The New Jim Crow – Common Read ’13 Review
Overcoming Colorblindness to Defeat Racial Caste America Michelle Alexander‘s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a well researched, convincingly documented argument that the result of the War on Drugs and growth of mass incarceration during the past 30 years in America has been to re-assert social control over black and brown-skinned people in the United States. Alexander shows that mass incarceration replaces forms of discrimination (notably the “Jim Crow” laws) that enforced racial castes in American society but have been dismantled through court challenge and legislation. She explains how the goal of undoing laws that explicitly enforced racial caste to create a “colorblind” society (by, for example, creating programs…
Healing Justice
In support of Common Read 2013 of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander, Blue Boat brings you news and information on the inequities of the burgeoning penal system in the United States and some lesser-known consequences of living with a criminal record. Here we bring news of an opportunity designed for faith communities to restore a measure of justice and dignity to incarcerated youth and victims of crime. – Ed. Juvenile Justice Week of Faith and Healing March 4~10, 2013 The Healing Justice Coalition invites faith communtities of all traditions, universitites and schools to take part in the forth annual Juvenile Justice Week of Faith and Healing, March…
Common Read 2012-13: The New Jim Crow
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (The New Press) has been selected as the 2012-13 Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Common Read. Alexander, an attorney who is a civil rights advocate and litigator, asserts that crime-fighting policies and systems in the U.S., such as the “war on drugs” and the incarceration system, disproportionately and intentionally affect Americans of color. She describes multifaceted, lifelong discrimination and disenfranchisement that affect people who are branded “felon.” Common Read invites participants to read and discuss the same book in a given period of time. A Common Read builds community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared experience,…
Youth Lead with the Common Read
There is a great opportunity for youth leadership with Eboo Patel’s Acts of Faith, this year’s Common Read book. In this autobiography, Mr. Patel discusses his faith journey starting as a young Ismaili Muslim in the suburbs of Chicago through his experiences with the Catholic Worker movement to the founding of the Interfaith Youth Core. The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, as part of its Youth Ministry Project Grant Program, is offering up to 20 free copies of the book for congregations that are using it for youth-led multigenerational projects. Acts of Faith:The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation emphasizes the importance of investing in youth who are…
Twitter Chat with Eboo Patel, author of Acts of Faith
Beacon Press is hosting a Twitter Chat with Eboo Patel, author of Acts of Faith, moderated by Rev. Naomi King, with Gail Forsyth-Vail. Acts of Faith is this year’s UUA Common Read selection. Youth are encouraged to participate. Submit questions before and during the chat at #uuread on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 | 1 p.m. CST.
Youth Led Common Read
The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries is making available grants for youth to form and lead Common Read groups and will publish guidelines and applications for this over the next few weeks. Following up on last year’s Common Read in congregation and groups focusing on immigration of “The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands,” this year’s selection, “Acts of Faith” by Eboo Patel, founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, focuses on the role of youth in bridging interfaith connection through service work. Find out if your congregation plans to participate and, if not, suggest they do.
