This time last year our nation was grieving the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and so many others who were killed in situations that simply did not justify such violence against the Black community. I spoke with Fr Joseph Brown last summer and he challenged us, as listeners, to keep listening and learning on our journey to work to end racism, in all its private and systemic dimensions.
And now today we feature a replay from the 2020 National Convention in our “Black Lives Matter” series. Today’s replay was one of four sessions at last year’s convention addressing the sin of racism head-on. While this episode is late to celebrating the social progress we’ve made in light of Juneteenth being an official federal holiday, we hope that it reminds us of the work we still have to do in our society to treat each other with kindness, true acceptance and equality.
Our presenters and guests throughout the session are:
Dr. Kim Harris, Assistant Professor of African American Thought and Practice in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University;
Ms. Donna Grimes, Assistant Director of African American affairs for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB);
Ms. Valerie Lee-Jeter, Music Director St. Vincent de Paul Church, Philadelphia with an MA in Liturgical Studies, member of NPM Board of Directors;
Fr. Steve Bell, Associate Director of Newman Hall – Holy Spirit Parish, the Catholic campus ministry for the University of California, Berkeley;
Mr. M. Roger Holland II, Composer and Teaching Assistant Professor in Music and Religion and Director of The Spirituals Project at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver;
And Ms. Lynne' Gray, Music Ministry Director at St. Anthony of Padua Church, Washington, D.C.; Chair, NPM African-American Musicians Interest Section.
To explore the resources mentioned by Ms. Grimes, click here.
Check out our “Celebrating Black Voices” series in the “Series and Themes” area of the Ministry Monday website.
All content of this podcast is property of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians or its content suppliers and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. For information about the podcast and its use, please contact us.