Anti-Racism

Monarch: A Mexican-American Musical

 

Our very own Mayu Molina Lehmann and her brother, Alfanso Molina, have written a musical that premieres on the East Coast in October!

 

Join a group from Good Shepherd at the Creative Cauldron Theater in Falls Church:

GSLC group tickets are $30 and pay what you can:

  • Pay online (select Social Events – Non-Donation) or at church by cash or check (note Tickets in the memo line).
  • Please submit your payment by Monday, Oct. 16
  • RSVP on the sign-up sheet at GSLC to reserve your spot

Watch a preview of Monarch

 

Questions? Contact Corinne Baker or Pastor Kate.


Monarch follows the journey of dreamers and undocumented immigrants who live and work in this country, but still must remain in the shadows.

 

After 20 years of running a successful workshop in the US, beloved handyman Luis becomes the relentless focus of ICE Officer Castelo. Fearing for his future, Luis seeks sanctuary in a local church where memories abound of the monarch sanctuary in Mexico where he met his wife.

 

Like the monarch butterfly, Luis is determined to follow his fate-defining journey.

Mayu takes a selfie with actor, Marco, the Monarch musical poster and the theater in the background

  • Book Discussion: I'm Still Here

     

    Sunday, August 27

    11:15 AM (after 10 AM worship)

    In-person at GSLC and online


    Join via Zoom

    Meeting ID: 815 9912 3710

    Passcode: 943446


    Dial by your location:

    301-715-8592

    312-626-6799

    Find your local number


    Dig into the 185-page, I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by New York Times bestselling author, Austin Channing Brown, then join the Anti-Racism Team for an hour of discussion.


    Questions? Contact Corinne Baker

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  • Alex. Community Remembrance Proj sign outside GSLC: Remembering Benjamin Thomas, Joseph McCoy. Lynched in Alexandria August 8, 1899 and April 23, 1897

    Benjamin Thomas Remembrance

     

    2023 Remembrance Event & Historic Marker Unveiling

    401 N. St. Asaph Street


    Each August, Alexandrians gather to remember Benjamin Thomas, and the terror inflicted upon him, his family, and the Black residents of the city. This year, a historic marker acknowledging this tragic part of our history, the August 8, 1899 lynching of Thomas, was unveiled followed by a sidewalk procession and wreath laying.


    Learn more: In Memoriam: Benjamin Thomas, August 8, 1899


    ACRP July/August newsletter (pdf): How the lynching of Benjamin Thomas was linked to slavery


    Alexandria Community Remembrance Project: Learn more about what happened to Benjamin Thomas and Alexandria’s history of racial terror.

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  • Learn, Reflect, Pray, Act

     

    Go to resources for:


    Kids & Talking with Kids


    Older Youth & Adults

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  • Banner Dedication

    We Believe That Black Lives Matter


    Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8


    We invite you to join us every day as we work to live into this declaration.


    Help say that Black lives matter by supporting these Black-owned businesses in Alexandria

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  • Dedication of

    Jesus of the People by Janet McKenzie


    In the mystery and wonder of God, we are each created unique and in the image of God. Jesus of the People is a reminder that envisioning God is like looking in a mirror and seeing all of God's children in our reflection.

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  • Memorial sign outside GSLC for Alexandria lynching victims Joseph McCoy (1897) and Benjamin Thomas (1899)

    A Vigil for Healing & Understanding

     

    Journeying into Holy Week


    Part One


    Part Two


    Part Three


    This 24-hour online vigil, hosted by the Metro DC ELCA Synod Racial Equity Team, focused on healing, understanding, and celebration of the multitude of cultures of our church.

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  • We write to convey the aches of our hearts in this moment of racial reckoning. We lament for the sins of racial injustice and white supremacy and recommit to building a more just and equitable society. We’ve been in discernment together over what is ours to do, ours to learn and how we might lead in this time with faithfulness and integrity. We acknowledge our engagement with and commitment to these issues must continue. We invite you to join us in this lament, learning and next steps. Read the letter

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  • On May 25, 2020 our brother, George Floyd was murdered, under the knee of Police Officer Derek Chauvin, igniting cries and actions for racial justice across this land, around the world and within our church. On this anniversary of his death, we pray for our siblings who are suffocating under the press of injustice, abuse of power, violence, ethnic differences, and racism, and for all who are bound up in that suffocation. We especially remember our brother George Floyd, child of God, who was murdered one year ago. May his cry “I can’t breathe,” awaken our hearts, move us to action as God’s hands, and stir in us a quest for equality, justice, and peace for all.

     

    -ELCA Metro D.C. Synod Racial Equity Team

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  • How Then, Do We Account?


    "This is a tragedy, and sometimes the criminal law is not adequate to respond to a tragedy, and I fully acknowledge that," said (Kentucky Attorney General Daniel) Cameron[1].


