Folks, it’s been another hard week. The tragedies keep on coming.
I am grateful for the truth-tellers, the activists, the fighters for justice.
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Mass Slavery Apology’s activities:
Join us in our work to undo racism!
Have you read Facing our Unhealed Past? Our apology for slavery starts with a look at how the slavery in our country’s history led to the racial injustice that still devastates our communities today, and concludes with six commitments for restorative action.
If our words resonate with you, we invite people of European descent to join us by adding your signatures to the almost 400 we have received to date.
We are hoping to use this powerful statement to build a state-by-state trend to make meaningful apologies for the slavery at their roots – starting here in Massachusetts.
You don’t have to be from MA to sign – we have signatures from all over the country – and beyond.
To add your signature, reply to this email with your name, city, state, and your country if you are outside the U.S.
To those who were at our June program – here is a link to Brother NorthStar’s new website.
We will not have a program in July, and the Undoing Our Own Racism monthly discussion series is not meeting in June, July, or August.
Saturday, July 11th, Greenfield: Yard sale – Hey local folks, c’mon over! All sales will support our free monthly program series. There will be lots of great stuff – art, antiques, plants, jewelry. Special guest: N’zimah’s body care products. And Adam Matlock’s band will be there with live music! 8 a.m.-2 p.m.at 132 Federal Street, Greenfield. We’re still taking donations of great stuff to sell~ email us at email@massslaveryapology.org to learn more or if you want to help out.
Saturday, August 1, Turners Falls: Pocumtuck Homelands Festival. This is a beautiful event organized by our friends at the Nolumbeka Project, with music, Indigenous food and handcrafts, true history, and more. We’ll have a table with information & conversation.
Join us at our free monthly programs in Greenfield:
Free snacks and childcare.For more info: email@massslaveryapology.org or www.massslaveryapology.org
All programs are at the First Congregational Church of Greenfield, 43 Silver Street, Greenfield MA 01301. (A big thank you to the First Congregational Church of Greenfield for your support!) They are almost always on the first Saturday morning of the month.
No program in July…
• Saturday, August 8: A program on reparations for slavery with Dr. Chris Tinson ofthe TRGGR Media Collective & Hampshire College.
•Saturday, September 12: Youth Speak Out about their experiences in area schools, facilitated by Gloria Matlock.
•Saturday, October 3: A Program on Today’s Prison System & connections with U.S. slavery, racism, & labor exploitation, with Mel Motel.
More info on all of these to come.
Check out Mass Slavery Apology’s new YouTube channel!
We will be posting videos of our programs, and more. Currently available:
– Black Lives/Black History with Gloria De,Layne Matlock and Adam Matlock
– Video of the April 14 Black Lives Matter action in Springfield MA.
Many thanks to George Aguiar!
Articles, websites, and other resources
Asian Lives
The Real Story of Asians In America, by Zac Cheney-Rice at Identities.Mic
Black Lives Matter
– Protest in Northampton on June 21 from Channel 22 News
– Black Lives Matter in Greenfield MA, May 26th
– Take Down the Confederate Flag Now, by Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic
– Can America Heal After Ferguson? We Asked Desmond Tutu and His Daughter, by Fania Davis and Sarah van Gelder in Yes! Magazine
– America’s War On Black Girls, by Brittney Cooper at Salon
– Shattering the Myth of the Leaderless Movement, by Barbara Ransby at Colorlines
Black History
– Sunken Slave Ship Found Off Coast of South Africa, by Helene Cooper in the New York Times
– Juneteenth: 150 Years Ago Black America Got Its Own Independence Day, by Laura Saunders Egodigwe at The Root
Criminal Justice & Injustice
– Tell President Obama and the Justice Department: This is Domestic Terrorism: Petition from Credo Action
– The Counted: This interactive database of people killed by police in the U.S. is continually updated. From The Guardian.
– 40 Reasons Our Jails and Prisons are Full of Black and Poor People, by Bill Quigley at Alternet
– First Reparations Program for Victims of Police Violence, by Zach Stafford at The Nation
Economics
The Invention Of The White Race – Theodore W. Allen talks about race and class
Indigenous Lives
– Selling Off Apache Land, by Lydia Millet in the New York Times
– Action Lab for Community Wealth Building: Working Collaboratively to Build Community Wealth in Indian Country
Latino Lives
– Dominican Republic Plans to Deport Haitian Families, by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. at The Root
“No Mas Bebes” Exposes Sterilization Abuse, by Miriam Zoila Perez at Colorlines
Recommended Reading
– The Radical King, writings by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., edited by Cornell West, is “A revealing collection that restores Dr. King as being every bit as radical as Malcolm X”
White Antiracism
– Allies, The Time For Your Silence Has Expired, from SoulA Scriptura
– How White People Can Save Themselves From Racism and White Supremacism, by Baynard Woods in the Washington Post
– A Theology of Liberation To Inspire White Anti-Racist Organizing, interview with Leslie Horan by Chris Crass at Truthout
– 7 Ways To Be a White Ally For Charleston and The Black Community, by Aaron Barksdale at Huffington Post
Other groups’ events:
•Juneteenth – Mid-August, Berkshire County MA: Lift Ev’ry Voice Festival: Music, dance, theater, film, and more.
•June 21, Easthampton MA: Half-Day People of Color Retreat with Joanna Harper from 1-5 p.m., evening conversation open to everyone. Presented by the Insight Meditation Center of Pioneer Valley. See attached flyers.
•June 28, Amherst MA: A Workshop for White People facilitated by Ruthie Killough-Hill and Michael Burkart, organized by Coming Together. 1-8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church. $10.
•June 30, Northampton MA: Anne Braden, Southern Patriot, film and organizing meeting for Western Mass Showing Up For Racial Justice.
•July 1, Brattleboro VT: A community reading of Frederick Douglass’ Fourth of July Speech. See attached flyer.
•July 24-26, Cleveland: Movement for Black Lives: An interactive program that provides a space for all black people—diverse in origin, perspective, and strategy—to heal, build and learn together.
•August 1, Turners Falls: Pocumtuck Homelands Festival organized by the Nolumbeka Project.
•September 4-6, Independent Lakota Territory: Heart of Decolonization Gathering hosted by the Lakota Cante Tenza Okolakiciye (Strong Heart Warrior Society).
Mass Slavery Apology is a small racial justice group based in Franklin County, MA.
Our mission has two parts:
1) to provide resources for racial justice efforts and bring others into the antiracism/racial justice movement; and
2) to build public acknowledgement of the legacy of slavery and public support for reparations. Most of our current projects focus on sharing information with others, especially whites, about racism and white privilege.
We work actively in our local communities. Through this e-newsletter, our Facebook page, and our website, we also reach out nationally and internationally.
Thank you, readers who send us information for these newsletters!
We welcome links to articles, videos, event listings, and other resources.
Because almost half of our 500+ readers are from other regions than our own, we’d love to list more events in other locales.
Shen
Mass Slavery Apology
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