Seeing White Podcast Series

Have you ever asked the question: “What can I personally do to recognize my white advantage and become more antiracist? I really care about this, but I don’t know where to begin.”
Whether you’ve been involved in racial justice issues your entire life, for a couple of decades, or just a few months, the podcast series “Seeing White” is a superb way to familiarize yourself with how the concept of whiteness has shaped our nation.
All Plymouth members are invited to listen to this series at their own leisure and to then join a Zoom discussion focused on each episode.
Co-sponsored by Racial Justice Initiative

14 sessions (total)
Podcasts may be listened to individually, and join a group Zoom discussion once a month.
Registration for the podcast or discussions is not required, and you do not need to attend every session.

Illuminating The Way Study Group

Join the Plymouth Church “Illuminating the Way” Study Group! We explore a book each month about spirituality and/or meditation, and then discuss it online for 90 minutes on the first Sunday of each month, 3-4:30 pm.

We would love to have you join us online on Zoom September 5 or future Sundays, whether you’re from Plymouth Church or not—and whether you have fully read, just skimmed, or not had time to read the material! Some of the books we’ll be discussing in the coming months are by Thomas Keating, Joan Chittister, Rami Shapiro, Thomas Merton, and others you are welcome to suggest. (Past authors/subjects included St. Theresa of Avila, Cynthia Bourgeois, Gospel of St. Thomas, Amy-Jill Levine, Richard Rohr, St. Theresa of Avila, et al.)

Please contact Chris Lance at clance730@gmail.com for more information.

Implications of Richard Rothstein’s book “The Color of Law”

Richard Rothstein’s book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America explores the ways in which federal, state, and local government policies led to urban segregation in the U.S. It also looks at the need for dramatic change to remediate the effects of these policies. We will discuss Rothstein’s book as well as its implications for our community. Rothstein is a distinguished fellow of the Economic Policy Institute and a senior fellow emeritus at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

We have 30 copies of Rothstein’s book at the church office. If you’d like a free copy, please request a book when you register, and you can pick up the book at church on any Sunday after services starting June 6.

Please note that the Racial Justice Initiative offered a Zoom presentation “Richard Rothstein Speaks on The Color of Law” (April 21). While not required, participants in the class may find the video very helpful for the book discussion. This is available Here.

Participants can also listen to Chanda Smith Baker’s (from the Minneapolis Foundation) podcast interview with Richard Rothstein. Again, while not required, participants will find this helpful to the discussion, here.

Participants may also want to watch “Jim Crow of the North” which has a local focus available on the PBS App.

Book Study:

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir

Patrisse Kahn-Cullors and asha bandele’s memoir When They Call You a Terrorist is a coming-of-age story that reveals the depth of racial targeting and its impact on Black families and neighborhoods during Kahn-Cullors’ time growing up in Los Angeles.  The book also explores the ways in which these experiences led Kahn-Cullors to co-found Black Lives Matter with two other women.

Join Peter Eichten and Ann Manning for a rich discussion of this book with its focus on racial injustice perpetuated by America’s War on Drugs during multiple presidents’ terms and the effects this policy had in criminalizing a generation of Black people.  The class will also look at the work white people, especially, have to do to uncover and change the messages in this country about Black people and criminality.

Join us for this two-part session, via Zoom.