As advocates for victims and adult survivors of religious child maltreatment, the Child-Friendly Faith Project opposes all forms of abuse perpetrated by the powerful against the marginalized. We condemn racism and the police brutality it fuels. As law enforcement officers continue to terrorize and murder Black people with impunity and commit violence against peaceful protestors, we must speak out.
The Child-Friendly Faith Project has collected the below resources to add to our clearinghouse and share with our supporters. We encourage you to seek out opportunities to purchase the below books from Black-owned businesses and to contribute to the organizations to help combat systemic racism in America.
In addition to a continued effort to intentionally diversify the communities represented in the Child-Friendly Faith Project’s resource database, we are committed to seeking out unique opportunities to add the lived experiences of people of color to our work. Our leadership will also be doing what we are asking of our supporters: educating ourselves about the white supremacy inherent in American culture and in the nonprofit sector and becoming more involved in the #BlackLivesMatter and other accompanying movements that aim to empower people of color, as well as those in the LGBTQ community. We will make it a priority to support and partner with organizations led by Black people and other people of color in our future advocacy work.
Books
- “The ABCs of Diversity: Helping Kids (and Ourselves!) Embrace Our Differences”
- By Carolyn B. Helsel & Y. Joy Harris-Smith
- Check out this book here!
- “We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices”
- Edited by Wade Hudson & Cherl Willis Hudson
- Check out this book here!
- “The Hate U Give”
- By Angie Thomas
- Check out this book here!
- “The Youngest Marcher”
- By Cynthia Levinson
- Check out this book here!
- “Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness”
- By Anastasia Higginbotham
- Check out this book here!
Organizations
- Black Nonbelievers is dedicated to providing a “caring, festive, friendly, and informative community” for religiously unaffiliated Black folx. Learn more and support their work here.
- Brown Mamas is an online and in-person community for mothers in the Pittsburgh, PA area. Learn more and support their work here.
- FIERCE is a membership-based organization building the leadership and power of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color in New York City. Learn more and support their work here.
- BlackFem works to transform school-based learning so that girls of color in underserved communities have the skills, habits, and resources to build and sustain wealth. Learn more and support their work here.
To Our White Supporters:
Racist teachings and religious indoctrination of children often go hand in hand. Over the preceding weeks, white members of the Child-Friendly Faith Project’s Board of Directors have reflected on the bigoted teachings of their own religious upbringings. Some religious organizations and communities still teach that white people are superior to others and that interracial dating or marriage is a sin.
We call upon white people of faith to address and join us in denouncing any systemic racism that exists in their communities and religious teachings. We denounce all faith communities that promote hatred and bigotry. Those who remain silent are contributing to the problem of racial inequality, and the Child-Friendly Faith Project also denounces faith communities that refuse to speak out against the hate and violence directed at marginalized people. As the United States concludes Pride Month, the Child-Friendly Faith Project also recognizes that Black members of the LGBTQ+ community are at an especially high risk of being victimized.
These issues are inextricably intertwined, and so too must be our activism.
