AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/racism/)
Rev. Ira Acree and Rev. Marshall Hatch were in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to pray for the country’s future and condemn white supremacy a day before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
A number of events are being held this weekend to honor the civl rights leader, starting with an interfaith celebration at 10 a.m. Jan. 15. Other events are planned by Nonviolence Chicago and the Community Renewal Society on Jan. 18 and 19.
The Leaders Network, a social justice group based on the West Side, sent letters earlier this week to four of Chicago’s U.S. House members demanding there be congressional hearings. The letter was sent to Reps. Danny K. Davis, Chuy García, Bobby Rush and Robin Kelly. Congressman Davis will meet with faith leaders Dec. 31.
Black Lives Matters banners at two historical black churches were destroyed last weekend in the nation’s capital after a pro-Trump rally. Faith leaders – including Revs. Ira Acree and Marshall Hatch – want Rev. Graham, a Trump supporter, to condemn these actions. Clergy from Chicago will travel to Washington, D.C., next month to push for healing and reconciliation just days before Joe Biden becomes the 46th president.
Austin Coming Together is one of several organizations involved in a new initiative unveiled Monday by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago’s Office of Racial Equity and Justice. The “Together We Heal” initiative calls on all residents to play their part in fostering connection, restoration and learning around the topic of racial healing. Chicagoans are encouraged to join in this challenge by hosting candid conversations, healing circles and other activities. The challenge will run from now until the end of January with a culminating, virtual healing summit that will reflect on progress made and build a path forward together.
The Kehrein Center for the Arts will be hosting the event on Thursday, Nov. 5 to discuss systemic racism and the history of disinvestment in Austin. The symmposium will be held virtually from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Register now.
Columnist John W. Fountain III hasn’t decided if he will vote in this fall’s election. “My ancestors did not die for the right to vote. They died for the ability to be equally accounted for in the clause ‘all men are created equal,'” he writes. “My single vote over the years has not changed that notion or swayed the pendulum toward economic inclusion or political power.
Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church, and Jose Abonce of Austin Coming Together both traveled to D.C. last week to take part in the “Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks.”
Racism is indeed a health crisis, writes Daryl Satcher. The sick system is the true virus that we need to defeat. But we must destroy this virus within ourselves first.
ROYAL, a group of youths from Oak Park, led a march through Austin, Garfield Park and Oak Park last weekend. They were protesting police brutality and commemorating the death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who died while walking home from work last year in Colorado and after police put him in a choke hold.