Tag Archives: action alert

Take Action After Watching White Supremacy in American Christianity

White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 5

We Choose Freedom

Discussion Guide

Bring the discussion to your community with a resource guide designed by NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization team.

TAKE ACTION!

Visit the 2024 Vote Our Future nonpartisan election resources at our NETWORK Advocates website

What is White Christian Nationalism?

NETWORK partner, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC), released a joint project with the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) detailing Christian nationalism’s prominence in the January 6 insurrection. In it, Amanda Taylor of BJC shares, “Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that seeks to merge American and Christian identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism relies on the mythological founding of the United States as a ‘Christian nation,’ singled out for God’s providence in order to fulfill God’s purposes on earth. Christian nationalism demands a privileged place for Christianity in public life, buttressed by the active support of government at all levels.

Christian nationalism is not Christianity, though it is not accurate to say that Christian nationalism has nothing to do with Christianity. Christian nationalism relies on Christian imagery and language.”

Watch Previous White Supremacy and American Christianity Conversations

White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 4

With previous discussion laying out the roots, influences, and threats to democracy posed by white supremacy in our churches and politics, Fr. Bryan N. Massingale, Dr. Robert P. Jones, and NETWORK’s Joan F. Neal looked to the future and explored how we the U.S. can move beyond Christian nationalism. And young adult justice-seekers shared how they connect their work for democracy to their faith. White Supremacy and American Christianity: Moving Towards Beloved Community was a special conversation, focused on the future and the possibility of a vibrant, multi-faith, multi-racial democracy where every person can thrive, without exception.

White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 3

In October 2023, ethics professor Fr. Bryan N. Massingale, author Robert P. Jones, and NETWORK’s Joan F. Neal gathered for White Supremacy and American Christianity: A Consistent Ethic of Hate Threatens Our Democracy. The country was on the precipice of a budget crisis. House extremists didn’t want to negotiate, they wanted a government shutdown–they were a threat to our democracy. Their actions, rooted in white supremacy and Christian nationalism, were positioned to harm those they view as other: Black and Brown citizens and non-English speaking Black and Brown immigrants. Instead of building a pluralistic democracy, they aimed to diminish the progress and presence of non-white people in our country and throw our government into chaos.

White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 2

In October 2022, ethics professor Fr. Bryan N. Massingale and author Robert P. Jones participated in an enlightening conversation ahead of this year’s midterm for an exploration on the influence of  White Supremacy in American Christianity on our politics. The conversation was moderated by NETWORK’s Joan F. Neal.

White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 1

In April 2022, NETWORK engaged experts working at the intersection of racism, nationalism, and Christianity for a conversation on the poisonous effect that White Supremacy has on American Christianity. Fr. Bryan N. Massingale, Dr. Robert P. Jones, and NETWORK’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer Joan F. Neal were joined by Georgetown University’s Dr. Marcia Chatelain.

White Supremacy and American Christianity Guest Speakers

Darcy Hirsh is the Senior Director of Policy & Advocacy at Interfaith Alliance, (Part 3) where she leads the organization’s policy work at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as its critical advocacy in the courts.

Dr. Robert P. Jones is the President and Founder of PRRI, and author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity. Robert P. Jones speaks and writes regularly on politics, culture, and religion in national media outlets including CNN, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others. Dr. Robert Jones’s latest book is a New York Times best-seller. You can buy it here: The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future and follow Dr. Jones through his newsletter at https://www.whitetoolong.net/.

Fr. Bryan Massingale is the James and Nancy Buckman Professor of Theological and Social Ethics, as well as the Senior Ethics Fellow in Fordham’s Center for Ethics Education and author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church. Fr. Massingale is a noted authority on social and racial justice issues, particularly in Catholic spaces. Read Fr. Massingale’s Op-Ed in National Catholic Reporter, “As the election cycle cranks up, Christians need to call out white Christian nationalism” and his keynote address at the 2022 Outreach Conference: “Intersectionality and LGBTQ Ministry”

Professor Marcia Chatelain, Ph.D., is the winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History (Part 1) her book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America. She is a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University and the leading organizer behind the #FergusonSyllabus, an online educational resource that has shaped educational conversations about racism and police brutality since 2014. 

