The Anti-Racism Commission's monthly newsletter goes out to all ARC supporters and training participants. Please forward it to others who might benefit from our resources and workshops. And check out our blog site for past articles, training information and ongoing resources.

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism - One God and Father of All - One Diocese Working Together to Dismantle Racism

In 2022, more than 50 clergy and lay leaders were part of our anti-racism training cohort. In our program evaluations, the majority of respondents were inspired by our anti-racism training series to reflect on their experiences and behaviors around race. Most respondents expressed an interest in engaging with others at the parish or community level who are working to end racism. Nearly all respondents said they would recommend our anti-racism trainings to others.

Would your parish like to take it to the next level? Contact The Rev. Barbara Ballenger (barbballenger@gmail.com) or The Rev. Ernie Galaz (frernie@christchurchmedia.org), ARC co-chairs.

In 2022, ARC anti-racism training attendees came from more than 27 parish communities, including:

• African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas
• All Saints Torresdale
• Christ Church Philadelphia
• Christ Church and St. Michael's Germantown
• Church of the Ascension Parkesburg
• Church of the Good Samaritan
• Church of the Holy Trinity West Chester
• Church of the Redeemer Bryn Mawr
• Holy Innocents St. Paul's
• Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral
• St. Christopher's Gladwyne

• St. John's at Diocesan Center
• St. John's Glen Mills
• St. Luke & the Epiphany
• St. Mark's Philadelphia
• St. Martin-in-the-Fields
• St. Mary's Bainbridge
• St. Mary's Ardmore
• St. Paul's Chestnut Hill
• St. Paul's Doylestown
• St. Peter's Glenside
• St. Peter's in the Great Valley
• St. Timothy's Roxborough
• Trinity Ambler
• Trinity Buckingham 
• Trinity Swarthmore

Sat. Jun. 24, 2023 from 9 am to noon on Zoom

Fee: $15. Scholarships are available, especially for postulants and

candidates for ordination. Email arc@diopa.org.

This training explores the ways in which racism manifests in America’s educational, employment, entertainment, finance, healthcare, housing, justice, mass media, and religious institutions. Completion of Introduction to Systemic Racism is a prerequisite for this part of the series. The next training will be Introduction to Systemic Racism on Aug. 26.

The Anti-Racism Commission's anti-racism training series is facilitated by Lailah Dunbar-Keeys and designed to help participants understand the historic creation, preservation, and personal and institutional effects of a society built upon ideas of racial difference, which in turn support an unjust, racially based hierarchy. The series repeats annually, and offers the Introduction to Systemic Racism training 3 times a year. Anti-racism trainings are mandatory for clergy and open to all. Completion of all 5 trainings over 2 years meets the initial clergy requirement for anti-racism education. Email arc@diopa.org to obtain a certificate of completion.

Sun. May 21, 2023 from 2 to 5 pm on Zoom

Free and open to lay and clergy who identify as African American

Note: The time for the Sun. May 21 racial healing circle has been changed from 9 am to 12 pm to 2 pm to 5 pm.

Racial healing circles are facilitated by Lailah Dunbar-Keeys and provide a safe space for a small group of participants to speak about, listen to, and subsequently heal from stories about race and racism. Our racial healing circles are intended to gather people from the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania community to discuss the ways in which systemic racism has affected American culture and has consequently impacted their lives. Each racial healing circle is limited to 20 participants, so be sure to save the date and register for an upcoming racial healing circle on Eventbrite. For any questions about our racial healing circle series, please email The Rev. Barbara Ballenger (barbballenger@gmail.com), ARC co-chair.

The following resources reflect topics that ARC training participants have requested more information about. Email arc@diopa.org and let us know what resources would help you in your anti-racism work. 

The Brown v. Board of Education Saga

• Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle For Equality by Richard Kluger
• Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform by Derrick Bell
• Brown v. Board Of Education: The Landmark Oral Argument Before the Supreme Court Edited by Leon Friedman
• Jim Crow Moves North: The Battle Over Northern School Segregation 1865-1954 by Davison Douglass
• Equal Justice Under Law: An Autobiography by Constance Baker Motley
• Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality by Tomiko Brown-Nagin
• Root And Branch: Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and the Struggle to End Segregation by Rawn James Jr.
• Robert L. Carter presents A Matter of Law: A Memoir of Struggle in the Cause of Equal Rights, Library of Congress (62 mins)
• John Hope Franklin presents Where Do We Go from Here?, Library of Congress (80 mins)

Systemic Racism and Education

• Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Jonathan Kozol
• Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum
• Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican-American Rights by Philippa Strum
• Brown and Red: Defending Jim Crow in Cold War America by Gregory Briker and Justin Driver
• All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education by Charles Ogletree (2004)
• Balancing the Equation: 185 years of struggle for an equitable education at America's first HBCU by Layla A. Jones
• Building a Black teacher pipeline for Philly and beyond - one Freedom School at a time by Kristen A. Graham

The Impact of Segregation and Integration

• Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
• Warriors Don't Cry: The Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals
• Bitters in the Honey: Tales of Hope and Disappointment Across Divides of Race and Time By Beth Roy

The Anti-Racism Commission was created by diocesan convention resolution in 2005 with the mandate “to affect the systemic and institutional transformation in the diocese away from the sin of racism and toward the fulfillment of the Gospel and the baptismal mandate to strive for justice and respect the dignity of all persons.”

Consisting of 12 members, a mix of clergy and lay and persons of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, the commission aims to increase awareness of the history and legacy of racism in our country and to engage members of the diocese in dismantling its effects.

To learn more about how ARC can help your parish engage in the work of racial justice and repair, contact The Rev. Barbara Ballenger (barbballenger@gmail.com) or The Rev. Ernie Galaz (frernie@christchurchmedia.org), ARC co-chairs.