Community Reads - Better Not Bitter
Zoom
Community, that which unites us, our common union one with another. Fellowship has been defined as fellows in the same ship. One thing that we lack in our understanding of ourselves and our churches is the ability to see our common union. Our understanding of church has been impacted due to our need to stay socially distanced. Perhaps the walls that separate us have been exposed for the farce that they are since we can now log on and be church -- or can we?
As a result of prayer and in consideration of our social realities, we will begin a series of book studies with other churches in the Richmond area. The intent of these gatherings, whether in person or online, will be to examine where we as church have been, where we are, and where we hope to go into the future.
Book Four: Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in Pursuit of Racial Justice, by Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five. Beginning in April 2022, we will join in reading the account of one of the “Central Park Five.”
Yusef Salaam endured one of the gravest miscarriages of justice. He responds to racism and injustice by speaking and writing about the effects of incarceration and disenfranchisement on individuals, families and the larger community. We will journey through this book with the hope of emerging with greater awareness of the damage that results from prejudice and bias towards others - especially towards men of color.
We invite the youth of the three churches to join in this discussion as it was a young person Yusef Salaam was abused by our justice system.