Advocates for Justice

Africa in Crisis: Sudan & Congo

Across the African continent, communities in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo are enduring unimaginable violence, displacement, and humanitarian devastation. These ongoing conflicts remind us of the urgent need for prayer, advocacy, and awareness as innocent lives are caught in cycles of power, exploitation, and war.

• Mass killings prompt fears of a new Darfur genocide - DW
• Sudan: Social Media Testimony (Instagram)
• Inside the dangerous Congo mines rebels use to fuel a devastating war - YouTube

Take Action

Here is a worrisome development, but there is an easy action item included! By filling out the form linked below, a letter protesting a section of the tax bill the House Way’s and Means Committee recently passed will be sent to your representatives. This unacceptable section allows any administration to accuse any non-profit of wrongdoing, declare them a terrorist organization, and take away their non-profit status.

ACTION ALERT: Tell The Senate to Prioritize Social Safety in Budget Reconciliation

Please post this action with the slight change to the Personal Message.As a follower of Christ, I condemn the widening gap between the rich and the poor and the concentration of wealth in the hands of an ever smaller percentage of the global population. I lament that too many people in the world lack the basic resources necessary for survival and pledge to work toward the eradication of the roots and effects of poverty.

Cuts to Medicaid in budget reconciliation will terminate health insurance for 16 million people. Likewise, more than 11 million people, including more than 4 million children and more than half a million adults who are over 65 or have a disability, live in households that would be at risk of losing their food assistance under new work reporting requirements alone. Also included in the reconciliation proposal is a provision to remove the regulation of silencers under the National Firearms Act (NFA), which have been heavily regulated for almost 100 years due to the risk they pose to public safety. This would allow for the proliferation of these weapons into our communities and the funneling of over $1.5 billion in revenue over the next decade straight to the pockets of gun manufacturers. I urge you to prioritize social safety in the budget reconciliation package.

Take Action Today!

• Fill out this form to send your protest to your representatives

• Dear Black Folks: The Protests Against ICE Are Absolutely Our Fight Too
• Take Action: End ICE Raids and Military Escalation Against Protestors
• CHIRLA Membership Drive 2025
• Dear Black Folks: The Protests Against ICE Are Absolutely Our Fight Too (Op-Ed)
• Take Action: Stop ICE Raids and Military Escalation Against Protestors (Action Network)
• CHIRLA Membership Drive 2025 – Join and Support Immigrant Rights
• Buy. Banned. Books. – Support authors and resist censorship through this curated list on Bookshop.
• Black Economic Boycotts Must Be Driven By Strategy, Not Emotions Master Class
• Greenline Housing Foundation
• Learn more about Chet's programs and how you can get involved.
• Write That Book
• Does your church have a role to play in addressing injustice? (TIME SENSITIVE APPLICATION DEADLINE)
• Poor People’s Campaign - California Committee

• ▶ Call Your Member of Congress (Often!)

Juneteenth

What does freedom sound like? How does it feel? How does it smell? What does it look like? In the coming weeks, on June 19th and July 4th, our nation will commemorate two celebrations of freedom. What would it look like to engage in these celebrations with honest reflection, courageous grief, steadfast hope, & jubilant joy? 

160 years ago, on June 19, 1865, the last vestiges of slavery were declared abolished, proclaiming freedom for the enslaved. Imagine the relief, the overwhelm, the shock & awe, and the disbelief. But this was just the beginning. The road to freedom would prove to be fraught with false starts, meaningful progress, and complicated realities. More than a century and a half later, this Juneteenth, we live amidst a paradox of realities. Significant progress has been made towards the greater affirmation of dignity and humanity for all. Even so, the scars of slavery and racial hierarchy are still present throughout our social fabric. Moreover, new wounds are being inflicted across a myriad of communities. The promise of freedom for all is still not fully realized.

Just 15 days after Juneteenth, our nation will participate in another celebration of freedom, rooted in our nation’s founding. The mere mention of the Fourth of July brings about images of fireworks, barbecues, hot dog eating contests, and parades. Sure, these can be fun times with family and friends. But how often do we engage with this cultural spectacle out of habit and passivity, rather than careful examination? 

What if our Fourth of July and Juneteenth celebrations were interconnected? Rather than two separate holidays, what if we saw them as complements to one another?

Juneteenth could be a day in which it was acknowledged that the original “We the People” had excluded many in society. The Fourth of July could be a day that we honor the promise of America and celebrate freedom for all, knowing that the vision is still not fully realized.

Pastor and author David Swanson reminds us that Juneteenth has often been referred to as Jubilee Day, honoring the rich biblical tradition of freedom for the captives and oppressed. In his words, “It may have been President Lincoln who issued the Emancipation Proclamation and General Granger who finally alerted Galveston, TX to the arrival of freedom. But these free-women and men, astute biblical interpreters that they were, understood that it wasn’t a president or a general who were ultimately responsible for their freedom. Because as influential as any president might claim to be, as powerful as any military commander might imagine himself to be, there is only One who is responsible for Jubilee.” (“Hope In Troubling Times”, David Swanson)

Juneteenth is an incredibly important day– one that reminds us that we have the capacity to impact the material realities of our neighbors. But at its core, it’s a reflection of the ultimate destiny of humanity, where all things are made new, wrongs are made right, and Earth has been united with Heaven once again.

