In November 2018, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released a pastoral letter against racism called “Open Wide Our Hearts.” In the letter, the bishops refer to racism as “our country’s original sin.”
In 2020, during the midst of a global pandemic, frustration, anger, sadness, outrage and protests grew over the continued deaths of unarmed black men and women in our country – Ahmaud Arbery shot to death while jogging on February 23, 2020, Breonna Taylor shot to death on March 13, 2020 by three plainclothes police officers serving a no-knock warrant in the middle of the night, and George Floyd whose life was taken on May 25, 2020 recorded as he called out for mercy while an officer knelt on his neck for nearly eight minutes.
Many have been searching their hearts and questioning how and why these deaths continue. This page provides a compilation of resources that allow for prayer, education, and action so that together we can work towards a world where racism will be truly eradicated.
On this page, the links (in gold) below will allow you to jump to a specific section of the resource. Resources listed under each section also include links that will take you to the full resource. This webpage is not comprehensive but will be continually updated as new resources become available.
We are committed to being a church community that will continue to pray, learn, and grow. To that effect, we are creating a Racial Justice ministry that will offer opportunities for small group reflection and prayer for the parish as well as ways to get involved in the larger community. If you would like to be a part of this ministry, please contact Andrea Mendoza at andream@sjtbcc.org.
