Here are some of the past events sponsored by Circle Mobilizing.
Circle Mobilizing hosted John-Michael Pickens from the PA Council of Churches on July 11, 2017 at 7:30 at 2214 S. Broad Street as he led a presentation on the School to Prison Pipeline.
. We had some important group discussions about whiteness, white fragility and white supremacy. Well, we eventually had those important discussions.
The majority-white group first had discussions about injustices that people of color face in our country. While understanding injustice is a key element of race relations in America, this understanding intentionally does not name who is responsible for the injustice.
As challenged by the group leaders, many of the white people were then able to identify, own and confess to their sins of racism. This was really powerful and freeing, and we white folks have to keep doing it! It’s kind of like athletic training. Just because we ran a 5K, doesn’t mean we will be able to keep running 5Ks if we don’t continue to train. We need to build our racial stamina, as DiAngelo puts it, to keep naming our whiteness and confessing to our complicity in white supremacy.
By participating in these discussions, we work out our faith and build a reconciled community. I see myself grounded in God’s grace, while humbly claiming my white fragility. Many of our proverbs apply, but these in particular help me think about being a white Christian:
When individualism rules the culture, being the church is countercultural.
Accepting failure and moving on in hope is basic to living in the grace of God.
We will do what it takes to be an anti-racist, diverse community that represents the new humanity.
This event was so generative, we are going to do it more. Look for more discussions in the beginning of 2020.
Circle Mobilizing Because Black Lives Matter 