EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? - Isaiah 58:6 Stay safe, stay committed…and always know that you are beloved. _____________________________________________________________________ Miriam Casey, Co-chair, Commission for Intercultural Ministries ([email protected]) Lynn Zender, Co-chair, Commission for Intercultural Ministries ([email protected]) Jo Ann Williams, Editor ([email protected]) _____________________________________________________________________ THE BLACK CHURCH THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG Tuesday and Wednesday, February 16 and 17, 2021 PBS will air a four-hour, two-part documentary series that traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America. It reveals how Black people have worshipped, and through their spiritual journeys, improvised ways to bring their faith traditions from Africa to the New World translating them into a form of Christianity that was not only truly their own, but a 1 redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was found in their ancestors’ enslavement across the Middle Passage: https://www.pbs.org/weta/black-church/ CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH PBS is thrilled to share a host of documentaries and digital shorts that highlight the richness of the Black experience in American history. Here are previews of films premiering this month on PBS, as well as a dozen films you can stream to celebrate Black history: Celebrate Black History Month 2021 (pbs.org). Make sure you also visit their feature: 28 Black History Makers in 28 Days to learn more about the lasting contributions of this group of 28 incredible individuals. URGE CONGRESS TO ADVANCE STUDY OF REPARATIONS In 2006, General Convention passed a resolution calling for “legislation initiating study of and dialogue about the history and legacy of slavery in the United States and of proposals for monetary and non-monetary reparations to the descendants of the victims of slavery.” Since that time, The Episcopal Church has been supportive of this proposal, and we ask you to act with us now to urge Congress to finally pass this bill into law which was introduced to the 117th Congress. Take action on HR 40, the bill pertaining to reparations: Action Alerts - The Episcopal Church WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ABOLITIONIST HERO HARRIET TUBMAN AND THE EFFORT TO GET HER ON THE $20 BILL The Biden administration will resume the process to add famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman to the $20 bill. The Obama administration announced plans to put Tubman on the bill in 2016, but the Trump administration halted those plans in 2019. Tubman will become the first Black person on the face of American paper currency and the first woman in generations. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Tubman’s image on the new $20 note would reflect the history and diversity of our country. Read more here: https://www.centerforracialhealing.org/post/what-to-know-about-abolitionist-hero-harriet- tubman-and-the-effort-to-get-her-on-the-20-bill. 2 EQUITY AND EQUALITY IN THE MOVEMENT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE WEBINAR Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Racial justice continues to be a concern for African descendant communities globally. The onset of COVID-19 in early March has affected people across the globe; but in the US, people of color, particularly Black people, have been disparately affected resulting in heightened racial ethnic disparities and inequities. The movements for justice are complex and include the call for equity and inclusion - issues which are essential to bring changes in church and society. Join Aundreia Alexander, Associate General Secretary for the National Council of Churches, Adele Halliday from The United Church of Canada, and Karen Georgia Thompson as they discuss the role of the church in creating a just world for all. Register here for the webinar: https://ucc.zoom.us/webinar/register/3916118857501/WN_ZxK70Uq- QjuaABlB6u5EOQ?inf_contact_key=8d484a3aaa13e8b3414a93b99406a2abb7af0999d ac2af6212784c39e05d2aef CONTEMPLATIVE RESISTENCE: WHAT HOWARD THURMAN CAN TEACH US ABOUT LIVING MERCIFULLY IN AN UNJUST WORLD Saturday, February 20, 2021 St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster, PA, will host a Zoom workshop on Saturday, February 20, 2021, 6 am PST, on the teachings of Howard Thurman and explore a spirituality that provides a more reconciling and less reactive way to engage, and disengage, from the violence of our current world. The workshop leader will be Dr. Tejai Beulah, assistant professor of history, ethics and black church and African diaspora studies at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. Register here: Howard Thurman: Contemplative Resistance Tickets | Saint James Episcopal Church (saintjameslancaster.org) ______________________________________________________________________ THE NEXT FAITHFUL STEP Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 6 pm For those who have completed Sacred Ground or something like it: are you looking for a place to talk with others committed to the work of ongoing learning and work for racial healing? Come and share the "next faithful step" you have been discovering and hear from others what they are reading and doing and discovering. The “Next Faithful Step” meeting will be held on February 23, 2021, at 6 pm. Contact The Rev. Anne Clark, Assistant Rector, Grace Episcopal Church, St. Helena, if you have questions and for the Zoom link: [email protected]. 3 25th ANNUAL IMMIGRANT DAY OF ACTION Tuesday, May 25, 2021 Please put on your calendars! The 25th Annual Immigrant Day of Action will be held on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at the California State Capitol and it will be virtual. This is an opportunity to visit with our legislators about important bills coming up related to immigration. Stay tuned for more information on this important day. Or contact Lynn Zender at [email protected]. More information here: Immigrant Day 2021 - California Immigrant Policy Center (caimmigrant.org) FIRST LADY JILL BIDEN EXPECTED TO TAKE ACTIVE ROLE IN IMMIGRANT FAMILY REUNIFICATION The current first lady's upcoming involvement in the issue and its targeted task force will lend visibility to the mission of reuniting children with their parents, which remains a crisis for many families. A White House official said Jill Biden was especially impacted by her December trip to the Matamoros, Mexico, refugee camp across the border from Brownsville, Texas. Read more here: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/politics/jill- biden-immigration-family-separation/index.html _______________________________________________________________ PRESIDING BISHOP JOINS CALL FOR CHRISTIANS TO COUNTER CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM DURING WEBINAR Presiding Bishop Michael Curry joined the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, for a webinar on Christian nationalism by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, also known as BJC, on Jan. 27. The webinar provided an overview of what Christian nationalism is, how it is showing up in America and how Christians can address it. Christian nationalism has been described as “… an ideology that ‘seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy.’” https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2021/01/28/presiding-bishop-joins-call- for-christians-to-counter-christian-nationalism-during-webinar/ SPIRITUAL ACTIVISM FOR FIGHTING AND HEALING FROM WHITE SUPREMECY Thursday, February 18, 2021, 6:30 pm PST The California Institute of Integrated Studies will host live online racial justice educator and sought-after spiritual activist Rachel Ricketts who has developed heart-centered 4 and mindfulness-based practices to fight white supremacy from our personal lives to our communities, addressing anti-racism from a comprehensive, intersectional, and spiritually aligned perspective. Join A-Ian Holt, director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford for a conversation with Rachel as she offers mindful and practical steps for all of us to dismantle white supremacy on a personal and collective level. Click here to register: Spiritual Activism for Fighting and Healing from White Supremacy Tickets, Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 6:30 PM | Eventbrite. _______________________________________________________________ THE FOUR VISION QUESTS OF JESUS Begins February 18, 2021 During Lent Trinity Cathedral will present the book, The Four Vision Quests of Jesus, written by The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, Choctaw. Bishop Charleston examines four events in the life of Jesus through the lens of Native American spirituality. Discussions will be held on Thursday evenings at 7 pm. The dates of the classes are February 18, February 25, March 4, March 11, March 18, and March 25, 2021. You are invited to participate by contacting Deacon Emerita Tina Campbell, Indigenous Missioner of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California, [email protected]. Deacon Tina will provide you with the Zoom link to the sessions. THE COMMISSION FOR INTERCULTURAL MINISTRIES BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS ON INDIGENOUS HISTORY IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873. Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Winner. Historian and author Benjamin Madley describes pre-contact California and precursors to the genocide before explaining how the Gold Rush stirred vigilante violence against California Indians. Between 1846 and 1873, California’s