Sharing Our Stories: Roseanna's Review of "How to Fight Racism" (book by Jemar Tisby)

Review by Roseanna M. White of Jemar Tisby’s book, 

How to Fight Racism: 

Courageous Christianity and the Journey Toward Racial Justice

I can honestly say that reading The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby had a profound impact on how I understand the history of racism within the American church. 

So when I saw that Mr. Tisby had a new book out, I was quick to order it—especially when I saw that this one was meant to be a practical guide to overcoming racism in one’s personal life as well as where it appears systemically.

Tisby approaches the question with what he has termed “the ARC of racial justice.” The book is broken down into three main categories to correspond with that ARC: Awareness, Relationships, Commitment. 

In the Awareness section, he leads the reader into methods of understand one’s own racial story—not only in terms of what one’s own race is, but in how one has interacted with the very concept of race from childhood on up. Those who are Black or people of color most likely have a very different story than those of the white majority, but everyone has lived with race. Becoming aware of how we were each taught—through others or through experience—to view race, how it has become part of our current understanding, is a crucial first step. Once we become self-aware, then we can take steps to move toward true equity and understanding.

While Tisby is careful to point out that relationships alone cannot solve racism—that it is bigger than individuals and must be addressed on a system-wide level—he knows that for most of us, true racial reconciliation begins with Relationships. It’s as we become friends with and come to care about individuals from other races that we can truly come to see what others suffer. With that empathy comes understanding and the desire to see change for their sake.

But from that first desire, we then must move to Commitment. We must take active steps on social levels to support or instigate change—in our churches, in our communities, in our businesses, and in our government.

Of the two books, I still prefer The Color of Compromise solely because it focused on history and the stories of people who lived it, and this is always how I’m best engaged.

How to Fight Racism was a more clinical, academic approach to the question of racism, which is no doubt preferred by others. The advice he gives is well rounded, and I was pleased to see that he addresses people in many different circumstances.

Coming from a rural community with a very un-diverse population, I’m often left feeling like all the opportunities and advice offered in books doesn’t apply to me, since those opportunities simply don’t exist where I live. Tisby actually addresses how people who live in areas like mine can still engage meaningfully with the question, which I really appreciate.

By the end of the book, I was left with a list of possible actions I, my church, and my community could take…and also with the heavy certainty that fighting racism could easily become an all-consuming task. Something so big, so engrained in our culture, can’t be undone by wishing or making a few friends. It must be dismantled with the same care with which it was built. That’s an intimidating task…but also one that so clearly needs to be tackled, especially by people of faith who should be seeking the good of their neighbor, loving their neighbor above all.

How to Fight Racism invites the reader to be well versed in why this is a fight we all must take on…and then equips us to determine how best to do it wherever we are.

~*~
Reviewer’s Bio:

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. 

When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing for WhiteFire Publishing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. 

Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books … to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.

You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

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Connect with Roseanna:
Blog: https://roseannamwhite.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoseannaMWhite/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/roseannamwhite/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseannamwhite/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoseannaMWhite
Website: https://www.roseannamwhite.com

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Blurb for How to Fight Racism:

Racism is pervasive in today's world, and many are complicit in the failure to confront its evils. Jemar Tisby, author of the award-winning The Color of Compromise, believes we need to move beyond mere discussions about racism and begin equipping people with the practical tools to fight against it.

How to Fight Racism is a handbook for pursuing racial justice with hands-on suggestions bolstered by real-world examples of change. Tisby offers an array of actionable items to confront racism in our relationships and in everyday life through a simple framework — the A.R.C. of Racial Justice — that helps readers consistently interrogate their own actions and maintain a consistent posture of anti-racist action. This book is for anyone who believes it is time to stop compromising with racism and courageously confront it.

Tisby roots the ultimate solution to racism in the Christian faith as we embrace the implications of what Jesus taught his followers. Beginning in the church, he provides an opportunity to be part of the solution and suggests that the application of these principles can offer us hope that will transform our nation and the world. 

