Racism

Brackenfell

Blog
Brackenfell wat wil jy my vertel? Vertel van die stryd Oor ‘n aand Wat min anders was as laas Saterdag aand Want elke aand sit ons bymekaar, Met min mense wat staar, Want ons almal lyk en klink soos mekaar.
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Imagine a City…

Blog
One afternoon my children and I drove past a school where the students coming out and parents waiting were overwhelmingly white. Less than a kilometre away, on the same street, we drove past another school, where the students and parents were only black or coloured. My son noticed this and asked me why there was such a different picture outside these two schools, so close and yet so far. Another…
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Dethroning the Idol of Race

Papers
This paper explores the question of how Christians should think about systemic racism and racial socialisation by providing a theological reading of 1 John 2.15-16 as applied to the development of race. Ryan Saville considers to what extent systemic injustice and racial socialisation are affirmed by a reading of John’s warning against idolatry. This analysis...
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Julle Mense

Understanding Racial Trauma (with Helen Malgas)

Podcasts
Racial trauma is the accumulative effects of racism on an individual’s mental and physical health. In this episode, David and John sit down with psychologist Helen Malgas to discuss racial trauma, what it is, and how it affects us. Can even processes of speaking out or reconciliation contribute to continued racial trauma? How has the church in the past contributed to racial trauma and how might churches today be continuing…
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Julle Mense

Funding New Tables (with Chido Warambwa and Tristan Pringle)

Podcasts
Many of those who choose to speak up against racism and against injustice in the church, particularly black brothers and sisters, face the very real possibility that they may lose jobs, funding, career opportunities, and reputations. Isisekelo is an organization that was founded in order to ease some of those very real tangible repercussions faced by those who choose to align with and live out a more holistic gospel that…
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Julle Mense

Whose Lives Matter?

Podcasts
The brutal murders of George Floyd ("I Can't Breathe)in the States and Tshegofatso Pule, in South Africa earlier this month was a testimony to the awful reality that, in our world, some lives matter more than others. In this episode, David and John reflect theologically on the Black Lives Matter (#BLM) movement and in particular its significance for South African today. A narrow gospel focussed only on individual salvation has…
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There’s a Little Bit of Amy Cooper Inside of Me…

Blog
For the last few days, I’ve seen my social media timeline filled with grief expressed by my African American friends and colleagues. I’ve seen fellow church planters and pastors, with whom I’ve attended many a conference and training, expressing their emotional exhaustion in the face of the killing of yet another black man, the killing...
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Julle Mense

The History of Racism and the Importance of Truth-Telling (with Jemar Tisby)

Podcasts
In this episode David sat down with Jemar Tisby, President of The Witness, a Black Christian Collective, host of the Footnotes Podcast and co-host of the hugely influential Pass the Mic podcast, to discuss his new book "The Color of Compromise: The Truth about The American Church's Complicity in Racism." They also discussed the importance of truth-telling for reconciliation, the importance of the black church, why racism is not merely…
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