For those who are families of faith--like we are--I want you to know that faith and race are at the center of our conversations right now. Let me tell you how the past few weeks have gone.
It started after we told the kids that George Floyd was murdered. This came a few weeks after we had participated in the Run With Maud event honoring Ahmaud Arbery, and then a few days after we learned about Breonna Taylor. There was A LOT going on at once, and we were heartbroken and angry.
I spent the following weeks furiously writing, sharing posts by Black people, and creating graphics to share on social media. I couldn't sleep--with ideas and questions and emotions keeping me awake. I quickly became completely drained. This manifested as physical symptoms: shaking, heart-racing, high blood sugars, increased blood pressure, headaches. I was emotionally unavailable, eventually becoming numb.
It dawned on me that I was carrying so much pain that it was harming my body. I took a day off to re-fuel. I swam with the kids, I did yoga, journaled, and drank green tea. I wanted to shut out all the noise. I also realized, if I was this distraught, how much harder must it be to be a Black person in this country every single day? How much harder was this for my own children? It's a privilege to "shut off" something that my children, and all other Black people, cannot.
I didn't want to spend all my energy either being angry at racists or, the opposite, trying to be so anti-racist, that I had nothing left to give my four kids. I also wasn't doing any prayer or Bible reading. I was running on angry fumes--which didn't do any of us any good.
I knew what we needed to do. We needed to get back to Jesus. This started with our pastor's sermon. He was doing a series about taking care of our minds and what that means for our entire being and faith in God.
I also heard a few songs on our local radio station. There's a local Christian pop and hip hop station here in St. Louis, Boost 101.9. We were listening to songs about breaking chains, knowing your worth, and putting on the full armor of God.
I recommitted to getting into my Bible and praying FIRST. Filling our cups. We're doing a daily devotion with the kids, listening to faith-based music, and reading some of the books I'm suggesting to you here, books that show the intersection of race and faith.
We also make several posters. One was a Black Lives Matter poster where we wrote down all the names of Black people in our lives that we love and are asking God to protect (including our kids).
We created another poster with Bible verses to help us stay focused and driven to fight for justice.
I want to encourage you to NOT stop here---at reading books I suggest. Faith should be your first-stop, but next up, you need to be doing the anti-racist work. These books are to help you get your mind and heart right before you step out to do the work. Here my anti-racism book suggestions for adults; here are my anti-racism book suggestions for children. You can also check out (because, why not?) our Christmas book collection for Black children. Some (not all) focus on faith.
Friends, this is a tumultuous time in history. I'm thankful for you and your willingness to work to be anti-racist and to teach your children to do the same. Let's do this--together. Because Black Lives Matter.
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