Tisby encourages us to reject passivity and become active participants in the struggle for human dignity across racial and ethnic lines. Readers of the book will come away with a clear model for how to think about race in productive ways and a compelling call to dismantle a social hierarchy long stratified by skin color.

~*~

Buy How to Fight Racism on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

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Author Bio:

Jemar Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Color of Compromise, president and co-founder of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective, and co-host of the podcast, Pass The Mic.

He grew up just north of Chicago and attended the University of Notre Dame. He went on to join Teach For America and was assigned to the Mississippi Delta Corps where he taught sixth grade at a public charter school and later went on to be the principal. 

He received his MDiv from Reformed Theological Seminary and is presently working toward his PhD in History at the University of Mississippi studying race, religion, and social movements in the twentieth century.

Jemar and his family call the Deep South home and especially love the weather, people, and food! His new book, How to Fight Racism releases in January of 2021 and is available for pre-order now.

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Connect with Jemar:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JemarTisby1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jemartisby/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JemarTisby
Website: https://jemartisby.com

Sharing Our Stories: Black Love Matters

Black Love Matters
A guest post by Dr. Angelle M. Jones

“He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

– Luke 10:27 (NIV)

I’m currently reading President Barack Obama’s newest book, A Promised Land.

This idiomatic motif invites the open heart and mind of the reader to enter into a previously forbidden part of his life. President Obama uses this intimate and personal memoir to invite anyone interested to go on a journey with him into the White House Situation Room, and the presidential Oval Office.

The reader is also allowed to enter into the complex space inside the mind of a younger, rising, yet improbable presidential candidate. Of course, the reader is catapulted into one of the most compelling Black life expeditions ever experienced. In his most humble yet understandably confident way, Obama chronicles his journey. We hear the conflict, yet deep conviction, while searching for his authentic voice in the echoing chambers of the whitewashed world of Harvard Law School. From the ivory towered halls of Harvard to the sound of his paving the streets of Chicago (Illinois), serving as a grassroots community organizer, Obama as the author transports the reader from the written page to urban America where he gained momentum, to earning the right to become a well-respected political pundit.

In this lengthy, yet tell-all narrative, we learn some of the highs and lows from the first Black man to serve in the highest office of the United States. This true story is told by the voice of the one who rose from living in a small apartment dwelling in a predominately Black community in Chicago, to becoming the first Black inhabitant of the White House that Black slaves built. In the memoir, we get a glimpse of the man who will go down in history, not only as 44th President of the United States, but as the one the world watched emerge as the first of African descent to rise to that position of world-renowned power.

Not only from reading the book, but since becoming a public figure, one of the things that always stood out to me is Obama’s undying love for his wife Michelle. For those blinded by the political division or racial dissonance, or perhaps even a loathing disdain for the first Black President, you may have missed what remains clearly evident to the majority of the Black community. I’m sure I speak for many, more than the type of political leader one becomes, for the average card-carrying Black person, Black love reigns. Contrary to what is portrayed, no matter how many of the fifty percent of American marriages dissolved in Divorce Court include us, Black love matters.

Since slavery, marriages between African slaves and African-Americans today, have been depicted by Whites adversely. Possibly because marriage between slaves were not recognized as legal, slave masters didn’t regard the growing intimacy between slave men and women as love. Because White people did not consider those with black and brown skin to be considered human, the idea of property joining together in holy matrimony was probably as realistic to their slave masters as imagining their animals marrying. Subsequently, the idea of whether two melanin-dipped animals could experience true love was highly unfeasible.

Between slaves not being recognized as human and not being allowed to marry, what was missed through the blurred lens of slave masters was the inexplicable existence of an incomparable and enduring Black love. Fortunately, today, many real-life slave narratives are being discovered, some reflecting factual accounts of this resilient Black love. Stories of love able to withstand separation from their mate when one slave partner was ripped from their family to be sold to another master located hundreds of miles away. The deep and abiding love between two slaves, which may have been put on hold when unwillingly sold and separated, love which never ceased until they found one another. A love that allowed them to create their own version of a post-slavery, Happily Ever After. 