In these days of celebrating freedom, may we honor those who toiled for freedom, celebrate the progress made, advocate for further work to be done, and live into our calling to be agents of healing. As we do so, may Holy Spirit empower us to become a foretaste of the Kingdom of God on earth. Freedom in this kingdom sounds, feels, smells, and looks like Jesus’ declaration in Luke 4:

16 On one of these Days of Resting, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) returned to his boyhood home in Seed Planter Village (Nazareth). As was his tradition, he entered the gathering house and stood up to read from the ancient Sacred Teachings. 17 The headman handed him the scroll with the words from the prophet Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah). He opened the scroll and began to read. He spoke with deep respect in his voice as he held the scroll in a sacred manner. His words were strong and clear, and his eyes were bright and full of life as he read. 18“The Spirit of Creator has come to rest on me. He has chosen me to tell the good story to the ones who are poor. He has sent me to mend broken hearts, to tell prisoners they have been set free, to make the blind see again, and to lift up the ones who have been pushed down— 19 to make it known that Creator’s Year of Setting Free has come at last!” Luke 4:16-19 (First Nations’ Version)

As you consider what celebration and reflection will look like in these coming weeks, we invite you to engage with these resources, reflect honestly, and respond creatively.

• Prayer - Video 1
• Prayer - Video 2
• Singing Songs of Freedom: Remembering Our Ancestors’ Dreams
• What Does Juneteenth Mean to You?
• Why the Juneteenth Flag is Red, White, & Blue
• Lessons from Juneteenth, Part 1
• Lessons from Juneteenth, Part 2
• Lessons from Juneteenth, Part 3
• The Ever-Evolving Juneteenth Table
• Decentering Whiteness on Juneteenth
• Celebrating Juneteenth with Intention
• What to the White American is the 19th of June?
• R.A.C.E. Towards Jesus
• If You Preach Justice, You Should Observe Juneteenth
• Juneteenth & Afro-Indigenous Identity
• At 98, the Grandmother of Juneteenth Still Has Work to Do
• A Guide to What the Juneteenth Holiday Is and How to Celebrate
• Juneteenth and the Long Arc of Black Resistance, Hope, and Liberation
• In Oklahoma, Juneteenth Highlights Tribal Slavery Descendants’ Fight for Recognition
• Black Texans Were Not Ignorant of Their Freedom Before June 19, 1865
• Black History Summit
• Free-ish by NaTasha Brown | Jun 5, 2025
• From Celebrating Juneteenth to the Erasure of Black History: Charles M. Blow on America Today
• Your Guide to Juneteenth 2025 in the Bay Area
• A History of Racial Injustice – Equal Justice Initiative
• Juneteenth Digital Toolkit – National Museum of African American History & Culture
• Our Daily Bread Ministries | Juneteenth
• Worship and Other Resources for Celebrating Juneteenth
• On Juneteenth | by Annette Gordon-Reed
• A Nation's Story: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

Black History Legacy & Learning

What is liberation theology? How can we continue to learn from the witness of Black liberation theology today?

Prof. Michelle Clifton explores these questions, and offers a concise overview of how Black liberation theology began, in this newly released video!

Watch the video here

• Retreat - Book
• Retreat - Workbook
• Read Black Authors
• The Bible & Black Lives Matter
• The Bible Told Them So
• Loving Day – This is the love story that changed America.
• 28 Days of Black History, Day 1 – Reconstruction’ Revenge
• Jerry Rescue Day
• Realize the Dream
• Celebrating Dr. Charles R. Drew
• UMI Black History
• Black Christianity Reel
• The Wait — The Humanity Archive
• Racial Discourse, Social Engagement, and Misalignment: Assessing the Impact of Multiracial Churches
• The Invention of Whiteness – A Long History of a Dangerous Idea (The Guardian)
• Diversity, Politics, and Black Americans in 2025 (New York Times)
• Soul Witness – The Evangelical Covenant Church
• The Gospel and Civil Rights – Jude 3 Project
• Feeding the Civil Rights Movement – 5 Restaurants That Sustained the Struggle
• Black History Museums – 8 Institutions Dedicated to African American History and Culture
• The Big Payback – A Film Exploring Reparations in America
• Brown Paper Bag Test – Jim Crow Museum, February 2014
• The History of Reparations – PBS Resource on U.S. Reparations
• Enslaving Colonial North America
• Slave Voyages – Explore the Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American slave trade through interactive data, maps, and resources
• White Supremacy Culture – A Resource on Identifying and Dismantling White Dominance in Society
• The Rollback of the Civil-Rights Movement – Esquire
• The White Panther Party: A Radical Ally Movement for Racial Justice
• I’ve been to the Mountain Top (Full speech) - Martin Luther King Jr.
• Kimberlé Crenshaw: The urgency of intersectionality | TED Talk
• YouTube Playlist on Black History Legacy
• Black Theology: the FAITH inspired origins of the Civil Rights Movement - Dr. Dennis Edwards
• Half-Month, Inclusive History
• The Slave Bible
• Tulsa Race Massacre Findings (DOJ)
• Segregation & Racial Inequality in Detail
• The History of Black History Month & Dr. Carter G. Woodson | Good Black News
• Black History Month Has an Official Theme | Byline: Jemar Tisby
• 2025 Black History Month Theme - Executive Summary
• Welcome to Black History Month 2025 | Byline: James Tolbert
• Black History Month in Trump’s America | Byline: Robert P. Jones
• Equal Justice Initiative Calendar - Racial Injustice Events
• Anti-Greed Gospel: How to Resist in a Plutocracy
• Domini Hoskins Black History Museum and Learning Center - Home
• Negro Spirituals - Spiritual Lessons with Rollo Dilworth - The Evangelical Covenant Church
• Why No White History Month - Blair Imani
• Stop Co-opting the Civil Rights Movement

