As a Christian community we imagine and desire the consummation of peace in a world integrated by Divine love. However, the last few weeks make clear that the peace we long for is far from being realized. The heinous acts of violence against people of color, the existence of prejudiced systems and policies that promulgate racism, and, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “… the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action…’” are evidence that much change is desperately needed.

Pearl Church categorically affirms that black lives matter. Pearl Church categorically insists that police brutality is unacceptable, must be held accountable, and illumines the need for substantial change in policing policy and protocol. Pearl Church categorically recognizes that Christianity has been complicit in perpetuating ideas and in sustaining systems that harm, minimize, and dehumanize black lives, voices, and perspectives. 

As a faith community we are committed to demonstrations, conversations, policies, systems, and theologies that elevate and advocate for marginalized voices and perspectives. We believe that the marginalized are our sisters and brothers who have much to teach our world about equality and justice. Therefore, with renewed intention we stand in solidarity with the marginalized. We will listen carefully to their voices in order to learn and grow. And with hearts that break by today’s inequality and injustice, we will participate in effectual change that moves us toward that which we truly desire—the consummation of peace in a world that is integrated by Divine love.

Opportunities

Over the coming days Pearl Church will provide opportunities to more deeply engage issues surrounding racial inequality. On June 7th, Pastor Mike will begin a six week sermon series on the book of Lamentations, which will encourage us to see and to grieve the desolation all around us. Abby Coppock will facilitate a couple conversations to help us process our responses to the events of the past weeks. Pastor Ben will offer a vigil that makes space for naming, grieving, and committing ourselves to participate in necessary change. And later in the month Pastor Mike will lead a book discussion on a resource to help us engage this conversation more deeply.

Resources

Although many resources related to current events are widely available, here are a few that stand out to us:

ONLINE

• In a recent Instagram post by President Obama, he provides very practical steps that we can take, on a local level, and he highlights two relevant websites. The first site leads to a report and toolkit developed by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. It’s based on the work of the Task Force on 21st Century Policing that he formed while in office. The second site is for those interested in taking concrete action. It’s a dedicated site at the Obama Foundation to aggregate and direct you to useful resources and organizations who’ve been working at the local and national level. 

• “Scaffolded Anti-Racism Resources” This extensive collection of activities, articles, podcasts, and videos provides prompts for people at various stages of engaging racism in themselves and the systems surrounding them.

BOOKS

• White Fragility, by Robin D’Angelo

• How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi

• The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James Cone

  
  

SERMONS FROM PEARL

• A Biblical Theology of Listening

• Voices from the Wilderness I, Race: The Witness of Black Theology

• Voices from the Wilderness VI: The Witness of Womanist Theology

• Pentecost Fire

• A Criminal Justice Sabbath

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• The Racist History of Portland, the Whitest City in America – The Atlantic, 2016. Portland is known as a modern-day hub of progressivism, but its past is one of exclusion. This article dives into the history that created the whitest city in America. 

• Oregon’s Black Pioneers – Oregon Public Broadcasting. A 30 min video, February 2019. For decades, Oregon legally excluded black people from settling in the region. Despite racists laws and attitudes, some came anyway. “Oregon’s Black Pioneers” examines the earliest African-Americans who lived and worked in the region during the mid-1800s. They came as sailors, gold miners, farmers, and slaves. Their numbers were small, by some estimates just 60 black residents in 1850, but they managed to create communities, and in some cases, take on racist laws — and win.

• Bleeding Albina: A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940-2000. By Karen J. Gibson, Transforming Anthropology, 2007, volume 15. Portland, Oregon is celebrated in the planning literature as one of the nation’s most livable cities, yet there is very little scholarship on its small Black community. Using census data, oral histories, archival documents, and newspaper accounts, this study analyzes residential segregation and neighborhood disinvestment over a 60-yr period.

• Communities of Color in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile. A 2014 report from the Coalition of Communities of Color. This report centers the experiences of communities of color in Multnomah county, and the disparities that exist for our people. It includes a brief history and outcomes across a variety of social, health, and economic indicators.