Six New Things – Week of July 15, 2024

Politics and polarization are at the fore this week – and may be for a while. Here are tools for engaging essential conversations, casting a vision of God’s future, and inviting even our Littles to embrace healthier relationships with self and others.

ONE

Diana Butler Bass offers words of empowerment in her reflections on this past weekend’s shooting. In An Icon of Defiance, Bass contrasts Harriet Tubman’s open hand, beckoning us all to a future of freedom, with the closed fist of defiance, splashed across all media outlets. Read Bass’s full post here; be sure to include Amanda Gorman’s poem, Inspiration, at the post’s conclusion; and if you’re able, David Frum’s article, The Gunman and the Would-Be Dictator in The Atlantic.

[Read about the Harriet Tubman mural and artist, M. Rosato, here.]

Heather Cox Richardson offers a more partisan perspective from the vantage point of a historian.

TWO

Some specific ideas – to move from worrying to working with neighbors to depolarize your communities – include:

THREE

For a little levity in the midst of polarity, read together Vote Jesus Christ: A Political Riff on Luke’s Gospel and Cautionary Tale for Evangelicals and Other Concerned Citizens (Cascade), an ‘imagined political campaign guide’ that ‘seeks to challenge any group that blithely claims Jesus’s endorsement of their partisan agendas… especially those trumpeting authoritarian rule’.

AND/OR

Engage with hilarity: invite DangerBoat Productions to a gathering of differently-minded people (for teens on up!). Their facilitator-led exercises, ‘enhance listening, collaboration, and creativity’ as they instill skills in ‘adaptive leadership, navigating different perspectives, creative brainstorming, deep listening, and comfort in the unknown’. Learn more here.

FOUR

Antiracism work continues to be a polarizing topic in predominantly white-bodied contexts. Get off the fence with Diana Butler Bass’s post (above and here), then consider Antiracism as Daily Practice: Refuse Shame, Change White Communities, and Help Create a Just World (Macmillan), which recognizes that ‘we have real power in our relationships with other white people’ , explores ‘the significance of emotions like grief and anger (as well as the harmful role of shame)’, and ‘illustrates the many ways white Americans…can choose behaviors in our everyday lives to grow racial justice.’

[Find more on Antiracism work with Adults, Children & Families, and Teens & Tweens in our lib guides.]

If the Crisis in Gaza is your divisive topic, consider Reconciling Justice: Concepts of Justice in the Multireligious Context of Palestine/Israel (Cascade), which ‘explores the rich development of justice within each Abrahamic faith as it relates specifically to the Palestinian/Israeli context’.

Find more tips and tools for engaging in our Israel & Palestine: Learn, Pray, & Advocate Toolkit.

FIVE

Invite your Littles into healthier relationships with themselves, their friends and families, and their communities as you prepare for back-to school with Ava Lin, Best Friend! (Candlewick), which follows the quirky six-and-a-half year old through her dream of finding a new best friend on her first day of first grade.

Find more Antibullying & Friendship kids’ books in our lib guide.

SIX

Mara Hears in Style follows the ups and downs of a first day in a new school – and navigating it with hearing aids – and will ‘encourage readers to respect hearing differences and inspire kids who worry about making new friends’. Includes American Sign Language depictions throughout (including a full alphabet spread) and an educator’s guide.

Maybe Mara and folx with hearing differences can help us all learn to listen more intentionally!!

FOR MORE BACK-TO-SCHOOL:

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Diana Butler Bass shared this quote from Harriet Tubman:

‘God’s time is always near. He set the North Star in the heavens; He gave m the strength in my limbs; He meant I should be free.’