Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,
for our God will be with us wherever we go.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways trust, and God will guide you always.
– Proverbs 3:5-6
The United Church of Christ recognizes the second Sunday in February as Racial Justice Sunday. Racial Justice Ministries and the Join the Movement team invite you to prepare for the commemoration and celebrate everyone who made a way for racial justice policies and just practices to become a reality.
Watch this Message of Hope
In this video, Rev. Dr. Velda Love, Minister for Racial Justice reminds us of our calling to be strong and courageous in the face of racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy. Her message of hope invites us to remember our ancestors in faith whose struggle we are honored and blessed to continue, as we rise up in faith that God will be with us wherever we go.
Need more ideas for Racial Justice Sunday?
- Prepare worship by honoring people within your local churches who advocate for, stand with, organize movements towards racial justice and Justice for All.
- Invite congregants to read Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? and this video from Join the Movement’s resident historian Dr. Renee K. Harrison
- Use or adapt these worship resources for an intergenerational Racial Justice Sunday worship service
Keep Leaning In and Learning More!
Books to read:
- Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
- Hope and History: Why We Must Share the Story of the Movement by Vincent Harding
- The Struggle for the People’s King: How Politics Transforms the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement by Hajar Yazdiha
Videos to watch:
- Ella’s Song by Bernice Johnson Reagon performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock
- excerpt from an interview with Bernice Johnson Reagon on Moyers Moments with Bill Moyers reflecting on the power of communal singing and “This Little Light of Mine”
- Reflections on Ella Baker’s organizing from a number of her contemporary activist and organizers
- In a press conference, Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King’s daughter Dr. Bernice King, CEO of the King Center, urges all of us to celebrate MLK Day this year by focusing on King’s teachings and the possibilities of building up a new world in 2025.
- Mahalia Jackson sings and Martin Luther King Jr. preaches in Chicago in the late 1960’s
- Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. on America’s Neverending Struggle with White Supremacy