Black & LatinX Healthcare

• Elevate Her International
• Re-Spin — A Resource for Women Dealing with Menopause
• 5 Things for Black Women to Know About Perimenopause
• Strong Medicine for a Stressed Out Professional
• Clinical Trials Have a Gender Problem
• Menopause Unwrapped
• Herd immunity lost
• State of Emergency for Latinos in Santa Clara County
• Lung Capacity Myth Busted (Instagram)
• Reclaiming Our Time: How Black Women Are Fighting the Biological Theft of Longevity (Lahvie, Substack)
• New Mexico Made Childcare Free – Lifted 120,000 Above Poverty Line | The Guardian
• Black Maternal Health Week 2025: Healing Legacies – Center For Children and Families
• Quit NIH: Health Care Diversity Research Under Trump - Slate
• Synthetic Hair Carcinogens Lead to Health Risks for Black Women - NBC News
• Joel Bervell's Homepage
• The Birth Fund - Press

Bible Reading Plans

• Awakening the Mighty Wind: Embracing Life, Renewal, and the Spirit’s Global Breath
• Awakening the Mighty Wind: Embracing Life, Renewal, and the Spirit’s Global Breath
• Healing BLESS Communities
• Reconciling Grace
• Dream With God: 3 Days of Imaginative Prayer – YouVersion
• Awakening the Mighty Wind: Embracing Life, Renewal, and the Spirit’s Global Breath
• Coming this Fall as an ACF Offering – Migration (Amazon)
• Living Undivided: A Devotional for Racial Healing & Justice
• Bible Reading Plans & Recommended Studies
• DEI: A God Design – 5-Day Bible Reading Plan
• Reflections of Faith and Justice - a Devotional by Benjamin Mays
• Forever Faithful 10-Day Devotional
• On the Shoulders of Giants
• Voices of Faith
• Celebrate Hope: Looking Back Stepping Up

Podcasts

• Jesus Can’t Fix Racism
• The Bible and the Problem of Evil — Theology Lab
• Credible Witness
• Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America
• Dismantling The Doctrine of Discovery
• Democracy in Color
• Love the Cov Podcast – Spotify
• Not Too Woke, Too Weak: Democrats’ Real Problem with Voters
• How the Word is Passed: “I Can’t Change What Happened Here: Angola Prison”
• A Different Kind of DEI – The Esau McCaulley Podcast
• How Race Was Made (Seeing White Part 2) – Scene on Radio
• Made in America (Seeing White Part 3) – Scene on Radio
• Betrayal Trauma – Spotify Episode
• Bridging the Gap: Justice in the Church with Sarah Pechan-Driver
• The Holy Post Podcast
• The Micah Podcast
• Faithful Citizenship in Trump's Second Term with Peter Wehner
• My Anger, God’s Righteous Indignation
• When AI Becomes God
• This podcast on Indigenous people's experience in the small town of Minden, Nevada
• Soul of the Nation Featuring The Convocation Unscripted
• Immigration is a Biblical issue

• Join Markus, Antwuan, and Malcolm as they dive into the uncomfortable but necessary conversation about greed, racism, the church, and what it truly means to follow Christ in a society obsessed with wealth.

Newsworthy

The book bans are coming! The book bans are coming! THE BOOK BANS ARE COMING!

• “White Too Long” Banned in Tennessee | Byline: Robert P. Jones

Anyone who still believes that White Supremacy does not sit at the root of what this administration is doing is either in denial or complicit.

• Whites Were Not Treated Badly
• 5 Things White People Should Stop
• What the Administration is Posting – Trump administration's posts echo rhetoric linked to extremist groups | PBS News
• NBA Betting Scandal Highlights Need for Christian Voice on Gambling — Christianity Today
• National Guard Rapid Reaction Force Being Created
• America Had a Black President Then Came the Whitelash
• Something Is Stirring in Christian America, and It’s Making Me Nervous
• The Billionaires Profiting from Deportations (ICE)
• Russell Vought, Shadow President
• The Unraveling of the Justice Department
• NBA Betting Scandal Highlights Need for Christian Voice on Gambling
• The Motive Behind the Chicago ICE Raid Is Questionable at Best
• One man's journey to reclaim family land in the American South
• The Excruciating Question Confronting Black College Applicants
• The cemetery of living men: Trump deportees tell of abuse in secretive mega-jail
• Trump’s federal layoffs are hitting Black women
• Challenging MAGA’s Biblical Authoritarianism
• How Trump Upended 60 Years of Civil Rights in Two Months
• Letters From an American
• The Rapid Rise of Killings by Police in Rural America – The Wall Street Journal
• How Democrats Lost the Nonwhite Voter
• Evangelical Mascot: Lone Wolf or Lamb? – The Evangelical Covenant Church
• The Bible According to Christian Nationalists – Public Witness
• Portland to Pay $8.5M Settlement to Descendants of Displaced Black Families – OPB
• Clotilda Descendants Talk Reconciliation – CBS News / 60 Minutes
• Pope Leo XIV's Family Tree and Historical Connections – New York Times
• Refugees of Privilege: How Racism Rebrands Displacement
• Can Trump Really End Birthright Citizenship? – The New York Times
• How Trump’s America Is Normalizing Violence Against Women – Ms. Magazine
• The Supreme Court Case That Could Dismantle Church-State Separation – Public Witness
• Trump’s Attack on Smithsonian Museum is an Attack on History | US News Opinion
• Trump’s anti-diversity push comes for Arlington Cemetery’s rich, diverse history
• Trump White House mocks immigrants deported ASMR x Elon Musk
• Trump, the GOP and DOGE have launched their attack on Social Security. You should start worrying now
• Don’t Blame DEI for the L.A. Fires | TIME
• Flawed AI Impacts Justice

