Six New Things – Week of February 3, 2025

There’s lots of chaos these days. That’s by design. Let’s not get distracted. Instead, focus on truth, hope, love, grace, and creating safe(r) spaces for our most vulnerable neighbors.

ONE

It’s Black History Month!

Inspire Black History Makers with Girls on the Rise (Penguin) – from Black History Maker Amanda Gorman – a ‘rousing rallying cry’ that celebrates girls and girlhood, ‘not for how they look but for how they look into the face of fear’, as it ‘reminds us how girls have shaped our history while marching boldly into the future’ and, Brown Boys Rule (Beaming) – ‘an inspiring anthem for boys bearing melanin of all kinds’ that reminds ‘boys of color that they may be kids, but they are strong and tough – as well as joyful and kind’.

Engage tweens and teens with, The Unboxing of a Black Girl (Page Street YA), which, ‘illuminates the places where Black girls are nurtured or exploited in stories and poems about personal and political boxes, love, loss, and sexual assault’; cultural footnotes further understanding.

With adults, share The Shaping of Black Identities: Redefining the Generations through the Legacy of Race and Culture (WJK), which is primarily about belonging, and ‘explores the generations of African Americans who have lived in the 20th and early 21st centuries and the impact that living in the United States has had on them’, as it ‘investigates collective memory and the stories told to each succeeding generation about the lives off the preceding generations’.

Find more in our Anti-Racism – Children & Families: Identity & Diversity and Anti-Racism – Tweens & Teens: Perspectives and Stories lib guides.

TWO

Focus on a key personality of Black History with, ‘the extraordinary story of the woman who ignited the Harlem Renaissance’; find the story of Jessie Redmon Fauset in Harlem Rhapsody (Penguin).

For a broader lens, The Work of the People has a pile of fantastic films for Black History – and current history-making moments and issues – including:

Find more in our Anti-Racism – Adults: History of Race in America lib guides.

THREE

From the raw truth of our history – in its terror and its beauty – we turn to the healing balm of love:

Find more in our Faith, Love, Compassion, & Forgiveness lib guide.

FOUR

Once we’ve considered our history – and our present – through a lens of Love, there’s nothing for it: Lent presents itself as the perfect season for Turning Over Tables: A Lenten Call for Disrupting Power (WJK), ‘a Lenten journey inspired by the ways of Jesus to dismantle the systems that perpetuate inequality and injustice’.

OR

Lent in a Box: Volume 4 (Church Anew), which encourages children, youth, and families to ‘explore how faith is both rooted to ancient truths and also evolving and growing’ every day. The first 100 purchases will receive a free copy of Joe Davis’ Unearthing Us: Poems & Practices for Discovering Our Fullest Selves (Augsburg Fortress, 2024)

AND

Bring everything to fruition with Rise: A Child’s Guide to Eastertide (Paraclete), which follows a child reveling in the colors and sounds of Easter celebration, but wondering, ‘What does Easter have to do with me?’

Find more in our Lent & Easter: Small Groups, Family Devotionals, Worship, and Children & Families lib guides.

FIVE

I’m posting this minutes after a terrifying announcement from our current president about his plans for Gaza.

Christians, please stand in solidarity with our Muslim and Christian neighbors living in Gaza and in diaspora from there.

‘Immerse yourself in the stories of Gaza’s devastation and the ongoing struggle for justice and peace’ as you ‘gain insights into the historical and contemporary issues facing Palestinians, from displacement to daily oppressions’ with, Rooted in Faith and Justice: Christian Calls to Conscience & Cries for Peace in Palestine (Chalice), which ‘will challenge your perspectives, confront double standards, and help you discover pathways to solidarity and action’.

Find more in our Israel & Palestine lib guide.

SIX

Turn Love into action by creating sanctuary and safe(r) spaces for all God’s Beloved Children:

Safe Sanctuaries (Upper Room), ‘a trusted source of guidance’ for reducing the risk of abuse and creating more welcoming and safe spaces for all, is now available in English and Spanish.

For those called to the deep commitment of sanctuary, the UCC’s general counsel, Heather Kimmel, discusses the legal risks congregations should consider when engaging in sanctuary ministries in this FREE webinar.

The Ministry Lab is working with our partners to develop broader resourcing around sanctuary for our beloved neighbors. We’ll keep you posted! And you can keep an eye on The Hub for organizations with whom you might partner in this important work.