You've Seen the Conversation, Now What Can You Do?

Note: These were actions to take after White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 2 in Fall 2022.

Pray for Reparations during Black History Month 2023

A federal reparations commission must be established by March 2023 to allow 18 months of work (as prescribed in H.R.40) to be completed without risk of a new administration disbanding it. We must pray!

In November 2022, Jewish and Christian faith leaders gave spirited calls for reparations to finally repair the harm that racist policy and laws unleashed during and after slavery. Storytellers from the field shared why their communities deserve redress for education, homes, and more loss because of racist government action.

Learn why reparations are needed now. NETWORK staff and keynote speaker, Rev. Jacqui Lewis, Ph.D, tell us the history of H.R.40, give us Christianity’s faith foundation for reparations, and help us learn to talk to friends and family about race and reparations. Reparations can heal the economic prosperity divide and lingering pain from Jim Crow, disenfranchisement, discrimination in tax policy, biased home lending, restrictive covenants and more.

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Join the Thriving Communities Campaign So We All Thrive

Thriving Communities

Thanks for your advocacy!

NETWORK’s Thriving Communities Campaign ran MARCH 28 to JUNE 2, but our advocacy and lobbying for social justice continues. We thank all who joined our community of Spirit-filled supporters to advocate for food, medical care, housing, and other human needs.

We look forward to working with you again soon to continue the push for thriving communities for all of us — no exceptions!

Thriving Communities Campaign

No matter where we live, how we pray, or the size of our paycheck, most of us want to be sure our families are well-fed, have a warm place to sleep at night, and can see the doctor when needed. Some politicians want to cut food, medical, and housing assistance programs that struggling folks need to pay down our country’s debts. It is immoral to place the debt ceiling burden on the backs of struggling people. Our national budget is a moral document that must allow everyone to thrive — not just the wealthy. When wealthy corporations and billionaires stop getting unfair advantages from the government that let them dodge what they truly owe in taxes, our budget will have what it needs to take care of veterans, families, and anyone in need — no exceptions. Just as we did when we fought for the Affordable Health Care Act 15 years ago, and last year for the Infrastructure Reduction Act, we will press our elected leaders to provide the supports and services our families need. Will you join the campaign?

Get Started with the Thriving Communities Toolkit

We know what our communities need to thrive, and we have the faith and love to advocate for our neighbors, and we have the strength to advocate for what we need, because we are seeking justice together!

Ready to get started? View our Thriving Communities Toolkit here, download it here. You can also view LTE’s that justice-seekers have had published in their communities around the country. See a selection of letters to the editor here.

We know that resources are bountiful in God’s beloved community. There’s enough for all of us — Black, white, and Brown — to thrive. But House Republicans want to meet the burden of our shared budget debt by cutting vital programs that those struggling in our country need to survive, like WIC, SNAP, housing assistance, and Medicaid.

We cannot balance a budget on the backs of poor people. It’s time that wealthy corporations and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes.  Spirit-filled justice seekers are coming together through the Thriving Communities Campaign to advocate for a moral budget that provides for all of us… no exceptions!

The Thriving Communities Campaign has actions that we all can take to demand that Congress protect spending for vital human needs programs — so that everyone can have the food, shelter, and medical care they need to thrive. See our Thriving Communities Campaign Toolkit here. 

The toolkit has guidance, messaging help, social media hashtags and posts, images to share, and more to make it easy for you to participate in the way that best suits you.

Watch Our Thriving Communities: #CareNotCuts Rallies

Long Island

Erie

Youngstown

Learn More with Campaign Support Guides and Videos

Thriving Communities One-Pager

The Thriving Communities One-pager helps you share the message of our campaign at events that you organize. It’s also a resource to help you persuade friends, family, and others to join our campaign.

This Work Requirements 1-pager helps you learn about existing work requirements and why adding such requirements is unnecessary and unjust.

Feel confident when you spread the goals and underlying messages of the Thriving Communities Campaign with this comprehensive talking points document.  url=”

Watch the Government Relations team explain why a moral budget is needed and how the country can fund our federal budget to cultivate thriving communities.

Watch LTE Training: Let’s Talk Debt Ceiling facilitated by the Grassroots Mobilization team. See the Letter to the Editor Training slides.