The Playlist

• The Anthem
• Common Hymnal @ CCDA
• Lament
• Black History Month
• Celebrate AAPI Artists
• Celebrate Latine Artists
• Love Mercy Do Justice – Pastor Kim Wright Honored with Irving C. Lambert Award
• God of Color | Common Hymnal
• Spotify Playlist
• Give Your Hands to Struggle

Immigration Resources

• The Children of Dilley
• Public Schools’ Duty to Keep Immigrant Students Safe
• Black immigrants are approximately 5.4% of the undocumented population, but around 20.3% of those facing removal based on criminal convictions. (BAJI/UN submission)
• Black immigrants face higher deportation likelihood once a conviction is involved: approximately 76% vs 45% overall, and around 83% for Caribbean immigrants. (BAJI/UN submission)
• The “crimmigration” pipeline: approximately 76% of deported Black immigrants were removed due to prior contact with criminal enforcement systems vs about half for non-Black immigrants. (Human Rights First)>
• Detention harms: reviewing nearly 17,000 hotline calls, Black migrants were around 6% of ICE detention but made nearly 28% of abuse reports; over 53% of the highest-intensity cases involved Black migrants. (Uncovering the Truth report)
• Welcoming the Stranger Under This Administration
• ICE Raids: Know Your Rights
• The Fallout from Trump’s ICE Storm
• Actions for Organizations
• The Face(s) of an Invisible God - The Evangelical Covenant Church
• I Was a Stranger – Diana Butler Bass (Substack)
• Supreme Court just stripped thousands of immigrants of their right to due process – Vox
• Talking to Immigrant Survivors about the Immigrant Registration Requirement (PDF)
• LMDJ Immigration Resources – Evangelical Covenant Church
• LMDJ partners with Immigrant Connection to assist churches in offering immigrant welcome and opening Immigration Legal Service Centers
• Get Involved: Immigration Action Guide
• The History of Immigration in the United States
World Relief invites us to advocate for vulnerable immigrants who may face deportation if the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program is cut. Read and Sign the Advocacy Letter to Sustain the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program
• Immigration Resource Hub | Evangelical Covenant Church
• How End Times Theology Shaped U.S. Immigration Policy - Sojourners
• Immigrant Connection - Welcoming & Supporting Immigrants

Blogs

• Is It Too Late
• Don’t Apologize for Being White
• When SNAP Stops, We Step Up
• I’m Done Waiting for a Leader
• Learning How to Love from James Baldwin
• Black Unemployment (Read Racial Purge) – The New York Times
• Mercy. Or no?
• Not all thoughts and prayers are created equally
• Black women expendable
• The Beautiful Revolution
• Trump’s Personal Army
• Introducing Yell Fire – Substack
• What We Are Getting Wrong About Christian Nationalism – Sojourners
• Unbothered – NYT Opinion on Black Americans and Trump Politics
• The Slippery Slope – Dave Benjamin on Resisting Authoritarian Drift
• Restoring Truth or Rewriting History | Byline: Jemar Tisby
• Is ‘Wokeness’ Worth Saving? | Sojourners
• Survive Together – Lisa Sharon Harper
• The False Religion of Power – Markus Lloyd
• Debating DEI
• MAGA’s DEI Logic | Robert P. Jones
• How Americans Feel About Deporting Immigrants | The Conversation
• The Authoritarian Playbook
• Conversation as Spiritual Formation in a Lonely Age - Coracle
• Du Mez Connections - Pete Hegseth’s America
• Footnotes By Jamar Tisby - Pete Hegseth: The New Secretary Of...
• A Public Witness - After Viral Sermon, GOP Threatens...
• White Too Long - After Week One: The Sermon Heard Round...
• Christian Nationalism in a Second Trump Administration | Byline: Kristin Du Mez
• The Needs of the Few Outweigh the Needs of the Many | Byline: James Tolbert
• David Brooks: Faith and Coming to Christianity (NYT Essay)
• Resolute by Kristin Du Mez (Substack)
• Plan to Dismantle DEI on Day One Is a Colorblind Path to Jim Crow 2.0
• White Women & Reactionary Politics
• The Role of the Church in Helping the Nation Heal
• Buckle Up | Heather Cox Richardson
• Why Black Americans Feel They Have No Allies After Trump's Victory | Byline: D. Danyelle Thomas
• Chickens Coming Home to Roost | Byline: James Tolbert
• Salty
• Hope is a Woman Who Lost Her Fear
• Challenges to Democracy: The 2024 Election in Focus
• Feelings Won't Fix America

Connect with ECC LMDJ

• Christian Faith and Politics

Who We Are Following

• Radical Discipleship
• African American Policy Forum – Intersectionality
• The Commons Social Change Library
• Black Star Network
• Black Press USA
• Ted Grimrud — A Christian Pacifist in the American Empire
• Voices
• Practicing Jesus
• Analyst News - Justice | Analyst News
• California Anti-Racism Alliance
• Flourish Collective Impact Partners
• Washington Informer
• Relevant Magazine
• Hands in Soil Foundation
• Common Ground Conversations
• The Faith of the Dreamer Film
• Sacred Reckonings
• Interwoven Congregations
• Justice League GLM
• Athens Center for Racial Justice
• An American Lament – Repentance Project
• Journey Home – About
• The Zacchaeus Foundation
• J29 Coalition
• Trinity Forum (TTF)
• One America Movement
• The People's Union
• Learning Justice
• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Equal Justice Initiative
• Woolman Forum - George Fox University
• HTI Open Plaza
• The Birth Fund Press
• The Authoritarian Playbook - Protect Democracy
• ECC Free
• Martha R. Bireda
• Disarming Leviathan
• Kairos Center
• Hindus for Human Rights
• Savera
• Freedom Church of the Poor
• OC Justice Initiative
• Bernice King
• D. Danyelle Thomas
• Remarkably Us
• Racial Reconciliation — Eastown Church
• PICO California
• Threaded
• The Witness - (Non)Toxic Masculinity
• Diana Butler Bass
• The Yoga Abbey
• Spark Church - Gospel Justice
• Arrabon
• Bernice King
• Christian Community Development Association
• Cross Cultural Solidarity History Project
• Equal Justice Initiative
• The Flourish Collective
• Jesus & Justice Collective
• Jesus & Justice
• Lisa Sharon Harper
• Love Never Fails
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
• Center for Action and Contemplation

What We Are Reading

📚I highly recommend this new book by fellow historian Jack "Calvin" Schermerhorn. Deeply researched and informative.

