Greater Dallas Coalition in fostering ways to engage in serving the underserved in South Dallas together. The Greater Dallas Coalition is a gathering of South Dallas churches and ministries/churches across DFW dedicated to serving those in need in South Dallas. For more information on this ministry go to greaterdallascoalition.org. Through PROJECT US, the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas partners with the Greater Dallas Coalition in the following initiatives:

COVID Hunger Alleviation Initiative: The impact of the Corona Virus has disproportionately hit the Southern Sector of Dallas in both in health and in unemployment. As a result many families have great need of help with food assistance. The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas is partnering with local South Dallas Churches to provide meals and groceries to our partners who are in great need. To support this effort go to greaterdallascoalition.org.

BE A CHAMPION CHURCH – offer child sponsorship for local Dallas children of color living in poverty at $30/month.

The Dallas Champions Academy– A summer camp and year-round academy in the underserved Southern sector of Dallas for 200 boys and girls (ages 8-18) with 16 NFL and University coaches, 4 award winning teachers, and ministers/volunteers from Episcopal parishes and ecumenical partners. The Dallas Champions Academy has a 21-point curriculum using sport to teach the life skills of discipline, respect, trust and hard work. Also emphasized are Christian character formation, nutrition, anti-bullying and tools to succeed in the classroom including goal setting, time management, study skills and college preparation.

The Dallas Champions Academy occurs throughout the year after the summer camp, which includes year-round mentoring, college visits, and assistance for all high school seniors in the college application process.

It also includes a college retention specialist once the young adult attends college. Thus far 64 young adults have received scholarships to college- all first in their family to attend college.  All people of color.

In 2017, due to the leadership of Stephanie Hodgkins (EDOD) and Cathy Judd (St. Anne’s, DeSoto) a Champions Summer Camp was held at the Lew Sterrett jail for 55 (17 year-old) young men. In 2018, the Dallas Champions Academy expanded to the Gainesville State School, where over 70% of young men will be released and return to the DFW region.  The Dallas Champions Academy works will all newly released young men and helps them in achieving their dreams. www.dallaschampionsacademy.net.

Open Table– Open Table is a ministry that seeks to help people out of poverty (and/or post incarceration) through intellectual and social capital of personal relationships around a table. Nine volunteers commit to support an individual (called brother or sister) for one year around a table. Each table member has a focus such as finance, occupation and educator, housing, healthcare, youth, children and family, transportation and insurance, accelerator, director. The Table works together as a team of specialists, encouragers, and advocates. Over the course of a year, the Table works together to set goals, foster accountability and implement a plan to create change for the brother or sister.

Open Table provides training, technical support, and structure and process consulting.

Pulpit Swaps – Pastors from the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas swap with African American South Dallas churches.

Ecumenical Racial Reconciliation Meals. These are ecumenical gatherings which include worship, meals, and prayer.

Thanksgiving Food Drive– This is an EDOD food drive at the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas Convention as well as diocesan turkey drive supporting families in need at Thanksgiving. The food is distributed by the Greater Dallas Coalition (with EDOD volunteers) at Thanksgiving to families in need. This diocesan wide project partners with South Dallas Churches feeding over 20,000 people at Thanksgiving.

RECONCILE DALLAS – A dedicated group of ecumenical partners and Episcopal clergy dedicated to works of racial reconciliation. Thus far projects have included: Unity in the Gospel gatherings, Samaritans Feet (the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas parishes in the DFW metro-plex joined ecumenical partners across racial, ethnic and denominational lines to wash the feet of children in South Dallas and provided over 2,000 shoes to children), MLK parade Reconcile Dallas float and march. The Rev. Dr. Kwesi Kamua of Impact Church and Bishop George Sumner led all volunteers in a night of worship at St. Matthew’s Cathedral and prayed for our city for reconciliation and transformation. The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas will continue this involvement in 2020.

ADVOCATE – https://episcopalchurch.org/OGR/general-advocacy-resources

*For Local Advocacy contact Canon Carrie Headington  

For more Information Contact Canon Evangelist Carrie Headington  214-826-8310

Commission Members: 

Canon Carrie Headington

The Very Rev. Rob Price

The Rev. John Sundara

Stephanie Hodgkins

The Rev. Victoria Heard

The Rt. Rev. Michael Smith

The Rev. Noe Mendez