The narrative often cited as the number one reason for problems in the African-American community, is fatherlessness. For years now, White sociologists have studied, researched and deemed the lack of fathers in the home as the major cause for the so-called demise of the Black family. Fatherlessness has been blamed for everything from poverty to teen pregnancy. Since the Jim Crow era, reports and studies like the 1965 Moynihan Report, are used to prove the disconnected Black family is supposedly due to socially irresponsible Black people choosing to live together over marrying.

For years, sociologists have found ways to relieve White America of the guilt and responsibility for damaging the lives of generations of Black families. Psychologists would rather deny that perhaps the percentage of fatherlessness, and not marrying might be the residual traumatization of the thousands of Black people captured, stolen and brought unwillingly across the world in the belly of a ship, stacked like the animals it was made for. Truth is, surviving as enslaved people who were stripped of their culture and family identity reveal that Black love is probably one of the most resilient expressions of God’s love ever shown. Contrary to White sociological thought, Black love is authentic, giving, selfless, enduring and most importantly forgiving.

Think about it: If you are White and have one Black associate or friend, you are a recipient of that forgiving, Black love. Only a people who love God with all their heart, soul and mind can in return, extend that love to that neighbor who may also be their oppressor.

In a society that continues to demonize Black lives, when bombarded with media images causing you to question whether those Black lives are worthy of love, replace them with one of President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama and capture the essence of Black love.

Hopefully this image will serve as a reminder that Black Love is worthy, and yes, it does matter.

~*~
Author Bio: 

“Inspiring and Motivating With the Power of Words” 

Angelle M. Jones believes that the power of words inspires, and motivate to bring about transformative change individually and collectively. 

Angelle originally hails from Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in African-American studies from the University of Cincinnati. Angelle has a master’s degree in Theological Studies from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia and an earned Doctorate in Ministry on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, and his philosophy of The Beloved Community from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Her ministry career began as a staff member of the Northeastern Ohio Billy Graham Crusade in 1994. For twenty years, as founder and director of In The Spirit Ministries, Inc., she led teams on mission outreaches throughout the world. From 2007-2012 Angelle served as Missions Director of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio where she currently resides. Angelle is founder and director of GlobaLife Coaching and Consulting serving as a Life and Transformation Coach and Church Consultant.

In 2016 Angelle authored and self-published her first book, Happily Never After. Along with sharing words of hope by sharing her writings on her social media platforms, she has been published in Vantage Magazine which is a literary source for faculty, students and alumni of Columbia Theological Seminary, and Ready, which is a cutting-edge online magazine addressing current events and trending socially relevant topics for women.

Angelle is the mother of an adult daughter. She is a grandmother and great-grandmother.

~*~
Connect with Dr. Angelle:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angelle.m.jones.5
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abundantgrace1/
Website: www.globalifetransforms.com
Email: globalifeconsultants@gmail.com

Sharing Our Stories: A Challenge for you

A Challenge to Learn and Grow Together
A guest post by Kristen Rimer Terrette

Revelation 5 is about praising the Lion, the Lamb, and the Root of David for His victory over sin and death, and His forever reign over all creation.

But this verse. This is one of my favorites. In Revelation 5:9 (NIRV), this is written about Jesus:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and break open its seals.

You are worthy because you were put to death.

With your blood you bought people for God.

They come from every tribe, language, people and nation.”

It paints the perfect picture of Heaven. I love how God’s Word is careful to cover all the bases by mentioning every tribe, language, people and nation. No matter where on earth we reside, or what people group we and our family claim as our heritage, we are combined as ONE in Heaven.

And if our commission is to build God’s Kingdom on earth, so that we look a little more like Jesus on earth every day, then our every day lifestyle must include people from all different backgrounds and cultures.

I’ve been challenged in how I can accomplish this.

Years ago, I was convicted that my everyday life was very neutral, or in my case, vanilla. I’ve mentioned this before, but while I was a children’s ministry director, I realized the kids under my care weren’t as diverse as they should or could have been. I don’t know why I noticed and was bothered by this particularly, but Jesus sure was pointing it out. From then on, I’ve intentionally been open to all types of relationships with people who don’t look like me. Some of these relationships have happened naturally. Some have been more strategic, and I’m still working on this constantly.