👉🏾 Wealth is central to the American pursuit of happiness and is an overriding measure of well-being. Yet wealth is conspicuously absent from African American households. Why do some 3.5 million Black American families have zero or negative wealth?

Historian Calvin Schermerhorn traces four hundred years of Black dispossession and decapitalization—what Frederick Douglass called plunder—through the stories of families who have strived to earn and keep the fruits of their toils. Their struggles reveal that the ever-evolving strategies to strip Black income and wealth have been critical to sustaining a structure of racialized disadvantage. These accounts also tell of the quiet heroism of those who worked to overcome obstacles and defy the plunder.

From the story of Anthony and Mary Johnson, abducted from Angola and brought to Virginia in 1619, to the enslaved Black workers dispossessed by the Custis-Washington family, to Venture Smith (born Broteer Furro), who purchased his freedom, to three generations of a family enslaved in the South who moved north after Emancipation, to the Tulsa massacre and the subprime lending crisis, Schermerhorn shows that we cannot reckon with today’s racial wealth inequality without understanding its unrelenting role in American history.

• The Plunder of Black America

• Healing Racial Trauma
• Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around
• Beauty + Resistance
• Black Woman Grief
• Separation of Church and Hate
• The Seven Mountains Mandate
• Becoming Kin
• Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America
• Our Fragile Freedoms
• The Bible Told Them So
• The Soulwork of Justice
• Small Great Things
• Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies & the Justice of God
• Without Fear
• Wild Faith – Talia Lavin
• Better Ways to Read the Bible
• Truth’s Table – Michelle Higgins, Christina Edmondson, and Ekemini Uwan
• All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave (PDF)
• On Tyranny – Institute for Christian Studies Summer Read
• Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice – IVP
• Strength in Surrender – The Evangelical Covenant Church
• Slavery After Slavery – by Mary Frances Berry
• Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the 21st Century
• Until I Am Free – Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America
• Weep With Me – How Lament Opens a Door for Racial Reconciliation
• Jesus and the Powers – Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies
• What We Are Reading on Audible
• The Battle for the Black Mind
• When Faith Disappoints
• Divided by Faith – Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America
• The Stories that Whiteness Tells Itself – Racial Myths and Our American Narratives
• We Rise – A Powerful Call to Black Resistance and Historical Resilience
• The Moment – Bakari Sellers
• Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair
• Plundered: The Tangled Roots of Racial and Environmental Injustice
• Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America
• The Tears of Things by Richard Rohr — Available Now
• How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
• The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt
• Black Practitioners to Learn From in 2025 - Community Church Development Association
• Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy
• A Black Theology of Liberation: 50th Anniversary Edition
• God of the Oppressed
• Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare
• When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America
• The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong
• 12 Lies Americans Believe - Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive: And the Truth That Sets Us Free
• Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism
• The Christian Right in Europe
• Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis
• Loving Your Black Neighbor as Yourself (Audiobook)
• The Gift of Rejection: “Greatness and mediocrity are separated by one thing--how you respond to rejection.”
• We Cannot Be Silent
• The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History
• Antiracism as Daily Practice by Jennifer Harvey
• Baptizing America by Brian Kaylor
• Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth
• Thanksgiving, Lament, and the Story We Tell | Sojourners
• Moving Forward
• Sojourners Magazine
• Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities
• Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0
• Church for Everyone
• The Post-Black and Post-White Church
• A copy of The 1619 Project (PDF)
• The Full Armor of God
• Decolonizing Christianity
• The Sum of Us
• Always With Us
• Disarming Leviathan
• We Cry Justice
• Loving My (LGBT) Neighbor
• The Making of Asian America
• Finding Latinx
• An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
• By the Fire We Carry
• Inventing Latinos
• Sajjilu Arab American
• The Mixed-Race Experience
• Black AF History
• They Called Us Exceptional
• Bring Back Your People

