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.

Give Hope Generously

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.”

The Loving Presence Report, our broad plan to actively and prayerfully dismantle the ideologies, systems, and structures of racism and White supremacy in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, recommends that we direct resources to identify, speak out against, and work to bring repair and healing to the sin of racism in the Church and the wider community, with attention to advocacy and action in criminal justice and policing reform; voting rights; treatment of immigrants; food insecurity; sexual trafficking; the impact of gentrification upon neighborhoods; and addressing inequities in public education, health care, wages, housing, and transportation.

Philadelphia Community Bail Fund

Philadelphia Bail Fund

Reclaim Philadelphia

Amistad Law Project

Abolitionist Law Center

Black Trans COVID Relief Fund

Womanist Working Collective

Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord

Sat. Jan. 28, 2023 from 9 am to noon on Zoom

Fee: $15. Scholarships are available. Email arc@diopa.org.

Explores the multi-layered manifestations of systemic racism.

This training is a pre-requisite to a 5-part series which explores the multi-layered manifestations of prejudice, privilege, race, and systemic racism. After taking the introductory training, the other 4 parts of the series can be taken in any order. The next training will be Racism and History on Mar. 25.

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. 

The Diocese of Pennsylvania's Anti-Racism Commission is hosting a series of racial healing circles on Zoom with Lailah Dunbar-Keeys.

A racial healing circle is intended to gather African Americans to discuss the ways in which systemic racism has affected American culture and has consequently impacted their lives. Racial healing circles are for anyone who is Episcopalian affiliated, including a person who is not Episcopalian, but is affiliated with a church, knows an Episcopalian, or has interest in learning more. Each racial healing circle is limited to 20 participants.

Registration is free and open to lay and clergy who identify as African American. To register, click on the dates below.

For any questions about our racial healing circle series, please email The Rev. Barbara Ballenger (barbballenger@gmail.com), ARC co-chair.

Give us grace thy yoke to wear

• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
• My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
• Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome by Joy Degruy
• The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America by Khalil Gibran Muhammad
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Make straight the way for God within

• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Charleston Syllabus: Readings on Race, Racism, and Racial Violence edited by Chad Williams, Kidada E. Williams and Keisha N. Blain
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Let your light restore earth's own true loveliness once more

• Preparing to Become Beloved Community - Advent Year A by the Becoming the Beloved Community and the Reconciliation, Justice, and Creation Care Team of The Episcopal Church
• Paying a Premium: It's no longer legal for life insurance companies to calculate rates using race. That hasn't ended a 'two-tiered' system. by Lynette Hazelton and Oscar Perry Abello
• Our 13 Demands by Black Philly Radical Collective
• 10 Things You Should Know About White Privilege by Luke Pearson and Sophie Verass
• I'm From Philly. 30 Years Later, I'm Still Trying To Make Sense Of The MOVE Bombing by Gene Demby

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.