I found one of the easiest ways to include people of different tribes, language, nation, and tongue in my life was through social media. It’s that simple! I don’t have to agree politically or even spiritually to see, hear, read, and be opened to the thoughts and ideas of others not like me. The thing is, I have developed relationships and friendships with lots of different people. My compassion level for others, and how I strive to love others well, has amplified. My spirit has joined with the Holy Spirit convicting me and actively engaging me in conversations about race, unity, justice, and Jesus. Anything that does this is worth a try! 

Allow me to share some social media accounts that I follow and love. They give me insight, accountability, and even get me thinking outside my comfort zone. They are from people or organizations representing differing ethnicities—Black, Native, Hispanic, and Asian.

Here’s my challenge for you: Go follow some or all of these social media accounts that I will list below. Commit to a month of watching and reading their posts. This is not the time to input your ideas and try to change someone. This is your time to observe. See what happens! See what God can do in your heart, mind, and spirit. See how He opens your eyes and grows compassion and understanding in your heart.

Anything with the potential to make us better followers of Jesus Christ is worth it.

Read on for the list of some of my favorite Instagram handles. They have challenged my thinking, grown me closer to the heart of God, and given me vision to what Heaven will look like when we are saved in His Kingdom. Most of these people or organizations are also on Facebook and Twitter:

@benjaminswatson

@_kirstenwatson_

@quannyboo

@pastoremase

@morganharpernichols

@tonijcollier

@samcollier

@rondell_trevino

@andcampaign

@changingwomaninitiative

@simijohn

@iammiketodd

@_illuminatives

@emmanuelacho

@ohhappydani

@nicolewalters

@josephprince

@maverickcitymusic

@ruthchousimons

Who do you follow? Comment below with the links to your favorite people so we can learn and grow together!

~*~
Author Bio:

Kristen's passionate about storytelling and helping people take their next steps in their relationship with Jesus.

She lives forty-five minutes outside of Atlanta, GA. where she served as a Children's Ministry Director for many years. With the support of her husband and two children, she now stays home writing fiction and non-fiction.

She also serves on the women’s leadership team at her local church and writes for Crosswalk and Wholly Loved Ministries. You can check out her articles and novels at www.kristenterrette.com.

~*~
Connect with Kristen:
Website - www.kristenterrette.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/authorkristenterrette/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/KTerrette
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kterrette/
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16252020.Kristen_Terrette
BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kristen-terrette
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/kterrette2/

Sharing Our Stories: Why Racism is Wrong

Racism Against People of Color
A guest post by Sherrinda Ketchersid

Since George Floyd’s death, I’ve been educating myself about racism and White privilege. Most of the books, magazines, and online articles have focused on Black voices, but as I have friends and family members who are married to Latinxs, I’ve begun to investigate the issues that this and other underrepresented groups face. My findings have been eye-opening. As people of God, we cannot close our eyes to the mistreatment of God-created human beings.

Let’s talk about the Latinx group. I did not know this, but Latinx is the biggest minority group in the United States—not by much, with Blacks coming in close behind. I also learned that Latinx are the second most discriminated ethnic group after Blacks. Like Black people, the darkness or lightness of their skin contributes to the level of discrimination.

From a survey done by pewresearch.org, four in ten Latinx say they have recently experienced one of the following incidents—called offensive names, told to go back to their home country, disparaged for speaking Spanish, and given harsh treatment because of their ethnicity.

Let’s not forget the issues with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Centers—families separated, poor living conditions, poor medical treatment, etc. There is a history of abuse and neglect dating back to the early 1900s. Allegations of rape and unauthorized sterilizations abound. Even for those Latinx born in the U.S., many of them live in fear for family members and friends.

Now let’s turn our attention on Indigenous Americans. We all have heard about how colonization of North America forced Indigenous Americans from their homes and their sacred lands, many slaughtered in the process. They were told untruths, endured broken treaties, and forced into segregation on reservations. Today, Indigenous Americans face discrimination across a variety of areas such as medical treatment, interaction with police, educational processes, microaggressions, and racial slurs.

Statistics show that Indigenous Americans who live in a heavily populated Native area are more likely to experience institutional discrimination than those in a less populated Native area. In regard to housing, a few years ago in North Dakota, a law was passed that made having a photo ID with a street address a requirement to vote. This targeted the Indigenous Americans, many of whom used P.O. Boxes. Voter repression is still happening, just as it is for the Black community, where the war on drugs and mass incarceration makes voting impossible.

Now let’s look at Asian Americans. Some of you may have seen on the news this year instances where some have been told to “go home”, all because COVID-19 was first reported in China. The virus has been called the “China Flu” by some, which in and of itself is racist. But this is not a new thing, according to history.

Discrimination against Asians goes back a long way. Back around the 1850s, Chinese workers began to come over to U.S., fleeing from wars and economic hardship. At first they were welcomed, but soon were seen as competition from lower-class whites. In 1870, The Naturalization Act gave naturalization rights to those of African descent, but not those of Asian descent.

In the 1960s, during the anti-black discrimination uprising, Asian-Americans became the poster child for the new term “model-minority”, stating they were better at abiding by the law and being hard workers. While this may have looked good on the outside, it constituted the idea that Asian Americans did not need government assistance.

Asian Americans face discrimination today. In one study at the University of Toronto, it was found that those of East Asian descent were thought of as extremely competent, but lacking leadership and dominance, making them overlooked for leadership positions. This is alluded to as the “bamboo ceiling”—and why Asian Americans don’t consider advanced degrees as profitable as for whites.

Black people have been discriminated against more openly and ruthlessly. The injustices they have been dealt with have been reprehensible and violent. From slavery, to segregation, to voter suppression, to lynching, to mass incarceration, to police brutality, Black people in America have been dealt a heavy blow.

I know I am excluding other underrepresented groups like Middle Eastern, South Asian, and others, which I know experience discrimination as well, but to be mindful of the length of this post, I am focusing on other people of color at this time.

The discrimination and racial injustices against people of color … all colors … is perpetrated by people of white skin. This was true even before American colonization. It is pervasive and though we try to make things better, other structures of suppression pop up.

As believers in Christ, we cannot stand by and be silent any longer. Scripture clearly tells us of God’s heart for all people. Each one of us are His creation, made in His image (Genesis 1:27). We are to treat every person with respect and love.

We should not favor whites over people of color because, as Christ’s followers, we follow His example and teachings. It was Jesus Christ’s disciple Peter who said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” (Acts 10:34-35 NIV)

In the book of Revelation 7:9-10 (NIV), we see that in heaven “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Everyone, no matter their nationality, their ethnicity, or their skin color will be excluded from God’s kingdom. If God does not exclude, why would we?

As we move forward in 2021, I am challenging myself—and others—to examine our lives to see we show favoritism. Do we watch TV and movies that only feature white leads? Do we read books that are white centered? Does our friend circle all have the same color skin? Do we initiate conversations with others who look different from us? Do we seek to befriend and truly know and understand others of different backgrounds? Are we calling out racism when we see it…in ourselves and in others? These are questions I am asking myself this year.

I pray that my heart grows in bravery in the face of injustice, and that I will expand my circle of friends to include more diversity. What about you? How will you work on your heart in regard to racial justice?

~*~
Author Bio:

Sherrinda Ketchersid is an author of historical romance and a minister’s wife who loves to paint in her Bible.

She loves to read, spend time in her flower garden, and try her hand at new crafts. She likes to blog and is part of a group called The Writers Alley. 

Sherrinda lives in north-central Texas with her husband of 35 years. With four grown children, three guys and a gal, she has more time and energy to spin tales of faith, fun, and forever love.

~*~
Connect with Sherrinda:
Website: www.sherrinda.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SherrindaKetchersidAuthor/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sherrinda
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherrinda
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sherrinda/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19022507.Sherrinda_Ketchersid
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sherrinda-ketchersid
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sherrinda-Ketchersid/e/B07Q5Y8QHF/

Sharing Our Stories: Thoughts on what it takes to improve race relations

Know Better, Do Better
A guest post by Marie W. Watts

Being the change we seek in race relations requires a different mindset.

Have you heard the following?

“If you do what you’ve always done, you get what you’ve always got.”

For the sake of our nation, we cannot continue business as usual. But what’s the first step in breaking the cycle?

The psychological phenomena, the Pygmalion Effect, offers clues. This paradigm focuses on self-fulfilling prophesies. High expectations in a certain area led to enhanced performance. If I expect race relations to get better, they will get better. While I cannot change other people, I can change myself.

Ask yourself this question: Are you a person who wants better race relations or are you a person who improves race relations?

Just wanting something is nice but working for it makes all the difference. Once we begin with the mindset that we are someone who works to improve race relations, then we can begin to build habits that support our identity as a change agent.

Our mindset is enforced by small wins. And these small victories become habits. Soon these new behaviors become second nature.

These are some examples of small personal wins on the journey to racial equality:

· Do you hear/read something that reinforces negative stereotypes? Research it. Is it true?

Offer different opinions to others. Ingrained cultural stereotypes are difficult to tune out. Recognize yours and change your habits—stop acting on them.

· Smile and greet persons who are different from you. Do not ignore them.

· Be thoughtful while voting or contacting your elected representatives. Do you urge them to support legislation that furthers your goal of improving race relations?

· Volunteer or donate to causes that support your identity.

· Watch programs or read books about the effects of inequality on those who are different from us. Have you seen the PBS award-winning series “Eyes on the Prize”?

· Cultivate friendships with people who are different from yourself.

Set a goal for 2021 to remake your identity. The changes you make within radiate to those around you, setting the trajectory towards equality.

~*~
Author Bio:

Marie W. Watts is a former employment discrimination investigator and human resource consultant with over twenty-five years of experience. In pursuit of justice in the workplace, she’s been from jails to corporate boardrooms seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly of humans at work. 

Her on-the-job observations came in handy when she co-authored a textbook about how to behave at work, Human Relations 4th ed. Additionally, her work has been published in the Texas Bar Journal and the Houston Business Journal as well as featured on Issues Today syndicated to 119 radio stations, NBC San Antonio, Texas, and TAMU-TV in College Station, Texas.

A popular diversity and employment discrimination trainer, Marie has trained thousands of employees to recognize their own biases and prejudices and avoid discriminating against others in the workplace. She has brought her experiences to life in the trilogy Warriors For Equal Rights about the struggles of ordinary people who work at the little-known federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

She and her husband live on a ranch in central Texas. In her spare time, she supports a historic house and hangs out with her grandsons. For more information about Marie and her stories about life, visit www.mariewatts.com.

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Connect with Marie:
BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/profile/marie-w-watts
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mariewattsbooks
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MarieWattsBooks
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mariewattswriter/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-w-watts-5b2a2b/

Sharing Our Stories: The power of telling your story to the world

Tell Me Your Story
A guest post by Roseanna M. White

In the tumultuous spring of 2020, when the world was shut down with COVID and there was rioting in the streets and Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests all across America, I was sitting at my computer with edits for a book called Dreams of Savannah. 

I had to turn these edits back in to my publisher soon…and I was scared. Because this story, as you might be able to guess, was set in Savannah, Georgia. The heart of the South. During the Civil War. With a heroine who was from a slave-holding family. Yes, there were themes of racial reconciliation in the book already…but were they strong enough? Had I handled them well? Would I be able to adequately share my heart through this story? Was my heart where God needed it to be?

In the tumultuous spring of 2020, my family did a lot of soul-searching. We did a lot of talking about what was going on around us and why. We did a lot of evaluating of our own biases, prejudices, passions, and actions. And we changed. We changed some of our opinions, previously never thought about too deeply. We changed our conversations with others. We changed our approach to a lot of things.

And I worked on this story. In it, my heroine has to do what we did—reevaluate what she thought she knew. She has to learn to see the people around her as people. To love them not for the roles they played in her life, but to see them as worthy of stories of their own. And that was the crux of the matter for my characters, who always wanted to be a heroine in one of her beloved tales. She had to realize that she gets to write her own story—she has to make choices that will let her live the story she wants to tell. And she has to see the stories of those around her to recognize that the same is true of them. Because while she’s so focused on being her own heroine, what if she ends up a villain in their story?

As I wrote this character who learned to see the stories of those around her, I realized that it was a real passion of mine too. I’ve always believed that stories are powerful things—that stories touch our hearts and minds and souls in ways that simple facts don’t. But before, I always focused on how fiction does that. I began to realize the same power is held by any story—any sharing of experience and insight. Through stories, we can come to know each other. Understand each other. Love each other.

I want to know your story. I want to know what makes you tick, what factors into your reasoning. I want to see your experiences through your eyes to help me open my own wider to the life you live. I want to understand the trials of the immigrant; the burden of the person of color; the fears of the marginalized. I want to know you, so I can love you like the Father loves you.

It was driving home from church one day just a couple months ago that this desire, and our continued talk of racial reconciliation, and the final edits on Dreams of Savannah, all coalesced in my mind. I looked over at my husband and said, “We need to collect people’s stories. And create a site where they can share them. Where anyone can.”

And so we did. We created a site called SeeingtheStory.com that is a place for story-seekers, story-tellers, and story-collectors to gather. To share, to read, to watch, to listen. To get to know people who are nothing like them…yet just like them. To learn what it is to walk in each other’s shoes. To love each other.

If you’re reading this post on this blog, then chances are you have a flame in your heart for understanding others and loving them. You want to learn better how to do that. So I’d love to invite you to come take a peek at Seeing the Story. 

Read some of the stories up already—it’s just launched as of when I’m writing this, so there aren’t many yet. But you can help with that. We’d love it if you would share your story. Maybe the one about how your family came to live where they have. Maybe a story of hardship overcome or joy found where you least expected it. Maybe the story of what set your feet on this path toward racial reconciliation, or one you’ve lived out while traveling it.

Stories really do change the world—because they change the hearts of the people who fill it. And we get to choose what story we live, what story we tell.

I’d love to hear yours.

~*~
Author Bio:

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes.

When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing for WhiteFire Publishing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself.

Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books … to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 

You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

~*~
Connect with Roseanna:
Blog: https://roseannamwhite.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoseannaMWhite/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/roseannamwhite/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseannamwhite/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoseannaMWhite

Sharing Our Stories: The Beloved Community

Beloved Community
A guest post by Dr. Angelle M. Jones

“He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

– Luke 10:27 (NIV)

As we approach the celebration of MLK Day, your thoughts may turn to Dr. King’s dream of a Beloved Community. His was a narrative of a collective community. A community committed to embracing the philosophy of nonviolence. A community where its inhabitants share the wealth of the earth and where the coexistence of racism and poverty are no longer. A community where by engaging the principles of nonviolence, conflict or international disputes are resolved peacefully. It has been said that to Dr. King, the enactment of Beloved Community was as realistic as the racist world in which he lived.

My personal vision of Beloved Community developed as the result of years of longing for an authentic multiracial and multiethnic worshipping community. I envisioned a sacred space where Christians embraced and lived reconciled with one another the way the Kingdom of God is portrayed in Scripture. I saw a sacred space where in spite of what took place outside, inside, loving God also meant loving your Black or White neighbor as yourself. When I think about the many communal experiences I’ve personally encountered, I realize it was the authenticity of loving relationships developed in those spaces that brought me joy. On the other hand, the effects of racism in that same space have affected not only the way I see and experience community, but at times it caused me to fear the possibility of believing genuine relationships between Blacks and Whites could ever exist.

Today, intentional racial reconciliation happens as I do the work of loving my White neighbor as I love me. As I reflect back to my first experience of allowing a White person to enter into my relational space, I am almost embarrassed at the level of resistance extended. My dear friend of now thirty some years, approached me in Bible college after hearing I was having car trouble. She offered her help in getting me to class.

