Asbury First United Methodist Church

As Rochester continues to struggle with our turn in the racial justice spotlight, we at Asbury First are looking for ways to respond faithfully both at this moment and going forward. Many have asked what we can do right now as individuals and as a congregation to confront the realities of racism in our community.

Please continue to check here for different resources, guides, books, films, and more that can assist you on the journey toward racial justice in Rochester and beyond. Join our Facebook group for more interactive links and events at www.facebook.com/groups/racialjusticegroupasburyfirst.

We have also created a specially designated fund for Racial Equity to which any may contribute. These funds will be distributed to local organizations and community efforts that are committed to ending racism in Rochester. Click here to donate.

Support/Projects Podcasts Books Articles

Click Here to view a Google Spreadsheet of the Racial Equity Database

Watch Our Latest Racial Equity Sermon

Racial Equity Sermons:

2023

Feb 26, 2023 — Close to Home: Where Do We Go From Here

Feb 22, 2023 — Ash Wednesday

Feb 19, 2023 — Close to Home: Keeping the Faith

Feb 12, 2023 — Close to Home: Learning Our Lessons

Feb 05, 2023 — Close to Home: The Cries Before Us

2022

Feb 27, 2022 — The First 402: Co-Laborers with God

Feb 20, 2022 — The First 402: Fight or Flight

Feb 13, 2022 — The First 402: A Bed in Sheol

Feb 06, 2022 — The First 402: Freedom in Christ

Support/Projects

Antiracist Curriculum Project — Project started by the Pathstone Foundation
Teaching Hard History: American Slavery — From Teaching Tolerance
Confronting Racial Covenants: How They Segregated Monroe County and What to Do About Them — Guide provided by City Roots Community Land Trust and The Yale Environment Protection Clinic
Where Are We Today? — Slide presentation by Brennon Thompson about racism in Rochester and Monroe County
Power, Race, and Identity — Slide presentation by David Carr for Asbury First
540westmain.org — 540WMain
www.facebook.com/ftproc/ — Free The People Roc
www.nysppc.org — NYS Poor People’s Campaign

Podcasts

Teaching Hard History — From Teaching Tolerance and host Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries
1619 — A podcast from the New York Times about how slavery has transformed America
Code Switch — NPR's podcasts on racism in America
Intersectionality Matters — African-American Policy Forum hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast — A podcast featuring movement voices, stories, and strategies for racial justice with co-hosts Chevon and Hiba
Seeing White — Scene on Radio host and producer John Biewen dives into what "whiteness" means

Books

America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America by Jim Wallis
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women by Brittney C. Cooper
Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney C. Cooper
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States by Walter Johnson
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (and Study Guide and Call to Action)
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga (Editor), Gloria Anzaldúa (Editor)
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
White Rage The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk About Race and How to Do It by Shelly Tochluk
Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell
The Triumphs of Joseph by Robert Woodson
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
Race and Economics by Walter Williams
The Black American Experience by Ben Carson
The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander
A Black Theology of Liberation, by James H. Cone
How to be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor, by Layla F. Saad
Sisters in the Wilderness, by Delores Williams
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, Edited by Nikole Hannah Jones
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, by Edward Baptist
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, by Robin DiAngelo
A Black Women’s History of the United States, by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross
Waking Up White: and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, by Debby Irving

Articles

America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us by Adam Serwer, The Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists)
The Intersectionality Wars by Jane Coaston, Vox (May 28, 2019)
Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
Who Gets to Be Afraid in America? by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, The Atlantic (May 12, 2020)

Follow on Instagram

@laborreligioncoalition (Labor Religion Coalition of New York)
@kairoscenternyc (Kairos Center)
@poorpeoplescampaign (Poor People’s Campaign)
@splcenter (Southern Poverty Law Center)
@colorofchange (Color of Change)
@ckyourprivilege (Check Your Privilege)
@thenapministry (The Nap Ministry)
@blklivesmatter (Black Lives Matter)

For more information about any of our outreach programs, please contact Rev. Rachel Ann Dupont at rdupont@asburyfirst.org or by calling 585-271-1050 x 113.