See a selection of letters to the editor written by NETWORK advocates here.

Join the Campaign!

Let Congress know you want to protect Medicaid, housing, and food programs like SNAP!

Call Your Members of Congress!

Tell them to protect vital human needs programs in our federal budget!
*Dial 1-888-897-9753 to reach your House Representative
_____________________________

*Dial 1-888-496-3502 to reach your Senators
(Call this number two times to reach both Senators.)

When you call, here’s what you might say:

“Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] from [YOUR TOWN]. I want to ask [MEMBER OF CONGRESS’S NAME] to protect SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, housing, and other vital human needs programs from any harmful budget cuts.

Hard working families, people with disabilities, kids aging out of foster care, and others who need the life-affirming support are our neighbors, friends, and loved ones, and our nation’s budget must prioritize their needs. As a person of faith, I believe that it is immoral to balance the budget on the backs of those who are struggling the most.

Congress must reduce the deficit by having the wealthy people and corporations pay what they truly owe in taxes, not by making cuts to our neighbors who need the support that our social safety net provides. [MEMBER OF CONGRESS’S NAME], as the budget process moves forward, please reject all proposals that weaken access to healthcare, food, or housing programs.”

Our Values Root Our Call for Vital Human Needs Programs

No matter our background, faith, or color, most of us work hard for our families. ​This includes people that receive assistance from vital human resource programs like Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Medicaid. Congressional Republicans want to make cuts in these programs to pay down our country’s budget. Instead of pointing the finger of blame at people struggling to make ends meet, our elected officials must make wealthy corporations and billionaires pay what they owe to our shared economy — so that everyone in our communities can thrive, not just the rich.

Every Member of Congress serves constituents that rely on Medicaid, SNAP, and housing, and other programs that help people and families eat food at night and see a doctor when they are sick. We must tell our federal budget makers to love their neighbors and protect these life-affirming programs.

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Your Public Comments Against the Asylum Ban are Appreciated

Your Public Comments Against the Asylum Ban are Appreciated

Your Public Comments Against the Asylum Ban are Appreciated

NETWORK’s Spirit-filled community submitted over 850 public comments in response to President Biden’s proposed asylum ban. Thank you, this is the largest response we have ever had to a call for our supporters to write an immigration comment!  And you did not act alone. Supporters of our faith and secular partners, and individuals across the country, also contributed to the 51,952 total submissions (as of Sunday, April 2).

It’s not too late to let President Biden know that justice-seekers demand a fair asylum — or tell hime again. Will you use the form below to let President Biden know that you oppose his asylum ban?

Thank You!

NETWORK justice-seekers recently came together to submit public comments against an immigration ban proposed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (officially called Circumvention of Lawful Pathways). The ban is essentially a retread of the asylum ban that President Trump instituted and was found to be in violation of immigration law. Together, nearly 900 NETWORK supporters made their voices heard on this issue.

As an immigration lobbyist and passionate advocate for a safe and dignified asylum process, I am awed and humbled. But we must continue our efforts to protect people seeking safety in our country — the asylum process as we know it is still in jeopardy!

This is not the end. Continue to Take Action!

The Biden Administration is doubling down on anti-asylum policies. After the Title 42 expulsion policy expires on May 11th, the Administration is highly likely to push through parts, if not all, of this rule. We cannot remain silent about the deterrence policies that do not work and lead to great harm, and even death, of people who are seeking protection.

Let President Biden know that his asylum ban must be rescinded, and that justice-seekers like you oppose any asylum policy that creates new barriers for vulnerable people seeking freedom and security in our country.

The U.S. has been a beacon for fair and humane asylum for people seeking refuge and opportunity. Thank you for acting to preserve this shared, honored value.

In solidarity,

Ronnate Asirwatham

Take Action!

Take Action: Let President Biden Know, Justice-seekers oppose harmful asylum changes!

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Write a Public Comment to Oppose the Proposed Biden Administration Asylum Ban

Write a Public Comment to Oppose the Proposed Biden Asylum Ban

Write a Public Comment to Oppose the Proposed Biden Asylum Ban

THIS CAMPAIGN HAS ENDED.

