The COS antiracism team has recently collected twenty of the best and most popular books for our church members to borrow. Beginning Monday, July 13th you’ll find a book cart containing these books outside the front doors of COS between 10am-2:00pm. Please feel free to stop by and check out a book using the sign-out pad provided. When returning the book please mark it returned and place it on the bottom shelf of the cart. We’ll leave it there for a few days before placing it back on top to be checked out again. (This is the Covid-19 precaution libraries are following.) If you have questions about a book on the list, please contact Jolanda Howe at jo.howe@coscrc.org or call at 616-238-1324 (cell)

Did you know the COS Antiracism Team has also filled the red book shelf in the cafe with many good resources on racism? The list below is just the beginning….

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, 2012, The New Press, NY, NY. Legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made For Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown, 2018, Convergent Books. An illuminating look at how white middle-class Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how Blackness—if we let it—can save us all.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, 2015, Spiegel & Grau. Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all.

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, 2018, Beacon Press. DiAngelo explores how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzales, 2011, Penguin Books. A serious, significant contribution to understanding who the Hispanics of the United States are and where they come from.

White Awake: An Honest Look At What It Means To Be White by Daniel Hill, 2017, IVP. A white Pastor from Chicago takes a hard look at racism and white supremacy and how it impacts ministry.

Stamped From The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X Kendi, 2016, Nation Books. Ibram X. Kendi is a professor of history and international relations and the founding director of the Anti-Racist Research and Policy Center at American University.

Waking Up White: and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving, 2014, Elephant Room Press. Irving has learned that the way to start is to connect with parts of herself lost in the process of learning to be white. She invites others to use her story to uncover your own, so that you too can discover your power to make the world a more humane place to live, work, and thrive.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, A Story of Justice and Redemption. A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most influential lawyers of our time.

A Different Mirror For Young People: A History of Multicultural America (For Young People Series) by Rebecca Stefoff

A Different Mirror, Ronald Takaki, 2008. In this work, which spans from 1607 to the present, Takaki retells American history from the bottom up, through the lives of many minorities – who helped create this country’s mighty economy and rich mosaic culture.

“Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” and Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum, 2018, Published by Basic Books, Perseus Books Group. Dr. Tatum, a psychologist, explains the development of racial identity and provides the reader with a frame-work for thinking and talking about race.

The Color of Compromise: the Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby, 2019 Zondervan. Tisby provides an in-depth diagnosis for a racially divided American church and suggests ways to foster a more equitable and inclusive environment among God’s people.

America’s Original Sin by Jim Wallis, 2016. Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to New America. Jim Wallis is the founder and leader of Sojourners, a publishing platform, organization, and global network whose mission is to put faith into action for social justice.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson, 2010, Vintage Books. Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life (1915-1970).

Viewing: Do you still have a DVD player??? If so, view this! Or, look this up on-line and watch it. Race: The Power of an Illusion. This three-part series is an eye-opening tale of how what we assume to be normal, commonsense, even scientific, is actually shaped by our history, social institutions and cultural beliefs. By California Newsreel

Movies: 13th, Selma, Harriet, When they See Us, Just Mercy