Race & Belonging

Education & Action Guide

A Huge Mahalo to the Race & Belonging Ministry at our sister church (Reality San Francisco) for putting this guide together.

Reality San Francisco has done an incredible job handling many complex social issues, including this one. We are so grateful for all the hard work and time they have put into creating this incredibly helpful resource. We are so thankful to them for sharing it with us to use and adapt in our own context.

We are grateful to learn from them, and their approach to walk in the way of Jesus through these things.

Vision & Purpose of This Guide

At Reality Honolulu, we are a community following Jesus, seeking renewal in the Land.

We are blessed in the fact that we reflect the reality of Jesus’ multi-ethnic church. As His church, we are called: to be a light to the world; to be a witness of reconciliation (both racial and other forms); and to demonstrate, in word and in deed, what a community of people looks like with Christ at the center. This task before us is vital and, Christ-willing, will have massive implications in Hawai’i and world as a prophetic witness of Christ’s rule.

As Jesus followers, we desire to be transformed by the Holy Spirit and to care about what He cares about. It is critical for our discipleship to Jesus to reflect the Gospel. Jesus gave His people a heavenly vision for renewal — to bring heaven here on earth. We want the heavenly reality to break into the here and now — part of which is to see an end to injustices, oppression, and racism in all forms everywhere.

The following are resources to equip and educate our community in the areas of racism, oppression, injustice, and inequity. Our hope is that our hearts would be stirred to action in response to all forms of oppression and injustices in our world today.

This list is not meant to be a complete list, but rather a jumping-off point to learn more about race, racism, injustice, and inequity and how these constructs were created and play out in current times, and how we can actively move against them. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint; we must pace ourselves, lean in, and not disengage..

Actions

Pray and Lament | Prayer and lament must be foundations in this journey. They help us keep things in perspective and allow us to hold space for all of our emotions to process what we feel. Lament recognizes the struggles of life and cries out for justice against existing injustices. Action begins with lament, but it doesn’t end there. Lament moves us to having empathy for others and should move us to God in prayer. We believe prayer is powerful to move the hand of God and to see God’s Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Throughout the process of seeing renewal come, we must be dependent on God in prayer.

Give Your Time and Creativity | Volunteering at local organizations grounded in combating injustice and inequity.

Donate | Financially support national and local organizations on the ground combating injustice and inequity like Equal Justice Initiative or the Vera Institute; consider setting up recurring donations with any organization you choose to support.

Talk About It | Have discussions with your family, friends, and members of your local community. At times, this can be uncomfortable, but we ask you to lean into the discomfort. Direct other people to the resources you find.

Educate and Engage | Read books, listen to and watch movies about the lived experiences and histories of people from other races and ethnic groups. Engage in a discussion with someone about a topic that you don’t understand or would like to understand better. Set ground rules and seek to understand by listening openly and asking open-ended questions.

Vote | Exercise your right to vote and pay special attention to who and what you’re voting for on the state and local level; they impact many of the systematic justice issues. Local and state propositions, and positions like mayor, county officials, district attorney, and state attorney specifically, make decisions or hold positions that impact cases like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the many more.

Having Difficult Conversations

One of the immediate first steps you can take to advance conversations about racism, oppression, marginalization, and injustice is to talk about it, specifically with family and friends. We understand that this can be challenging, and at times uncomfortable. So, we’ve included a few resources to help you prepare for having these conversations:

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen (Book)

Reality SF Lecture on Difficult Conversations with Michael Zachariah: Michael Zacharia adapts material from the bestselling book Difficult Conversations, and teaches on all the elements that are essential to any difficult conversation. The worksheet used in this lecture can be found here

Media, Books, & Articles

We strongly encourage you to listen or watch the teachings on this topic from “The Gospel & Race” teaching series in addition to the other teaching resources provided below. This list below is not exhaustive and should be considered a starting point for anyone looking to learn more about the history of inequities and how they were created.

Media (Audio & Video)

Reality SF teachings, lectures, and podcast episodes on the topics of race and justice:

Reality SF | The Gospel & Race Teaching Series

The Reality Daily Podcast | Racism for Beginners

The Reality Daily Podcast | How to Talk About Race with Others

The Reality Daily Podcast | Embracing Grief & Loss

The Reality Daily Podcast | Balancing Lament & Action

The Reality Daily Podcast | A Critical Conversation on Identity

Reality SF | Lecture on Power, Injustice, and the Image of God with Andy Crouch

Reality SF | Lecture on Unity in the Midst of Diversity with Christena Cleveland

Reality SF | Lecture on the Biblical Ordering of Justice with Mako Nagasawa

Here are some recommended audio and video resource as well as films from other sources outside of our church:

Gospel & Race Conference | Can You Drink the Cup by Rich Villodas

Pass the Mic Podcast | Why Do Multiethnic Churches Fail?

Anti-Asian American Racism: A Conversation with Daniel Lee and Mark Labberton (Fuller Theological Seminary)

A Conversation on Race: A series of short films about identity in America (The New York Times)

Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Amazon Prime or YouTube (free through June 2020)

13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix and currently Free on YouTube

American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix

Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada) — Hulu with Cinemax or available to rent

Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent

The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with Cinemax

When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix

The Joy Luck Club (Wayne Wang) — Amazon Prime

The Big Sick (Michael Showalter) — Amazon

Real Women Have Curves (Patricia Cardoso) — Hulu

The Talk: Race in America — PBS

Native Americans Documentary Series — PBS

Asian Americans Documentary Series — PBS

Black in America Since MLK: And Still I Rise — PBS

Latino Americans Documentary Series — PBS

Latin History for Morons (John Leguizamo) — Netflix

The Color of Compromise (Jemar Tisby) — Amazon Prime

Interconnected: Confronting Racial Prejudice Between Asian American and African American Communities — (Asian American Christian Collaborative)

Books

The following is a list are books that were used for research and cultural analysis during The Gospel & Race teaching series. Some of these books are Christian and some are not. We believe that these books are important resources to help shape our thinking with the Scriptures as our ultimate authority and guide.

(See Reality SF Race & Belonging Cohort Amazon Book List)

The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby

Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times by Soong Chan Rah

Right Color, Wrong Culture by Bryan Loritts

Let Justice Roll Down by John M. Perkins

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD

White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White by Daniel Hill

Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America by Christian Smith and Michael O Emerson

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson