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51 thoughts on “Latest from Book Study Blog

  1. I would like to deepen my studies in antiracism work and move toward actions to take, starting in my own community. As a POC, I know this work will include working with White people and it helps that we are all in a faith community to take on this topic with trust, humility, vulnerability, and love.

  2. I hope to increase my knowledge of systemic racism, including within the church. And, I would like to better understand what I can do as an individual to pursue racial justice in the Bay Area and United States.

  3. I hope to continue learning to be a reconciler through this book study and the anti-racist course led by Crosswoods. My first teachers were Dr. John Perkins, and also Rev. Diane Moffet. We had such deep Scripture studies and discussions – the notes of which are in my original Bible from back in the ’80s and 90’s. Jesus’ parables, Nehemiah, Peter in Acts – the entire Bible – is full of Scripture to convict us and reconcile us to God’s intent for the Beloved Community. I want to continue to learn so that God can use me – what I have become, and what I will become.

  4. I hope to continue to learn about systemic racism and how I can better understand my own implicit biases, and to work on correcting those biases and reduce / stop the harm I may be causing others.

  5. I hope to eventually identify all aspects of my white guilt and complicity with structural racism, and move beyond it into Jesus-like action for racial justice and unity both locally and nationally.

  6. As I approach this long study, I hope to sit with myself and hear what comes up from within my soul of the roots of racism within our extended family. I hope to stay present and keep learning once I have a foundation and not assume I have completed it only because the 10 weeks are over.

  7. I have mostly been exploring anti racism with white people. I would like to be part of a conversation across racial lines.

  8. I am keeping up-to-date on the issues around racism the continuing efforts toward transformation and healing and offering myself as a witness to the issues involved in such transformation. I am currently serving on a task force for change regarding this issue. Lastly, I have been a life long student regarding this issue .

  9. I want to keep doing the work of making white supremacy visible instead of hidden, especially in the church, and stay vigilant with how it has taken up residence in me and what God wants us to do to bring lasting change.

  10. From this study I hope to learn about systemic racism, what it is and able to recognize it whereever it exists in society. I wish to learn constructive ways to oppose racism in my everyday life and learn to not be complicit in racism due to ignorance. And to add to what I’ve experienced in my life.

  11. I want to learn as much as I can about the history and practices of racism, both past and ongoing. I want to uncover my biases and work to become part of the change I hope to see in my community and my world. I want to confront the many ways I know I have been blind to my own privilege,

  12. I want to continue learning about racism and its history. I also would like to look closer at my complicity in structural racism and why I didn’t feel the need to investigate. Bev

  13. I am open to what the Spirit is teaching me through Pastor Kamal, leaders in the Black community, and other participants, with scripture, about what it is to follow Jesus in praying for, serving with, and supporting brothers, sisters, and neighbors.

  14. Seeking understanding of myself, my community, my church and the world I live in. Open to learning others thoughts and where it might lead me in this time and place I live.

  15. May I be part of the solution, first in exposing racism, bias, and intolerance in myself, and then in working towards transforming & healing, within a faith community.

  16. We want to be a part of the healing, the change, the solution. This means working on and experiencing these first steps to racial healing with a community that represents all peoples… not just my white community. We are educating ourselves, but we need to be building relationships along with the work. That is one of our hopes for this time together.

  17. I want to have a language and posture/attitude to have the difficult conversations about race to assist in bringing about shalom in my church community and my secular community. Racism profoundly hurts the perpetrators as well as the victims. I believe perpetrators can be conscious or unconscious perpetrators.

  18. I hope to be opening my closed eyes toward the reality of racism in our society, even in our congregations, and to search for how it related in between racism/white supremacy and hubris, which is one of our desperate sinful tendency of humans

  19. I hope to continue to shed and shred my embodied white supremacy. I hope the faith lens Dr. Berry and Rev. Hassan use will strengthen my resolve to stay with this work long after the class is over. I hope this community will give me courage to be part of bold actions that the Presbytery needs to take to dismantle racism.

  20. I want to understand systemic racism and have an inventory of facts to work with when I have a teaching opportunity. I want to learn more about implicit racial bias and learn to identify it in myself so that I can catch myself before acting on it. I want to be part of the healing in our country and part of the dismantling of systemic racism. I hope that I will learn some ways to guide my congregation toward being part of the effort toward racial equity.

  21. I would like to learn about how to more effectively communicate across racial and cultural differences. This starts with an open heart and understanding the perspective of those who have suffered from generations of white supremacy. Sometimes I worry about saying or doing the wrong thing.
    I would like to be active in change to our world. My heart mourns for the lost cultures. I feel like so many voices have been silenced and I would like to understand how to be more present to the needs of others. I would like to hear those voices and see them integrated into our history books and society. I would like to be an active participant in eliminating racism and see change in our world. I see this class as a start in this process.

  22. Continuing to study racism has changed me in positive ways. I am hoping to continue those changes in myself: what I see, what I recognize, as well as gain knowledge of what I can do in my community to confront systemic racism and implicit racial bias.

  23. I see this study as a continuation and deepening of the reading, discussing, and studying I’ve already done on anti-racism. I see the topic as one about which the learning is lifelong and neverending. There is no point where self-awareness cannot be increased and competence at empathic listening can’t be improved.

  24. My hope is that I will be able to initiate meaningful conversations with a wide spectrum of people. Especially people who may be new to the concept of systemic racism.

  25. I want to feel comfortable when talking about race issues. I want to change my perspective and become more empathetic towards others that have experienced race inequity. I want to build confidence to act when I see inequity happening in my community. I want to inspire others.

  26. I come with a humble heart to continue to seek the transformation that the Holy Spirit desires for my life in relation to the issue of race. I want to be part of the Church’s response to this need for transformation in the world.

  27. I hope to delve into the ways that I harm others and am harmed spiritually by individual and systemic racism. I also hope to understand how I can actively repent from the sin of racism and stop being complicit with systemic racism, wherever it exists. I hope to act on that understanding individually and in alliance with my siblings in Christ. I realize that this is a lifelong journey, and requires daily attention.

  28. I hope to gain insights and greater understanding of racism and how to work toward healing racial divisions. These first steps will hopefully lead us to actions that improve the situation rather than unintentionally making it worse.

  29. As a biracial person trying to survive in a white supremacist-patriarchal society, education is important to me. My heart breaks from our nation’s ongoing legacy of racism, discrimination and oppression. I’m grateful for this opportunity to learn from amazing teachers and am hopeful that it will change people’s hearts and minds and lead to healing. As I continue my journey on becoming anti-racist, I hope to learn how to dismantle systemic racism in my church and community.

  30. I am looking to find ways to become a more effective ally in the fight against anti-racism, and white patriarchy. I understand that this journey starts by looking inside myself to understand how I have been shaped and benefited from the ideology of white supremacy.

  31. I have been attending monthly book movie reviews, mostly with white people like me; I’ve learned a lot, but I need help applying it – doing something different!

  32. I want to be able to effectively and humbly discuss/dialogue with conservative Christian friend(s) about systemic racism: it’s existence and how it has no place in Christianity as I see it. Also to be able to find out how she/they developed their view of government not doing things well (untrustworthy), which I have recently heard is a common phenomenon following the enforcement of desegregation.

  33. I hope to gain a better understanding of systemic racism, especially within organized religion, so that I may be a more effective voice in working for change.

  34. I want to learn more about race from a Biblical perspective. I want to fight against racism by learning how to educate others and bring to light the problem of systemic racism. I want to learn how to discuss racial issues without getting into a heated argument, to speak the Truth in Love.

  35. I have a deep yearning to develop healthy relationships with people outside my Caucasian ethnic group. I need to work through my fears of doing or saying the wrong thing. I seek guidance and constructive feedback so I am free to engage in racial healing within myself, with BIPOC, and with other Caucasian individuals and groups.

    I have been reading the Grace Space Guidelines frequently. Embrace discomfort and Be free from guilt, shame and condemnation are the most difficult for me.

  36. I’m interested in this study because I became aware of how things I heard around different races growing up affected my relationships with others. I want to learn more about the history of racism and how my ancestral lines affected racism and dismantling the lies I learned and spirituality heal

  37. Over the past 4 years, I have participated in anti-racist work through Oakland City Church.
    I hope to deepen my commitment to being anti-racist and to perceive avenues for concrete action.

  38. I want to discover my blind spots in thinking and speaking about racism. I hope that this class and our interactions help me discover my next steps in dismantling racism.

  39. That I can bring to a conscious level the ways I am a racist and begin to uncover how I can be transformed. That the Spirit is able to plant seeds of compassion, understanding, forgiveness, and humility, and that one day, when I least expect it, I will be surprised by the blossoms, and be grateful.

  40. My hope is to gain skills that will allow me to participate in conversations that speak the truth in love about race/ism with patience, wisdom, and grace.

  41. I hope to learn ways that I can be with people of color and not hurt them with my blind adherence to institutional racism or my own ignorant racism. I want my love to be augmented by knowledge, awareness and wisdom.

  42. I’m engaged in the WLBU study group to gain a more Christian-based understanding of practices and skills that may enable me to become a better listener and a true ally to those who experience racism and discrimination. I’m after discernment, fellowship and inspiration to develop and apply new habits in me personal, professional and “congregational” life.

  43. I hope this study will give me an opportunity to have a time of reflection, remembrance, and learning so that God can use me in the area of dismantling systemic racism. Our broken world needs healing in the area of racial issues so that peace, happiness, and hope can be restored for all. Ideally this workshop will help me to have more confidence in discussing race issues with others and taking action.

  44. I hope to gain from our time together:
    -A deeper understanding of what others have experienced and of what they believe.
    -Understanding of how to be a better ally.
    -How and where to find hope after spending over 60 of my 75 years trying to be a positive force against racism.

  45. I hope to learn more about unconscious bias. I also want to identify strategies for confronting this bias and white priveledge in people i know or encounter.

  46. Hoping to unpeel the layers of my own perceived and unseen layers of racism and understand the origins, and many destructive aspects of racism. I would like to be more proactive and involved in deconstructing racism and its societal practices and work towards healing in our society. As a grandmother of a biracial grandson, I have a very personal stake in making our society more equal and loving and work for a better world for him.

  47. I am hoping this study will find a way to confront my own racism, in a creative, biblical manner that moves me out of my head and into heart, rooted learning. I am hoping God can open me up, break down, reform…. move me towards being an ally, someone who acts like, listens like I know Jesus.

  48. I seek some seed of hope that radical, thorough, lasting eradication of systemic racism, injustice and inequity is possible. lo these hundreds of years later. I hope to gain a better awareness and understanding of my role in perpetuating the source of this despair and how I can reach beyond that toward becoming a better ally.
    To quote the workbook, I hope this will be a time of awakening, equipping, empowering and growing my capacity and energy to do justice. I hope to understand and unite with others against the Lies that divide us.

  49. I am not sure what to hope for in this book study and series. Past experiences tell me to be prepared for both expressions of White fragility and for expressions of hurt and betrayal from People of Color. I do believe that hearing the narratives of others can build empathy and awareness. But where do I fit? I come at this with more of a sense of obligation that I do of enthusiasm. What does solidarity mean? What does being an ally mean? what about my own victimization in the system of White Supremacy? What about my own identity. I hope to find hope in this.

  50. I am taking this study to better understand my own prejudgements about race; to uncover hidden/acknowledged biases. I hope to be better able to listen well, less bound by fears, knowing the language to use when speaking about race; to be encouraged and encouraging.

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