Celebrate Women's History Month by getting to know Civil Rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer.
Fannie Lou Hamer was born on October 6, 1917, in Mississippi, to a family of sharecroppers. She was the youngest of twenty children, and she started picking cotton at age 6. Fannie Lou loved reading and learning, but she had to leave school at age 12 to help support the family. Because of her academic skills, as an adult she worked as time and record keeper on the plantation where she sharecropped. In this position, she saw that the owner was using unfair scales to cheat her fellow workers. Whenever possible, she substituted her own fair scale to weigh the cotton brought in. She met and married her husband on this same plantation.
On February 4, 2022, beloved children's artist and writer Ashley Bryan died at the age of 98. As a child growing up in the Bronx, Ashley loved to draw, and his teachers encouraged his gift. When high school came to a close, his teachers helped him to assemble a portfolio and apply for a scholarship to an art school.
He was very discouraged when he was rejected for scholarships because he was black, despite an outstanding portfolio. Then he discovered that Cooper Union had a blind application process, and he was awarded a full scholarship.
How did faith in Jesus embolden three African Americans in their quest for freedom? Take ten minutes to watch this animated series and learn how The Reader, The Servant, and The Hymnist lived out their faith. Can you guess who they are before the end of the video?
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As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior, during this Advent season, we'd like to invite you to revisit a sermon from a few years ago. Pastor Colin Robeson preached on a part of the Christmas story that is often overlooked in Matthew 2:13-18. After the Magi visit Jesus, they go home by a different route. The Holy Family, warned in a dream, flee as refugees to Egypt, while Herod commands the slaughter of all boys in Bethlehem two years and under. Why does Matthew include this story?
It's that time of year when you may be looking for Christmas gifts for family and friends or maybe a few ideas for your own wishlist. Check out our list of racial justice-themed gift ideas from members of the J&RR Team!
Recommended by Vicki Foreman
I love reading aloud to young children. I love introducing a good book to young readers. I love sharing books with kids and adults and talking about the stories that capture our imagination and our hearts. It's even fun to talk about books we don't all like and why. Reading stories of other lived experiences is a great way to expand our understanding of our fellow humans and develop empathy for people not just like us. These book suggestions are a very, very small sample of the excellent multicultural literature available. Just start searching for "the best multicultural books for (age group)". And for you adult fiction and/or poetry buffs, read anything Maya Angelou or Toni Morrison ever wrote.
November is Native American Heritage Month. Each year since 1990, this month has been set aside to recognize and honor the contributions of Indigenous people in America and to celebrate Native American culture, traditions, languages, and stories. We invite you to explore the resources below throughout this month and beyond.
One of the books most highly recommended by the J&RR Team is Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, the founder of Equal Justice Initiative. Founded in 1989, EJI is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. As part of EJI's work to educate the public, they've produced some excellent reports. They've just released their most recent report: Race and the Jury – Illegal Discrimination in Jury Selection.
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