WEEK 5 Race and Religion - Implicit Bias - CHANGE STARTS AT HOME

Race and Racism Workshop

Wesley United Methodist Church - Hadley

Week 2 June 28, 2020


PART 1: (Re)Claiming the History of Resistance at Wesley UMC


Consider this to be a work in progress. We are dedicating ourselves to collecting the stories of resistance of elders and others in the past at WUMC

  • The Weley 9, a group of youth including the now grown children of Joyce and Lee Hines, Liz and Ron Bell, and Ginny Kilmer who filed a petition at the national youth conference of the UMC to bar membership in the church to individuals who were active participants in hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan.  
  • Mary Wyatt - Martin Luther King breakfast for example
  • Louise Minks and her paintings of local African Americans
  • partnership with African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
  • Horace Boyer and his Gospel Music, writing the dedication for our new Sanctuary in 2008, suppor ot and participation with AAGC

PART 2: Breakout Groups "All Change Starts At Home" - Adwoa Ampiah-Bonney


Since WUMC  is our home, and we are part of the Wesley Family, it seems fitting to begin this week's conversation about racism and religion - with a reflection from one of our own church youth, Adwoa Ampiah-Bonney that "All Change Starts at Home."  I invite you to listen to her words and that of her brother, Kodwo, at the live stream recording of the Vigil for George Floyd that was held on the Belchertown Common on Thursday evening (see link below).  


Come prepared to break out into small groups and see if we can do the work that our Youth are urging us to do - and see if we can end the evening having made some progress towards committing ourselves, our church, our community, and our country in the following areas:


* Commit to end the silence on racism and systemic violence


* Commit to raising awareness 


* Commit to disrobing ourselves of self-righteousness, be willing to admit our wrongs, and move forward for change together.


* Belchertown Justice Collaborative: A newly formed group of youth leaders including our own Adwoa and Kodwo Ampiah-Bonney organized a vigil for George Floyd on Thursday night - one month from his death in police custody. Both Adwoa and Kodwo gave speeches urging us not to be silent and to work together for change.  You can hear them and others by following this link to the live stream.  The 1.5 hour broadcast is worth watching, but if you only have time to hear Adwoa, check minutes 3:30 - 20 and Kodwo min 25-27.

https://www.facebook.com/belchertownjusticecollab/videos/634249307447764/


  


* Families for Black Lives: If you don't yet feel ready to march in protest on the streets, or get up and make speeches, you can still stay safe and add your voice to the protests.  Rachel Braidman, a Mom with two small children at the Amherst Montessori school has organized a "Black Lives Matter" Family Caravan that will happen on July 3, meeting at 7:00 AM from the Northampton Peter Pan Bus Depot in Northampton.  The Caravan Route can be found on the link.  Call me, Pat O'Hara (413-687-5722 or pbohara@amherst.edu) if you are interested in going.  If you tune your radio to FM 93.9,  The River, Monte will provide some educational info and music to accompany the protest caravan, which should take about one hours. (thanks to Cathy Manly)  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tiU-LVGSFzCG0qsDn-fNK91j8Fl1_2xZTI47W2fhSlw/edit?usp=sharing

Here is a story about the book Adwoa requested we read - it will be released July 28, I have ordered a copy and am happy to share with whomever would like to read it....

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/19/us/white-christians-racism-robert-jones/index.html


White Too Long demonstrates how deeply racist attitudes have become embedded in the DNA of white Christian identity over time and calls for an honest reckoning with a complicated, painful, and even shameful past. Jones challenges white Christians to acknowledge that public apologies are not enough—accepting responsibility for the past requires work toward repair in the present.




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