The Biden Administration is taking comments on a proposed asylum ban. NETWORK justice-seekers recognize it as a new version of a harmful Trump-era anti-asylum seeker policy and are coming together to oppose the proposed asylum ban. Join us and write a Public Comment to oppose the proposed Biden asylum ban!

March 9-27

THIS CAMPAIGN HAS ENDED.

This campaign is to oppose a proposed Biden Administration asylum policy change that would violate our faithful call to welcome our neighbor and decades old U.S. immigration law. Write a Public Comment to oppose the proposed Biden Administration asylum ban to stand in solidarity with our siblings seeking safety from harm at the southern border.

  • Introduce yourself. Be sure to include your religious order, career title, or any involvement in your community, including a house of worship you may attend.
  • Choose a reasons or two why you oppose the policy.  Need some help? Scroll below for Talking Points, but don’t rely too much on them!
  • Highlight why you oppose the proposed ban Share any immigration support work you’ve done, share a moral tale, use examples of Jesus welcoming travelers or God sending people on safe passages.
  • If you have a story to share, share it! Asylum seekers have found safety in our communities, churches, workplaces, etc. Do you have a personal story, or will you share one that belongs to a friend or family member?

Here’s what to do after you’ve written your public comment:

  • Check for uniqueness. Before you press send, check to be sure that at least one-third (33%) of your public comment is original to you. Submissions that are copy and paste regurgitations of talking points will not be considered by reviewers.
  • Share your submission on social media:  After you submit your form, you will see a prompt to share your advocacy action on Twitter or Facebook. It’s important that our words spread, so please take the time to share on one your social media accounts.  #ImmigrationPublicComment or #NoAsylumBan or @NETWORKlobby. If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at [email protected].

More Talking Points

  • President Biden’s Administration has proposed a new asylum ban that is eerily similar to one that existed in the Trump era. It will close the southern border to asylum seekers and change asylum law and practice as we know it. During the Trump era, the court declared such a ban illegal. This ban will separate families, expose asylum seekers to violence at the border, and discriminate against black, brown and indigenous asylum seekers
  • Our neighbors seeking asylum are amongst the most vulnerable people in the world and we are called by faith, and our sense of the common good, to welcome them to safety. U.S. immigration law provides a legal process to apply for safety in our country. Sadly, President Biden’s revival of an asylum ban similar to President Trump’s is a moral failure that disregards decades of settled law.
  • NETWORK supporters will come together to show solidarity to migrants and oppose the Biden Administration asylum proposal by writing a Public Comment against the harmful policy.
  • While the administration has attempted to distinguish its asylum ban from Trump’s policies, it still has the same effect: denying asylum seekers the protection they need in the United States. The rule they are proposing would ban many refugees from asylum protection in the United States based on their manner of entry into the United States and transit through other countries.
  • This asylum ban, like Trump’s, will separate families and lead to the return of asylum seekers to harm and possible death. It will disproportionately harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous asylum seekers requesting safety at the U.S. southern border – who often cannot afford to arrive in the U.S. by plane.
  • Indigenous women and girls, many of whom will likely be barred by the rule, are at heightened risk for sex and human trafficking, extortion, and violence due to the continued erasure of their Indigenous identities, language exclusion, and ongoing discrimination they face throughout their journeys.
  • Our U.S. laws and treaties protect asylum seekers and prohibit their return to persecution and torture. Our laws also explicitly guard an asylum seeker’s right to seek protection regardless of how they arrive in the United States.
  • The rule would unlawfully deny protection to asylum seekers and require them to seek asylum in countries that do not have functional asylum systems and where they may still be in harm’s way.

Join the Campaign!

This campaign has ended.

Our Values Root Our Call to Welcome Our Siblings

Our communities are enriched by the diversity of experiences, cultures, and traditions that all of us, including people who are immigrants, bring to our neighborhoods. All of us want to provide our family with the food and shelter needed to live a thriving life. For too long, our immigrant siblings at the southern border have been harmed by a broken U.S. asylum system. Instead of enacting policy to build anew an equitable asylum process, the Biden Administration has chosen to make life dangerous and difficult for people seeking safety and freedom — especially Black, Brown, and indigenous people. People of faith must demand better.

More Details

The Administration is asking the public to share opinions on this rule and will consider our comments before issuing the final version. Please write a unique comment to tell them how this rule will harm asylum seekers.

