United Church of Christ
United in Spirit and inspired by God’s grace, we welcome all, love all, and seek justice for all.
The Minnesota Conference United Church of Christ (UCC) equips a courageous Church alive with Christ’s transforming love.
GENERAL RESOURCES FOR GETTING STARTED
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
- Becoming an Anti-Racist Church: Journeying toward Wholeness by Joseph Barndt How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin Diangelo
- Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson
- Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954 to 1965 PBS DVD Series
- Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving
- The End of White Christian America by Robert P. Jones
- White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones
- How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation by Latasha Morrison, Jennie Allen, et al.
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
- White Savior: Racism in the American Church (DVD)
CLASSIC AND CRITICAL WORKS
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- The Centering Moment by Howard Thurman
- Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
CONTINUING THE JOURNEY
- Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
- My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and
- Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
- The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby and Lecrae Moore (Book and DVD)
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
- A Black Woman’s History of the United States by Diana Berry and Kali Nicole Gross
- Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris, Mankaprr Contech, et al.
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of American’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCE
- Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin B. Curtice (Potawatomi)
- God is Red: A Native View of Religion by Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux)
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi Citizen Band)
- All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life by Winona LaDuke (Ojibwe)
- This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman
- American Indian Liberation: A Theology of Sovereignty by George Tinker (Osage)
- One Church, Many Tribes by Richard Twiss (Sicangu Lakota Oyate)
- Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva
- Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)
- One Story, One Song by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)
- “All the Real Indians Died Off” and 20 Other Myths about Native Americans by Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
- Shalom and the Community of Creation by Randy Woodley (Keetoowah)
ASIAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
- The Myth of the Model Minority: Asian Americans Facing Racism by Rosalind S. Chou
- China Men by Maxine Hong-Kingston
- Off the Menu: Asian and Asian North American Women’s Theology by Rita Nakashima Brock, Jung Ha Kim, et al
- Asian Americans by PBS (DVD series)
LATINX EXPERIENCE
- Website for Professor Miguel A. De La Torre of Iliff School of Theology. Includes videos, blog link, and other material related to Profess De La Torre’s work. He is one of the premier Latinx theologians. The website also includes information on his extensive writing and publishing.
- Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity by Robert Chao Romero
- Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture by Ed Morales
MINNESOTA STORIES
- A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota edited by Sun Yung Shin
YOUNG ADULT
- I was their American Dream: A Memoir by Malaka Gharib (graphic novel)
- Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacobs (graphic novel)
- United Against Racism: Churches for Change (National Council of Churches)
Workshops, Speakers, Classes, Experiences, Organizations
- Damascus Project – Joint program of the Minnesota Conference and the Wisconsin Conference, committed to offering anti-racism training in their programming
- White Privilege – UCC curriculum
- Sacred Conversations on Race – UCC resource
- Minnesota Council of Churches – Commitment to Truth and Reparations: Dismantling the Structures and Repairing the Damage of Racism in Minnesota and Healing Minnesota Stories
- FREC: The Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative – Offers an annual “Overcoming Racism” Conference and mini-grants for racial justice work in greater Minnesota
- Anti-Racism Study Dialogue Circles
- Mapping Prejudice Project – A project of the University of Minnesota Libraries to help with “Visualizing the hidden histories of race and privilege in the built environment” in Minnesota. The project offers workshops, racial covenant mapping, and other resources.
- Crossroads: Antiracism Organizing and Training