St. Andrew Parish has a long history of working for social justice. This commitment flows from our faith and Gospel values. The Parish sponsors a number of social justice events throughout the year.
All-Parish-Reads
How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
We believe this book will help us futher strengthen St Andrew as an antiracist parish. While we have a long history of taking antiracist actions we have more work to do. Every institution must look carefully inside its own structures to root out systemic racism. St Andrew is not exempt from this.
We hope you will join us in reading and discussing this book.
We are fortunate to be able to take advantage of The University of Portland’s ReadUP program which concludes with this book and a webinar of Dr. Kendi engaging the community in a dynamic conversation. The webinar is on March 31st. Register here to attend this free event, which is open to anyone. Details about the book and event can be found on this ReadUP site. UP’s library also put together a fantastic multi-tab set of resources on the book.
ALL PARISH READS
St Andrew parishioners also have the opportunity to meet via Zoom in small groups to discuss the book and what changes we can implement in ourselves and our institution to be antiracists. Our discussion groups will meet three times beginning April 7th. This allows plenty of time to read the book either before or after the webinar. The book is readily available at local booksellers as well as online. We will have some free copies available but we will not know how many for another couple of weeks.
To register for St Andrew discussion groups click HERE. There are different days and times available. The deadline to register is March 26th. There is also an option to participate with your small faith group or another circle of friends or family. When the discussions conclude we’ll host a gathering for everyone to get together and share their thoughts and ideas.
To order the book online here is a LINK or call your local bookstore!
Anti-Racism Resources
- USCCB Pastoral Open Wide our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love Letter “a must read!”
- Catholic Resources for Racial Justice, 2020
- #BLM twitter
- White Ally Toolkit – helps anti-racism allies do their part in the fight against racism. Email Angela Kremer (angelahkremer@gmail.com) for more information.
- A reading list on the history of Black Catholics in the United States and their contributions to Catholic theology, history, and activism.
- 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice
- Anti-racism Resources for Parents
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (this YouTube video is recording of the book being read aloud)
- Mindful of Race by Ruth King
- How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says About Race in America by Karen Brodkin
- How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev
- White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise
Additional Articles
- Why Coronavirus is Taking Such a Deadly Toll on Black Americans, The Guardian
- Oregon’s Latinos Disproportionately Impacted by COVID-19, OPB
- Portland’s People of Color Hit Hardest by Pandemic, The Skanner
- How COVID-19 is impacting Indigenous peoples in the U.S., PBS
- We are not COVID-19: Asian Americans speak out on racism, Nikkei Asian Review