The government is required to review and respond to comments in writing in the Federal Register. You can see in this proposed asylum ban that there are dozens of pages with anonymized summarizations and responses to public comments, including rules changes that were made in response to public comments. To make sure the government counts and considers your comment, please edit our pre-drafted text to make it unique – duplicate comments will otherwise be lumped together and responded to as one.

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President's Day Letter Writing Campaign to President Biden

President’s Day Letter Writing Campaign to President Biden

President's Day Letter Writing Campaign to President Biden

This campaign has ended. Please read here to see pictures from our advocates and to view a special message from Jarrett Smith, Government Relations Advocate.

For over a year, NETWORK supporters have attended educational webinars, prayer vigils, and other reparations-related events to learn about, and advocate for, an executive order for a federal reparations commission to study reparations like the one proposed in H.R.40. And now, justice-seekers are coming together to fill the White House’s MAILBOX with a President’s Day Letter Writing Campaign to President Biden.

President's Day Letter Writing Campaign to President Biden

FEB. 17 to MAR. 3

Justice-seekers are filling the MAILBOX at the White House during NETWORK’s President’s Day Letter Writing Campaign to President Biden to urge him to create a federal reparations study commission by April. Will you join the campaign?

This campaign has ended. Please read here to see pictures from our advocates and to view a special message from Jarrett Smith, Government Relations Advocate.

Here’s what to include in your letter to President Biden (written by hand or printed from your computer):

  • Introduce yourself. Be sure to include your religious order, career title, or any involvement in your community. Also share your city and state.
  • Choose a few reasons why it is time to establish a Commission to Study Reparations. Scroll below to download H.R.40 Talking Points.
  • Highlight why you support establishing an H.R.40-style reparations commission and detail any anti-racism work you’ve done.
  • If you have a story to share that would let the President know how a reparations study would benefit you, your family, or your community, share it!

Here’s what to do after you’ve written your letter:

  • Take a selfie (photo) with your letter at the mailbox or post office to share with NETWORK
  • Share your selfie with us: On your social media accounts, share with #HR40NOW or #ReparationsNow; or email us at [email protected].
  • Stamp your correspondence and mail it to the White House

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Join the Campaign!

This campaign has ended. Please read here to see pictures from our advocates and to view a special message from Jarrett Smith, Government Relations Advocate.

Our Values Root Our Call for Reparations

All of us want the freedom to live where we want and to have the resources we need to care for the people we love. For too long, law makers in D.C., state politicians, and businesses, have created inequity in home ownership, the job market, safe police tactics, and more — harming Black economic progress. Some blame and shame Black people for the negative outcomes that flow from this inequitable treatment.

But we know that this is wrong. By divine right and according to our Constitution, all of us are to live free, equitable, and thriving lives. To do this, we must reckon with the original sin of slavery–as it is at the root of racist policy, abuse, and violence that we see in our politics, churches, and economy today. The time is now for a federal reparations study commission.

Talking Points

When writing your letter, consider using these talking points:

What Would Establishing an H.R.40-Style Commission Do?

  • H.R.40 sets a framework that would establish a 15-member commission to study the effects of chattel slavery on African slaves and their African American descendants. This panel cannot grant money directly.

 Why NETWORK Supports H.R.40 Commission

  • Reparations is where we must start in order to chart a pathway to a just future
  • Slavery didn’t end, it merely evolved (a quote from Reparations For Slavery)
  • President Biden promised during his presidential campaign to support a study of reparations
  • H.R.40 embodies cornerstones of our political advocacy: dismantling systemic racism and cultivating inclusive community
  • President Biden must act on their commitment to dismantling racist laws, policies and frameworks, and to advance racial equity
  • The Catholic Church played a major role in the Atlantic slave trade and supported slavery in the States, Jim Crow, and other forms of discrimination. The Catholic Church gave slave ownership moral absolution, and helped it propagate.
  • Catholic teaching demands confession, penance and restitution when a sin has been committed
  • Catholic Social Justice advocates must stand up to diminish the impact of historical and contemporary racism in today’s political, social and economic systems, frameworks, and institutions
  • The sinful legacy of white supremacy and the enduring racial wealth gap must no longer be allowed to deny Black people good health, educational, and economic outcomes.
Pledge to Pray for Reparations

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Your Advocacy for Reparations is Appreciated!