What We’re Streaming

• Black & Jewish in America
• Throughline: The First Department of Education | June 12 NPR Podcast
• Divided by Race, Not by Faith
• Thursday Evening at the Freedom Center
• Vision & Justice Now 2025 Panels
• Hope of the Gospel (YouTube)
• Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time (Nat Geo TV)
• The Convocation – Evangelical Theology of Spiritual Warfare
• Disordered: The Holy Icon and Racial Myths
• Healing is Resistance: Healing Racial Trauma in Communities of Color
• Can “White” People be Saved: Reflections on Missions and Whiteness
• Can “White” People be Saved: Q&A Session
• Before We Put Our Trust In Human Kings / Exalted | Common Hymnal
• The Jude 3 Project Library
• Early African Christianity
• When Faith Disappoints
• The Hope of the Gospel
• Biblical Justice I
• Environmental Racism Explained
• How This State Became America's Dumping Ground
• Pollution Is Segregated: The Father of Environmental Justice
• A Toxic Legacy: How Racism is Killing the Planet | TEDxBoulder
• Why Noise Pollution is More Dangerous Than We Think
• How Forever Chemicals Polluted America's Water
• Trump Rolls Back Landmark Policy Regulating Greenhouse Emissions
• What It's Like to Live in Cancer Alley
• Altgeld Gardens: Life in a Toxic Environment
• Dr. Jaqueline Echols' Mission to Cure Environmental Racism
• Biblical Justice II
• Worship, Lament, & Justice
• Justified Anger – Dr. Alex Gee
• Q: Pro-life or pro-choice OR...? Mako Nagasawa & Elizabeth Grady Harper on abortion (part 1)
• Reconstruction Part 1
• Race in America
• Quiet and Steady Resistance: The Work of Racial Justice and Repair Continues in Local Communities
• Segregated Sundays Documentary
• How One Journalist Risked Her Life to Hold Murderers Accountable
• Dr. Michael Emerson: Christians "Always Falling Behind" the Devil Because of Whites' Individualism
• Ida B. Wells: Crash Course Black American History #20
• A Time For Burning (56 minutes)
• Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States — Dr. Andrew L. Whitehead
• Policing the Police 2020 - FRONTLINE (PBS)
• Color blind or color brave? | Mellody Hobson
• The future of race in America: Michelle Alexander at TEDxColumbus
• Holy Post - Race in America
• Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice | TED
• Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary: Post Traumatic Slave Disorder
• The Road to Freedom: The Vernon Johns Story (199) - Free Movies | Tubi
• Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. By: Dr. Andrew L. Whitehead
• Are Faith & Science At Odds? | Dr. Frederick Ware
• The Big Problem with How We Pick Juries - YouTube video • 8 minutes
• The Origins of Policing in America | Perspective - YouTube video • 7 minutes
• From Slave Patrols to Modern Day Police: The Evolution - YouTube video • 16 minutes
• The Voices Collection Daily Devotionals
• Bridging the Gap: A Conversation with Bryan Stevenson & Chuck Mingo
• The 1619 Project
• Gather
• Through Eyes of Color
• How I Got Over
• Siri Imani - Lost Generation
• The Importance of Education and HBCUs
• Atlanta is Not Wakanda - 5 minutes
• Explained | Racial Wealth Gap | FULL EPISODE | Netflix - 16 minutes
• The Truth about Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap - 14 minutes
• Wealth Inequality in America - 6 minutes
• Examining the Racial Wealth Gap in the U.S. - 7 minutes
• The Racist History Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Gap | Doha Debates - 14 minutes
• How America’s Wealth Gap Shaped the Modern Economy - 14 minutes
• How America Created Its Shameful Wealth Gap | Robert Reich - 6 minutes
• What is Systemic Racism in America? - 4 minutes
• Not Just Tulsa: 5 Destroyed Black Towns - 8 minutes
• Environmental Racism Explained
• How This State Became America's Dumping Ground
• Pollution Is Segregated: The Father of Environmental Justice
• A Toxic Legacy: How Racism is Killing the Planet | TEDxBoulder
• Why Noise Pollution is More Dangerous Than We Think
• How Forever Chemicals Polluted America's Water
• Trump Rolls Back Landmark Policy Regulating Greenhouse Emissions
• What It's Like to Live in Cancer Alley
• Altgeld Gardens: Life in a Toxic Environment
• Dr. Jaqueline Echols' Mission to Cure Environmental Racism

Voting Resources

How Latino’s found Evangelicalism and Trump - What's really behind the Latino vote? : It's Been a Minute : NPR

It is not too early to start gearing up for the 2026 midterm elections. We must do all in our power to ensure EVERYONE gets registered. Secondly, we must educate them, making it Sesame Street simple. Then, we have to press in and press on keeping the issues before the people and do all in our power to get them to cast their ballots.

In parallel, we must stay informed of all the information and policies in this space and be ready to maneuver and outmaneuver as needed. Now is not the time to pull back, get tired, or give up.

Who's with me?

• Midterm Elections Information (USA.gov)

• Rethinking Trump
• Latinos Sour on Trump
• Voting Rights since 1619
• Voting Rights Act Under Extreme Pressure
• Prevent Election Cancellation
• Say No to Documentary Proof of Citizenship
• Voting Rights at Risk (NPR)
• Election security in the hands of an Election Denier, what’s there to worry about? (ProPublica)
• Facebook Video Resource
• Three Supreme Court justices just said they’re fine with race discrimination in elections
• Why California’s Latinos are just as politically divided as everyone else
• Vote is Sacred - Interfaith America
• ‘What a circus’: Eligible US voters on why they didn’t vote in the 2024 presidential election | The Guardian
• Beyond White Privilege
• Reclaim Our Vote
• Voter Formation
• AAPI Voting Information
• I Will Vote
• Concerning Rhetoric: Trump's State of the Union
• The SAVE Act: What's at Stake
• Election Deadlines: U.S. Vote Foundation
• Check Your Registration Status: Vote.org
• AllSides: See What All Sides Are Saying
• Fair Fight: Understand and Fight Vote Suppression
• Latino Voting Resources: Voto Latino
• AAPI Voting Resources
• Voter Resources in Multiple Languages: EAC