As a new Christian who had recently spent five years of college studying African-American studies, finding myself in a multiracial/multicultural church was the last place I thought I would worship or find authentic White folk for that matter. After only a short time, because of some of my initial encounters at the church when Whites turned away after the pastor asked everyone to reach out and touch or hug their neighbor, I immediately distrusted my friend’s motive. The more I resisted, the more she insisted she could pick me up for class. We laugh about it today because in reality neither of us was intentionally trying to befriend or hurt the other. She was just being her naturally giving self; I on the other hand, was naturally protecting myself from further discrimination, which had become a normal way of life, now in and outside the church. Her intentionally reaching across the invisible color line to offer help, was all it took for me to risk letting my guard down to finally accept her invitation.

It has been theorized that since slavery in America, social categorization of race construct, and superiority and inferiority complex theories have been used by Whites to subjugate Blacks and other minorities. As a result, this social construct has through the years caused Blacks and others since slavery to continue to be looked upon as inferior to the majority race in this country. For this reason, years after the physical and emotional traumatization of Blacks, many African-Americans still carry the scars from slavery, while trying to deconstruct the myth of being inferior.

This trauma has affected how Blacks often respond when approached by Whites. Even when Whites may have good intentions, Blacks subconsciously may be wondering, “What is your real motive?” or asking themselves, “Is the person just trying to relieve themselves of guilt by doing something nice for a Black person?”

Even against the resistance posed, this White woman who is now one of my dearest friends, pressed to make a difference in someone’s life. More importantly she did it without allowing color to be a barrier. Although our relationship may have been divinely orchestrated by the Holy Spirit, we did have to obey the promptings to allow this organic friendship to develop between us. What may have started as an unplanned relationship, at some point we had to become intentional for it to flourish authentically.

In light of my personal journey with my friend, I learned that the opportunity for genuine fellowship between Blacks and Whites will only reach its maximum potential when the participants are intentional about loving the other as they love themselves. By allowing this sister in Christ to be the authentic and genuine person that she was and remains to be after years of friendship, I am a better person and I believe she would agree, so is she. We have had countless discussions about race, how we grew up, our parents, and how all these factors have made a difference in how we view one another.

Even though we are both Christians, we found having a lot in common still did not keep us from running into challenges as we grew to learn about one another. I am sure we would both admit that our friendship has weathered the racial storms of the decades since our first encounter. Through political debates, church traditions, ministry, life and other major differences that we faced as we were becoming the women we are today, we are both better because of the other. More importantly, we have modeled authentic Beloved Community for our friends and families.

As we celebrate this upcoming MLK Day, there is only one way to capitulate the seemingly shrinking imagery caste by Dr. King. If nourished, the sixty-year-old vision will remain alive to never die. As we strive to authentically love one another, one life, one church at a time, may Beloved Community prevail. 

~*~
Author Bio:

“Inspiring and Motivating With the Power of Words” 

Angelle M. Jones believes that the power of words inspires, and motivate to bring about transformative change individually and collectively. 

Angelle originally hails from Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in African-American studies from the University of Cincinnati. Angelle has a master’s degree in Theological Studies from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia and an earned Doctorate in Ministry on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, and his philosophy of The Beloved Community from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Her ministry career began as a staff member of the Northeastern Ohio Billy Graham Crusade in 1994. For twenty years, as founder and director of In The Spirit Ministries, Inc. she led teams on mission outreaches throughout the world. From 2007-2012 Angelle served as Missions Director of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio where she currently resides. Angelle is founder and director of GlobaLife Coaching and Consulting serving as a Life and Transformation Coach and Church Consultant.

In 2016 Angelle authored and self-published her first book, Happily Never After. Along with sharing words of hope by sharing her writings on her social media platforms, she has been published in Vantage Magazine which is a literary source for faculty, students and alumni of Columbia Theological Seminary, and Ready which is a cutting-edge online magazine addressing current events and trending socially relevant topics for women.

Angelle is the mother of an adult daughter. She is a grandmother and great-grandmother.

~*~
Connect with Dr. Angelle:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angelle.m.jones.5
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abundantgrace1/
Website: www.globalifetransforms.com
Email: globalifeconsultants@gmail.com