From the Anti-Racism Team: RocACTS Welcomes Third Church
In September, Third Presbyterian Church joined a multi-racial collaboration of 21 communities of faith working toward justice: Rochester Alliance of Communities Transforming Society, or RocACTS.
Led by board president Dr.Gayle Harrison and executive director Dr. Tiffany Taylor, MDiv, PhD, RocACTS envisions “an empowered and engaged community, grounded in shared values, working to build and sustain an equitable, just and moral society.” A community-organizing project of urban and suburban congregations, RocACTS works through three task forces:
- The Justice Systems Task Force most recently worked on successful bail reform and juvenile justice actions. Their working teams focus on legislative actions, research, advocacy actions, and education. The JSTF meets the second Monday of each month, 6:00-7:30pm.
- The Education Task Force is focusing on the anti-racism curriculum in Monroe County School Districts. Task Force members are collaborating with the Children’s Agenda and other existing groups and organizations in both the Rochester City School District and suburban districts. The ETF meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 6:00pm.
- The Poverty/Jobs/Housing Task Force is focusing on State of Emergency housing issues in Rochester, NY. These issues include spiraling homelessness, mass evictions, poor living conditions, and decreasing affordability for low-income residents.
Please get involved by contacting Ralph, Beth, or Laurie or email RocACTS directly at [email protected].
Anti-Racism Rewind: the listening and learning resources from the weekly Congregational Update:
- Read Matthew 25: 31-46 and consider these questions: Who are ‘the least of these’ in our community? How does Third Church minister to ‘the least of these?’
- Read City News Land Deeds Article
- Read Justin Murphy’s article about Rochester’s Founding Fathers and slavery
- Listen to Presbyterian pastors of color. Where do we go from here: White Supremacy
- Listen to the Black History for White People podcast
Two important anti-racism curricular efforts are being developed locally. Kellie McNair and Shane Wiegand’s anti-racist curriculum project for elementary students, with Pathstone, and the UR Warner School Project for middle- and high-school students, using the context of the 1964 uprising to current day. The goal of each is to have all students across the county learning about the structural racism of the past through our local history.
During Lent, please join us on Wednesdays at 12:00pm, beginning February 24, for a weekly discussion centering around Lent of Liberation: Confronting the Legacy of American Slavery by Cheryl Mills. You may order the devotional here.
Please provide feedback to the Anti-Racism Project team by completing this brief, anonymous survey. We would love to know your opinions and ideas!