Your Advocacy for Reparations is Appreciated!

Thank You for Writing a Letter to President Biden for Reparations

NETWORK Justice-seekers recently came together to fill President Biden’s mailbox at the White House with requests for a reparations commission. Specifically, for an executive order for a federal reparations commission to study reparations like the one proposed in H.R.40. Below, Jarrett Smith, NETWORK’s Government Relations Advocate who lobbies on behalf of reparatory justice issues, offers appreciation for this faith-filled advocacy.

Your Advocacy for Reparations is Appreciated!

Our Values Root Our Call for Reparations

All of us want the freedom to live where we want and to have the resources we need to care for the people we love. For too long, law makers in D.C., state politicians, and businesses, have created inequity in home ownership, the job market, safe police tactics, and more — harming Black economic progress. Some blame and shame Black people for the negative outcomes that flow from this inequitable treatment.

But we know that this is wrong. By divine right and according to our Constitution, all of us are to live free, equitable, and thriving lives. To do this, we must reckon with the original sin of slavery–as it is at the root of racist policy, abuse, and violence that we see in our politics, churches, and economy today. The time is now for a federal reparations study commission.

Thank you for your Spirit-filled photos

Thank you, your words mattered!

Beloved Field,
Thank you for participating in the President’s Day Letter Writing Campaign to the White House. Your advocacy for reparations is appreciated — especially at this moment when the creation of an H.R.40-style reparations commission is up against a tight deadline. The Network team and I are  honored that you significantly bolstered our efforts to mobilize the Biden Administration to sign an executive order to create an H.R.40-style reparations commission.

Many justice-seekers shared selfies and candid photos featuring letters, mailboxes, and post offices. It was wonderful to see your Spirit-filled posts on social media and in our NETWORK email inbox. I am delighted to share the images here.

Your actions during Black History Month came shortly after Representative Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX) reintroduced H.R.40 in January 2023 in the 118th Congress. This year marks 34 years since Representative John Conyers (D-MI) first introduced the bill. Mr. Conyers and several advocates, like the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, based the proposal on the President Reagan-signed legislation that gave Japanese interned during World War II reparations from the United States Federal Government.

Since last year, NETWORK Lobby has co-sponsored and led numerous direct actions for a reparations commission. We believe that this work is sacred. The Reconstruction effort of 1865-1877 gave our country an opportunity to find a path to equality, however, politics were chosen over humanity. White supremacy defeated repair. While redress is long-overdue, H.R.40 offers another opportunity to finally begin to repair our country’s original sin.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you for praying for reparations during Black History Month, Together as well as sending letters to President Biden. Your prayers are still needed! I kindly suggest re-watching Faith in Reparations to guide your prayers and reflections. This fantastic  event featured Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic faith leaders — and the presentation of a Sister Letter signed by Women Religious — calling for President to implement a federal reparations commission.

I’m thrilled with what we’ve accomplished together, and I know we will do so much more!

In solidarity,

Jarrett

Jarrett Smith, Government Relations Advocate

Join the Campaign!

Let us know you will send a letter to President Biden.

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Pray for Reparations during Black History Month 2023

Commit to Pray for Reparations – Black History Month 2023

Pray for Reparations during Black History Month 2023

Pledge to pray for reparations NOW!

Pray for Reparations

During Black History Month, we invite you to pray that President Biden establishes a Commission to Study Reparations. The H.R. 40 commission is a research study that will be the development of a report and a set of data that will quantify and assess the damage systemic racism has inflicted on the descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States. The study will also make recommendations on the path to repair this damage.

For the past year, you have attended Vigils for Reparation and educated yourselves about H.R. 40 (Commission to Study Reparations).

NETWORK partners in faith, let’s join together and pray that the path to reparations begins this month.

See the prayer here!

Pledge to Pray for Reparations

Joining our prayers, we can urge President Biden to sign the executive order for a reparations commission.

Watch Faith in Reparations Again...and Share it with Friends and Family

Faith leaders led a Spirit-filled call for reparations in November 2022. Watch, re-watch, and share!