What We Are Learning

• Gentrification Explained
• The Plan to Turn Americans into Permanent Renters (50-Year Mortgage)
• Learn more here
• King Herod in the Oval Office — Rich Villodas
• The Danger of Syncretism: Why Mixing Christianity and African Traditional Religion is Problematic
• The Blackout Report
• Vision & Justice Curriculum
• The Unfinished Revolution
• How Do You Define White Supremacy? Dr. Jemar Tisby
• The Hidden Black Society They Don’t Teach You About
• 52k Christians Have Been Killed and No One Is Talking About It
• An Exhortation to the Exhausted Black Christian
• What the Public Memory of Charlie Kirk Revealed
• Bridging Gaps versus Drawing Lines
• Why America Cannot Move Forward Without Acknowledging Its Past
• Blacks in America Even Before 1619: A Primer – 1619 in America: 400 Years Ago, Africans Arrived in Virginia
• Slavery in the American Colonies: Crash Course Black American History #2
• Slavery and the Civil War
• The Civil War in Color: African Americans After the War
• What Makes a Church Safe for Women?
• The Dangers of PragerU (Jemar Tisby, Substack)
• Indigo, Blue Jeans, & Slavery (PBS Learning Media)
• Riveted: The History of Jeans (PBS American Experience)
• James Dobson and the Haint of Antebellum Violence (Lisa Sharon Harper, Substack)
• In Trump’s Second Term, Far-Right Agenda Enters the Mainstream (NYT)
• Inside the Project to Honor Japanese-American History – Today
• The Justice Journey – A Course by Jemar Tisby
• President Trump is disappearing people to a Salvadoran prison... (Instagram Reel)
• Be Loud and Brace for Impact: Anti-Asian Violence, the Model Minority Myth, and the Martyrs of Revelation 7:9–14
• In 1781, over 130 enslaved Africans were thrown overboard and drowned...
• Worship, Lament, and Justice | Interview with David M. Bailey (YouTube - 44 minutes)
• Justified Anger Initiative – Dr. Alex Gee
• Regeneration Black Cinema – Restoring Lost Black Films and Narratives
• What It Means To Be Black In Latin America | NPR
• Dulles Airport Was Built Over a Thriving Black Community | Loudoun History
• The Pentagon Was Built on a Black Neighborhood | The Guardian
• Lakes Were Built on Top of These Former Black Towns | PushBlack
• Gentrification and Black Displacement in D.C. | JGSPL
• Justice Interview with Dominique Gilliard (YouTube - 31 minutes)
• Allegories on Race and Racism | Camara Jones | TEDxEmory (YouTube)
• Scientists discover that most Europeans had dark skin as recently as 3,000 years ago | Live Science
• What Anti-Christian Bias Does For | Contrarian
• What is an Executive Order and How Does it Work? | ACLU
• Donald Trump’s New Approach to the Culture War | Politico
• The origins of policing in America | Perspective (7 minutes)
• The big problem with how we pick juries (8 minutes)
• Watch When They See Us | Netflix Official Site
• From Slave Patrols to Modern Day Police: The Evolution (16 minutes)
• 13TH | FULL FEATURE | Netflix (1 hour 40 minutes)
• Hitler took down democracy in 37 days
• Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States
• Sundown Towns by State - History and Social Justice
• How to Fight Racism
• Prison Policy Initiative
• The Demographics of Racial Inequality in the United States
• The US Medical System is Still Haunted by Slavery (YouTube - 8 minutes)
• The Horrors of the Tuskegee Experiment | A Short Documentary (YouTube - 9 minutes)
• Being Black in a White Coat: Local Doctors Face Discrimination on and Off the Job (YouTube - 10 minutes)
• Environmental Racism Explained (YouTube - 15 minutes)
• Descendants of Slavery Fight Environmental Racism in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ (YouTube - 8 minutes)
• Henrietta Lacks: The 'Immortal' Cells That Changed the World - BBC REEL (YouTube - 8 minutes)
• "Legacy": Dr. Uché Blackstock on How Racism Shapes Healthcare in America (YouTube - 10 minutes)
• Black Maternal Mortality Rate Worsens | Zerlina. (YouTube - 7 minutes)
• "Pollution is Segregated" Says the Father of Environmental Justice | Amanpour and Company (YouTube - 17 minutes)
• Dr. Jaqueline Echols' Mission To Cure Environmental Racism (YouTube - 13 minutes)
• What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman
• California Reparations Report
• Remembering Russell City
• Racial and Immigrant Justice
• Dominionism
• Would Black Christian Nationalism Help Create Utopia
• The Christian Right in Europe (Substack)
• Do You Know These Women? (Library of Congress)
• Haitian Independence Day: A Story of Resilience and Reparations
• Martin Luther King Jr. – Nobel Lecture
• Letter from a Birmingham Jail
• Finding Voice and Choice: Turning Pain into Power After Foster Care
• Religious-Sounding Language Will Be Everywhere in 2025
• Whose Land Are You On? - Native Land Digital
• The Story of the Affirmed Tribes of Northwest Indians
• For Long Walks - Dwell: Audio Bible
• Trump's Second Term Plans: Wildest Proposals for 2025 and Beyond - Rolling Stone
• HBCU Documentary: We Are Rising - YouTube (1 hr 23 mins)
• How America's Public Schools Keep Kids in Poverty - YouTube (13 mins)
• Doll Test 1940 Revisited 2012 - YouTube (6 mins)
• The Hidden History of Brown v. Board of Education - YouTube (13 mins)
• How Student Loan Debt is Holding Millennials Back From Home Ownership - YouTube (5 mins)
• Remembering How to Be Honest

Sermon Resources

• Let Justice Roll on - Sermon Series
• Hubris, Hype, Hope & Biblical Questions - View Presentation

Prayers for Reflection

• 5 Ways to Pray for America
• The Tears of Things - Reader’s Guide for Reflection & Prayer
• Teach us to Intercede
• A Prayer for Reflection after Election Season | Sojourners

Good News

When you're struggling to find good news, look no further! These stories break away from the typical "doom & gloom" narrative, offering positive and uplifting content that reminds us of the good in the world.

