by Heather Hedlund
Has this ever happened to you? You wake up early in the morning and realize that you made a mistake on some work you've submitted, and it's too late to change it. That's what happened to me the morning our last J&RR newsletter went out. As I was thinking about the blog I wrote on Talking about Race, I realized that I made a classic white person mistake. In social justice terminology, it's called "centering whiteness" but here's what it means in plain English. In the United States, whiteness is considered normal. It's the default. If a writer or speaker hasn't explicitly mentioned a person's race, we generally picture the character as white. I wrote that whole article on talking about race without ever noticing that I was only talking about and for white people. Yes, I see the irony. I should have noted that as a white person I was raised to be colorblind and that it feels awkward for white people to talk about race because we're out of practice. Families who aren't white usually talk about race a lot, not because they necessarily want to, but because they have to. I apologize for writing about my experience as though it's universal, when it certainly is not.
by Heather Hedlund
Do you find it awkward or difficult to talk about race? It may be that you haven't had much practice. Many of us were raised in an environment that aspired to be "colorblind." We thought that the best way to end racism was to be colorblind: to not take race into consideration at all. We tried to not even notice race. While this concept was well-intentioned, it turned out to be not possible, not helpful, and most importantly, not biblical. One of the outcomes of the colorblind philosophy was that we avoided talking about race at all. Since we weren't supposed to notice it, we didn't mention it. Now it feels uncomfortable to talk about race because we're out of practice.
Yesterday marked the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. For a very brief period after the Civil War, Black Americans eagerly participated in our democracy by voting and holding elected office. However, in many parts of the country, particularly the areas that had seceded from the Union, violent intimidation of Black people and the passage of laws making it more difficult for them to vote quickly stripped those rights away.
Because They Marched: The People's Campaign for Voting Rights that Changed America by Russell Freedman
For the fiftieth anniversary of the march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman has written a riveting account of African-American struggles for the right to vote. Illustrated with more than forty archival photographs, this is an essential chronicle of events every American should know.
You can learn more about the Civil Rights Act, including viewing original documents related to its passage at the National Archives.
In 2013, the US Supreme Court invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act which had been reauthorized by Congress in 2006. Read more about the implications of this ruling here.
I was in the shower, thanking the Lord for the blessing of hot water, when I suddenly stumbled over the word "blessing." Rather boldly, I asked, "Lord, if blessings mean things like available water, sufficient food, shelter, etc., does that mean that the millions of people who don't have these things are not blessed?" Clearly this was a rhetorical question whose answer must be "no," but I needed some new thoughts about this notion of being blessed.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
Civil Rights leader John Lewis died on July 17, 2020 at the age of 80. We remember Rep. Lewis not only for his life-long fight for justice, but also for his faith in Jesus that led him to do so. He lived a life of courage, willing to risk injury and death to secure rights for African Americans and justice for all.
Click here to view an illustration of John Lewis as a bridge to voting rights
A personal story from an attendee of BelPres since 2014
Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. - Arthur Ashe
During this time of collective reckoning with the racism so prevalent in our society, this quote (which I recently came across thanks to this wonderful wall-hanging by Rayo & Honey) made me reflect on two very important aspects of my work for justice:
- Start where I am. I have so much to learn and unlearn about the systems I am a part of, and my role in them. I've been on a multi-year path of self-reflection and re-orienting my own life. As a family on this road, we've made small changes, and changes as large as having a family live with us in our home.
- Start where I am. Having identified what systems I am a part of, and what needs to change to bring about more justice, I begin to create change where I live, work, play, and learn.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free! While over forty states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, many think it should be a national holiday. Read more about why we should consider this.
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