Race, Faith & Justice
Race, Faith & Justice at St Matthias: Resources List
We aspire to be a vibrant multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-racial church. While recognising that we still have a very long way to go, we are committed to fighting racism and pursuing racial justice and racial equality. The Justice Team at St Matthias seeks to enable the church to address the issue of racial injustice with theology, education, healthy dialogue, campaigning and prayer. You can join our team here:
Below you will find a list of resources all about race divided by the following themes: Race and Faith, Race in the UK, Race in America, Race in the Age of George Floyd and Fiction & Poetry. This list is not exhaustive, but will provide foundational knowledge about race and why it is relevant to us, as Christians and members of the larger society.
We'd love to invite you to watch our talk series on 'We Need To Keep Talking About Race'.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Race & Faith
Resources in this category cover the intersection of race and faith, from theological explorations of the relevance of race in the scriptures, to resources about complexities of modern day multiethnic Christian church communities.
- We Need To Talk About Race by Ben Lindsay
- Conversations on Faith and Equalityhosted by Becs Dhillon
- Ghost Ship by A.D.A France Williams
- Black Theology by Anthony Reddie
- How an Open Bible Should Dismantle White Supremacy by J. Ross Wagner
- Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
- The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race by Willie James Jennings
- Divided by Faith:Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America by Michael O Emerson and Christian Smith
- One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Love by John M Perkins with Katie Warren
- The Color of Compromise: the Truth About American Church’s Complicity in Racismby Jamar Tisby
- Can ‘White’ People Be Saved? (IVP) edited by Love L. Sechrest, Johnny Ramírez Johnson, and Amos Yong
- A Multitude of All Peoples: Engaging Ancient Christianity’s Global Identity (IVP) by Vincent Bantu
- Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope (IVP) by Esau McCauley.
- Whose Religion Is Christianity?: The Gospel Beyond the West (Eerdmans) by Lamin Sanneh
- With Justice for All: A Strategy for Community Development By John Perkins
- Race in The UK
Resources in this category discuss how race is experienced within the UK from a variety of viewpoints.
Enslaved - BBC Documentary with Samuel L Jackson & Afua Hirsch
- Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-racial Britain by Mike Phillips & Trevor Phillips
- Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch
- Unremembered - Britain's Forgotten War Heroes Documentary
- Natives by Akala
- Is God Colour-Blind? Insights from Black Theology for Christian Faith and Ministry by Anthony Reddie
- Institutional Racism and the Church of England by A.D.A France-Williams
- Back to School by Alison Hammond
- Black & British: David Olusoga
- Why I’m No longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
- Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri
Race in America
Resources in this category discuss how race is experienced within the US from a variety of viewpoints.
- How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America: Problems in Race and Political Economy by Manning Marable
- Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America by Eugene Robinson
- Race in Another America: The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil by Edward Telles
- The Color of Compromise: the Truth About American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jamar Tisby
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America by Michael O Emerson and Christian Smith
- Democracy in Black by Eddie Glaude
- When Affirmative Action Was White by Ira Katsnelson
- The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Race in the Age of George Floyd
Resources in this category provide key articles about current events concerning the death of George Floyd.
- The Many Ways that Institutional Racism Kills Black People by Khiara M. Bridges
- Racism is Terrible. Blackness is Not by Imani Perry
- Why Black Women and Girls Still an Afterthought in Our Outrage Over Police Violence? by Brittney Cooper
- "Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People.” by Keeanga-Yamatta Taylor
- The Urgency of Intersectionality Ted Talk by Kimberle Crenshaw
- “America, This Is Your Chance” by Michelle Alexander
Fiction & Poetry
- The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
- Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- The Girl With The Loud Voice by Abi Dare
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- Poems written by Langston Hughes