Check out this source for inspiring, positive stories that highlight the brighter side of life:

Visit Good News Network

• Good News Network
• Positive News
• DailyGood
• Only Good News Daily
• Squirrel News
• Good Good Good
• The Things They Cannot Undo - Izzy McLaughlin

Community Resources

• The Fallout from Trump’s ICE Storm
• Contra Costa Co. begins mapping prejudice in property records | KRON4
• Justice Navigator – Community Support & Legal Resources
• Power to the People Includes Free Speech — Part 3: Reclaiming Our Voice, Rebuilding Our Power
• Milpitas Cares
• Fremont Family Resource Center

Addressing Poverty

• Redlining: The Origin of American Ghettos
• Why We Need Reparations for Black Americans | Brookings
• Martin Luther King Jr. Had a Dream for Economic Affirmative Action. The Supreme Court Failed Him | Class Matters
• The Big Payback – A documentary on reparations for African Americans
• H.R. 40 – National Reparations Legislation (119th Congress)
• NAACP: Reparations Resources and Advocacy

• If you have not read Liz Theoharis' book, "Always With Us," I highly recommend it. This book will deepen your understanding of serving and advocating for the poor.

  
  
  Liz Theoharis: Organizing and Building Power

The Unhoused

• Dying to Stay Here — YouTube
• California Launches Three-Year Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
• Santa Clara County Unhoused Support - Epath
• Covenant House - Support for Unhoused Youth

Environmental Justice

• Climate Justice: What Rich Nations Owe the World―and the Future | Amazon

Mass Incarceration

• The New Face of Mass Incarceration
• What It’s Like to Be a Kid in Prison
• Prison Labor – A Hidden Workforce in America
• Why You Should Be Concerned About Prison Labor
• Prison Labor and the Food Services Industry
• The Return
• The Congo (Instagram)
• Congo Genocide, Cellphones, and Conflict Minerals (Claude)
• The Theology of Policing (PDF)
• Unreliable Verdicts - Equal Justice Initiative
• Alabama Inmates and the Prison Industrial Complex | NPR

Lenten Resources

• The Cross and the Lynching Tree Book Study
• Lent - Creation Justice Ministries
• The Winding Road | Arrabon

Human Trafficking

• Love Never Fails – Human Trafficking Info
• Stories of Freedom Event
• Love Never Fails Event
• Hope for Justice – National Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month
• When Silence Hurts – The Evangelical Covenant Church
• Covenant Church Anti-Sex Trafficking Initiative
• Sexual Violence Uncovered - Bible Study PDF
• Love Never Fails Cosponsors Assembly Bill 379!
• EMBRACE: Covenant Church Initiative

Liturgies & Lament

FOR WORTH
God in us,

We know the miracle inherent in our existence. We are here, our beauty stretching out and dwelling within us. But it is hard to believe in one’s dignity when the systems and societies to which we belong are content to destroy us. We have heard lies of our worthlessness in the explicit and implicit ways the world interacts with our bodies, stories, and homes. It is incessant — this lie of our own inadequacy, this charade of our inferiority. Remind us that our dignity does not wane or bud in relation to anyone’s belief in it, including our own. Let us rest with the knowledge that we have nothing to prove; our dignity, perpetual as it is divine. We will not shrink. We expand. Remind us of our making. For we too contain the divine. Amen.

— Cole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies

We are children of the Most High. No political oligarch, no racist mob, no hypocritical ideology can separate us from the love of God. Stand tall. Hold onto your dignity. Do not let this moment break you. Do not let it strip you of your worth.

— Rev. Moya Harris, Director of Racial Justice, Sojourners

• Allowing Advent to Find Us Honestly
• Advent Peace When There is No Peace
• Jesus the Refugee King
• Speaking Out Against White Christian Nationalism, Anti-Blackness & White Supremacy
• Waiting for Jesus
• Liturgical Common Read – The Evangelical Covenant Church
• An American Lament – The Repentance Project

Mission Trips

• Watch on Instagram – A Mission Moment in Motion

Musings

• We Need More Heaven Talk
• Equality as a Process: Reimagining Power, Justice, and Social Structure

Love Mercy Do Justice

• Dream the Impossible
• Latest Newsletter 11/2025
• ECC Resolution to Repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery
• Love, Mercy, and Justice in Uncertain Times
• The Convocation Unscripted: Pete Hegseth's Christian Nationalism

Speaking Out Against White Christian Nationalism & Anti-Blackness

Christianity and White Christian nationalism are fundamentally different in nature, purpose, and values. Christianity is a faith centered on following Jesus Christ, while White Christian nationalism is a political ideology that fuses racial identity, nationalism, and religion in pursuit of political power and cultural dominance.

In short, Christianity seeks to form disciples of Jesus, while White Christian nationalism seeks to enforce cultural and political supremacy through religious language. The latter distorts the inclusive gospel message to serve nationalistic and ethnocentric aims.

• Authentic Christianity versus White Christian Nationalism — Kingdom Thoughts and Reflections
• White Christian Nationalism Explained — Yale ISPS
• Is White Christian Nationalism Christian? — Jemar Tisby
• Understanding Differences Between Black and White Christian Nationalism Adherents and Sympathizers — PRRI
• Christian Nationalism Insights — Jemar Tisby
• Christian Nationalism & Worship: The Course — Duke Divinity
• It Comes in Many Forms (Instagram Reel)
• Combating Anti-Blackness: Resources for the Asian Community — Advancing Justice AAJC
• Explained
• The Difference Between Christianity and White Christian Nationalism (1)
• The Difference Between Christianity and White Christian Nationalism (2)
• It Comes in Many Forms
• Combating Anti-Blackness: Resources for the Asian Community
• This Year, Leave Your White Evangelical Church
• Mapping Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States
• The Map: Christian Nationalism Across 50 States