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September #2

 

Our occasional e-newsletter, usually published once or twice a month, with links to events, articles, videos, websites, & more relating to racism & racial justice.

Racial Justice Rising’s activities:

You are warmly invited to

Building relationships with the community and the police

A Community FORUM

Saturday, October 1, 10:15 a.m. -12:15 p.m. (doors open at 9:45)

with Greenfield Police Chief Haigh and Greenfield Mayor Martin

Facilitated by Gloria Matlock and Keyedrya Jacobs

According to RJR organizers Gloria Matlock and Sherrill Hogen, “In light of recent events locally and nationally, the intention of the program is to assure Black and Brown people in the community that they can expect fair treatment and that they will not be targeted or shot.”

Further goals of the program are:

1. That the police become aware of the level of fear that Black and Brown people have

2. That the community can learn what training and ongoing support the police receive re: profiling, cultural competency, racism

3. To develop a stronger positive relationship between the community and the police

A series of questions developed by the community prior to the program will be the basis for the conversation and there will be a time for general questions as well.

FREE

First Congregational Church of Greenfield, 43 Silver Street, Greenfield MA 01301

Free childcare. Please RSVP with number and ages of children

For more info: email@racialjusticerising.org

    

 

VIGIL FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

Every Saturday morning 9-10 a.m.

Greenfield Town Common

~ Please join us ~

Co-sponsored by Racial Justice Rising and the Visioning B.E.A.R. Circle Intertribal Coalition

 

Current Events

National: Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline

– Donate by Paypal or check to the protectors at Standing Rock Reservation

– Sacred Stone Camp, website and Facebook

– Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Facebook

– Coverage on Democracy Now

Local: Area High School Needs To Change Its Mascot

– The Turners Falls Indians: Not Your Mascot, from Sokoki Sojourn 

– Petition to change the Turners Falls mascot

 

Articles, websites, and other resources

African Americans

– Memorial For Black Lynching Victims To Open Next Year In Atlanta, by David Love at The Atlanta Black Star

– Opening September 24th, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture

Criminal Justice & Injustice

– Great Falls Books Through Bars is a new project that will distribute books to incarcerated people starting in the near future. One of the organizers tells us that the group’s motivations include “the racist nature of mass incarceration,  the historical and ongoing shift of slave labor into penal institutions, and the general cruelty of locking people in cages isolated from any community.”  Contact gfbooksthroughbars@riseup.net to donate books or for more information. Still to come: a website and public book drop locations.

– White Men All Over America Continue to Kill Police – Where’s the Conservative Outrage? by Shaun King at NY Daily News

– Nearly 6 Million People Will Be Barred From Voting In November, by AJ Vicens at Mother Jones

– Did Slavery End in 1865? a video with Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative

First Peoples, Indigenous, Native Americans

There is a lot in the news right now about Indigenous peoples’ issues. Here are two resources for learning more.

–  Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz 

– Indian Country Today Media Network

– Unsettling America: Decolonization in Theory and Practice

Latinos, Latino Americans

– The Difference Between “Latino” and “Hispanic” in One Cartoon, by Terry Blas at Vox.com

White Privilege/White Antiracism

– Being The Only One In the Room: Speaking Up As A Mom of Color, by Divya Kumar at Huffington Post

Youth

– How to Talk To Your Mixed Race Kids About Race, by Sonia Smith-Kang at Mash-Up Americans

– Picture This: Reflecting Diversity In Children’s Book Publishing, from SarahPark.com

– How Race-Related Trauma Hurts Black and Brown Youth in Schools, from Psychology Benefit Society

– 26 Children’s Books That Celebrate Black Heroes, by Mallory McInnis at Buzzfeed

 

Other groups’ events:

The members of Racial Justice Rising are ordinary people who are troubled by the persistent racism that plagues this country. Believing that the damage caused by racism must be repaired before our society can be whole, we work for just and respectful treatment for all. We share a vision of a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and multi-faith community.

  Our mission is to:

  • Help build the movement for racial justice by contributing to a deeper understanding of systemic racism and racial justice.
  • Engage in restorative activities that help to heal the racial divide and bring justice for people targeted by racism.

While much of our work is focused in our local area, Franklin County, MA, we reach out to and are connected with the broader movements in our region and the nation.

 Thank you, readers who send us information for these newsletters!  We welcome links to articles, videos, event listings, and other resources.

Shen

Racial Justice Rising

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