The officer shooting of Philando Castile last July led the people of this congregation and other local communities to take a closer look at the issue of race. Nativity, in partnership with other community organizations from Northeast and North Minneapolis, hosted a July event with music, spoken word poetry and public testimonials. The event was called WhatLivesMatter?
Many attendees at this event shared two common values. The first, was the conviction that ongoing community gatherings where the only hope of real social change. The second, a priority was placed on the continued leadership from people of color for future events. These shared values guided the planning for community gatherings at Nativity called Racial Bias & Racial Privilege. So far, there have been two sessions, one in January and the other in March. The first session featured a panel of speakers describing their personal experience as a person of color in a culture where white people enjoy privileges. The session in March embraced the goal of helping participants move beyond understanding racism at an intellectual level and to make productive contributions against racial bias and racial privilege in our personal, everyday life. Both sessions helped people understand how and why white people are privileged in our culture.
Inspired by the message of “God’s Kingdom” in our scriptures, Nativity Church will continue to convene these challenging conversations on race. We believe that these conversations move us to experience the soul-searching and spiritual insight to combat racial bias, racial privilege and prompt real social change.
For more information and to participate in future Racial Bias & Racial Privilege events please contact Pastor Dan Doerrer.