    How then do we account for the murder of Breonna Taylor in her own home? Read more

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  • Black Lives Matter


    How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? –Psalm 13:1


    How long, O Lord? This ancient lament comes to me all too often and does again as we confront that another Black man has been shot by police. Read more

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  • My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies

    By Resmaa Menakem


    Discussion guide (courtesy of First Unitarian Church of Baltimore)

    PDF file | MS Word


    Guided meditations: The felt sense and body awareness practices


    Metro DC ELCA Synod resources: Scriptural and devotional suggestions, weekly reflections


    Buy the book from a Black-owned bookstore like Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books.


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  • Resolution

    Our Response to Racism

    Good Shepherd adopted this statement in 2015. Five years later, it seems little has changed. Send us, O Lord, and strengthen us to do the hard work that still lies ahead.

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Resources

We share the information and resources below as a part of our journey, as a primarily White congregation, to learn and grapple with America's racial past and present. We seek to be an intentional part of building racial equity and justice that leads at last to the beloved community.

For Kids & Talking with Kids

Social Story for George Floyd (for pre-K/kindergarten students)

GSLC member, Dora Cottrol, created this video for her students and their parents that introduces the social story shared online after George Floyd was murdered in May 2020.


Talking About Race and Racism with Children

A collection of resources from Christine V. Hides’ website, Weaving Faith into Everyday Life, shared by our education coordinator, Denise Steene.


Racial Justice Resources: Justice for Black Lives

A variety of resources curated by the NEA EdJustice, a program of the National Education Association.


Alexandria Black History Museum

This local museum offers a variety of ongoing and periodic exhibitions, events and programming for kids, youth and adults with a focus on Alexandria’s local Black history. In particular, look for Storytime with Young Historians in upcoming events, regularly held on Saturday mornings.

Sesame Street Townhall on Racism


EmbraceRace: Raising a Brave Generation

Subscribe to their emails

Talking Kids & Race webinars + online resources & articles organized around four goals to meet the challenge of raising children in a world where race matters:

  • Nurture resilience in children of color
  • Nurture inclusive, empathetic children of all stripes
  • Raise kids who think critically about racial inequity
  • Support a movement of kid and adult racial justice advocates for all children

Talking About Race Web Portal

Resources for educators, parents/caregiver and people committed to equity curated by the National Museum of African American History & Culture

For Older Youth & Adults

 

Watch/Videos

A Prophetic Call to the Church

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s call to action to the Church and fellow clergy the 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail is grievously and regrettably relevant over 50 years later. In honor of Dr. King’s dedication to reforming the Church and American culture, listen to the African American voices of rostered leaders of the ELCA once again asserting a call for action to the Church by reading his prophetic call.


Young, Gifted and Black in the ELCA


Do Black Churches Matter in the ELCA? by Pastor Lenny Duncan Part I | Part II


Sermon by guest preacher Rev. Lamont Wells

Feb. 25, 2018: Educational forum, unity service with Rev. Lamont Wells, Assistant to the Bishop and Director of Evangelical Mission at the Metropolitan NY Synod and President of the African Descent Lutheran Association


A Conversation on Juneteenth
ASALH featuring Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed


Color Blind or Color Brave?

TED Talk by Mellody Hobson


Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise

PBS Series - watch full episodes online

Read/Articles, Books

Learn About Juneteenth

Crisis in Black Education - Black History Theme 2017   

The people behind the integration of Alexandria Public Schools by Jim McElhatton  

Reflections/Faith Talks

Taking a knee during the national anthem


Listen/Podcasts


The Forgotten Racial History of Kentucky's State Song

NPR Code Switch


How Georgetown University Once Relied on the Slave Trade and New Efforts to Reconcile with Its Past

Diane Rehm Show, WAMU/NPR

About

Guided by GSLC's August 2015 resolution, Our Response to Racism and the Murders at the Emanuel AME Church, Charleston, SC, Good Shepherd’s Anti-Racism Team provides intentional forums to:

  • Learn about the experiences, tragedies and triumphs of our African American siblings through history and to today.
  • Explore and prayerfully reflect on racism, white privilege and unconscious bias.
  • Stand with those who face discrimination.
  • Act to end racism.

GSLC Anti-Racism Team annual reports (pdf)

Have questions or want to get involved?

Contact Corinne Berkseth Baker, Anti-Racism Team Chair

  • Dedication of

    Jesus of the People by Janet McKenzie

    In the mystery and wonder of God, we are each created unique and in the image of God. Jesus of the People is a reminder that envisioning God is like looking in a mirror and seeing all of God's children in our reflection.

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section.

  • Resolution

    Our Response to Racism

    Good Shepherd adopted this statement in 2015. Five years later, it seems little has changed. Send us, O Lord, and strengthen us to do the hard work that still lies ahead.

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section.

Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another? Malachi 2:10