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Racial Justice
Two North Carolina congregations — one historically white, the other black — take steps to heal 150 years of racial wounds by worshiping together virtually.
COVID-19 has us all sheltering in place and employees of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are still working from home. But on Friday there was a great sense of oneness as the staff came together to celebrate Juneteenth.
It is certainly disappointing, the Rev. Kate Foster Connors says.
A timely and sometimes painful discussion on the impact of COVID-19 and racism on Native Americans ended on a hopeful note Tuesday, with a panelist invoking an image from nature.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing those who were enslaved, in January 1863. However, it wasn’t until two years later, on June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. After this, more than 250,000 slaves across Texas learned that they were free.
The Rev. Samuel Son, manager of diversity and reconciliation at the Presbyterian Mission Agency, recently held a roundtable discussion with three Presbyterian clergywomen to discuss the challenges and opportunities of leading a congregation during protests and pandemic.
Presbyterians do mission in partnership and the mutual support has been strong as the U.S. fights pandemics on two fronts, COVID-19 and systemic racism.
Below are excerpts of letters, messages, sermons and poems that have been sent to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) They contain messages of love, solidarity and prayer from partners around the world.
Some symptoms of racism might be obliterated with a wrecking ball approach, but a new Synod of the Sun network aims to help dismantle the structure and proactively remember grim events of the past, including the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.
Sparked by the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and most recently Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, protesters around the world have taken to the streets calling for police reform following the deaths of blacks at the hands of police officers. And while there have been some immediate policy changes, including the passing of “Breonna’s Law” banning no-knock warrants in Louisville, Kentucky, Brooks’ death reminds us that the battle for justice and equality for black Americans is far from over.
Count on a former architect to see the flaws in existing structures and work tirelessly and faithfully on ways to redesign them.