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Action to Take After Watching Faith in Reparations

You've Seen the Conversation, Now What Can You Do?

Here's an action to take after watching Faith in Reparations

Tell President Biden

NOW is the time to sign an executive order for a reparations commission.

Watch Faith in Reparations Again...and Share it with Friends and Family

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Faith Speaker Bios

Sister Anita Baird, DHM

Sr. Anita is a member of the Religious Congregation of the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary having served as Regional Superior, Provincial Councilor, and most recently as United States Provincial. A trail blazer and history maker, Sister Anita became the first African American to serve as Chief of Staff to the Archbishop of Chicago in 1997. In 2000, Cardinal Francis George appointed her the founding director of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Racial Justice. 

She is a past president of the National Black Sisters’ Conference,  and recipient of the organization’s Harriet Tubman “Moses of Her People” Award. Since 2001, Anita has traveled the country preaching at parish revivals, directing retreats, and presenting anti-racism workshops.   

Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein

Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein has written and taught extensively about the case for slavery reparations in Torah and Rabbinic literature, including in a 2018 article, “The Torah Case for Reparations”. Aryeh is a fifth-generation Chicago South Sider who works as National Jewish Educator for Avodah and Educational Consultant for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. 

Aryeh is a Senior Editor of Jewschool.com and a member of the Tzedek Lab. Aryeh studied at several institutions of higher rabbinical studies and was ordained by Rabbi Daniel Landes’s Yashrut Institute.

Dr. Iva Carruthers

Dr. Iva E. Carruthers is General Secretary of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDPC), an interdenominational organization within the African American faith tradition focused on justice and equity issues. SDPC is both a 501c3 and United Nations Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). As founding CEO and a trustee of SDPC, she has steered the organization as a unique, influential and esteemed network of faith based advocates and activists, clergy and lay. Former director of the Black Theology Project, Dr. Carruthers has a long history of teaching, engagement in community development initiatives and social justice ministry, fostering interdenominational and interfaith dialogue and leading study tours for the university and church throughout in the United States, Caribbean, South America and Africa.

Dr. Carruthers is Professor Emeritus and former Chairperson of the Sociology Department at Northeastern Illinois University and was founding President of Nexus Unlimited, an information and educational technology firm. She was appointed to the White House Advisory Council on the internet, “National Information Infrastructure”, Mega Project and the educational software she developed was awarded a ComputerWorld Smithsonian Award. She is also founder of Lois House, an urban retreat center, Chicago, Illinois.

Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis 

The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis—Author, Activist, and Public Theologian—is the Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church, a multiracial, welcoming, and inclusive congregation in New York City that is driven by Love. Period. Jacqui is the author of several books, including her latest: Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World. Jacqui earned her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and earned a M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in Psychology and Religion from Drew University. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she is the first African American and first woman senior minister in the Collegiate Church of New York, which was founded in 1628.

Middle Church and Jacqui have been featured in media such as The TODAY Show; Good Morning America; The Takeaway; The Brian Lehrer Show; and in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Her podcasts include Love.Period., which is produced by the Center for Action and Contemplation, and The Four—a fearsome faith foursome talking about Black Life, Love, Power and Joy, with Otis Moss III, Lisa Sharon Harper and Michael-Ray Mathews. 

Rabbi Jonah Pesner

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner serves as the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He has led the Religious Action Center since 2015. Rabbi Pesner also serves as Senior Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism, a position to which he was appointed to in 2011. Named one of the most influential rabbis in America by Newsweek magazine, he is an inspirational leader and tireless advocate for social justice. 

Rabbi Pesner’s work has focused on encouraging Jewish communities to reach across lines of race, class, and faith in campaigns for social justice. In 2006, he founded Just Congregations (now incorporated into the Religious Action Center), which engaged clergy, professional, and volunteer leaders in interfaith efforts in pursuit of social justice. Rabbi Pesner was a primary leader in the successful Massachusetts campaign for health care access that has provided health care coverage to hundreds of thousands and which became a nationwide model for reform. Over the course of his career, he has also led and supported campaigns for racial justice, economic opportunity, immigration reform, LGBTQ equality, human rights, and a variety of other causes. He is dedicated to building bridges to collectively confront anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate and bigotry.