Please join us at the Second Tuesday Race Forum, held Tuesday December 10th at 7 PM at the Park Hill United Methodist Church at Montview Blvd and Glencoe St. in Denver. Entrance and accessibility information can be found at the bottom of this announcement.

What’s Race Got to Do with It?: A Racism Simulation

When talking about RACE the tendency is to view problems and issues from the point of view of the ideal self. Often there is a discrepancy between the racial system which we subscribe to and the racial system which we actually use; one based on a number of assumptions which are rarely made explicit or examined.

This month we will engage in some situational social simulations that will challenge us to put our assumptions on center focus, coherently articulate other points of view, even those directly in conflict with our own, and increase our empathy and understanding.

To make the most of this learning opportunity: please check out this short article from Teaching Tolerance: https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2019/whats-my-complicity-talking-white-fragility-with-robin-diangelo

Please join us!

Accessing the Forum

Please remember to come into the church from the large parking lot on the north side of the church that is accessible off of Glencoe St, that is just east of the church. The door to the church you should use is the one that opens onto that parking lot. If you have passengers with mobility difficulties, you can pull up to that entrance and then park in the lot or on the street. We will be meeting downstairs in the cafeteria. Go down the stairs on the right inside the door, or go acorss the vestibule and take the elevator in the short hallway to the lower level.

Even though PHUMC is not now holding a family in sanctuary, security continues to be enhanced as we continue to be welcomed to use the building for our meetings.  We can only enter the building from the parking lot where someone will be there to open the door for us.  You may not be able to gain access if you are more than 45 minutes late.

 

Voting Rights/Voter Suppression

When we are in survival mode, minor distractions can be a healthy coping mechanism. However, our culture has taught us, programmed us even, to go beyond distractions and incorporate some possibly addictive behaviors into our lives: social media, shopping, eating, etc. We are sold on the idea that they will “make us feel better,” yet they also serve distract us from the social, political, and economic challenges that are occurring in society. What kind of addictions do we see in the culture, and how have they seeped into our lives? How are social addictions racialized? How do they serve to benefit consumerism and our economic structure? This month, we invite you into some deep reflection on the ways in which social addictions may manifest in our lives and what we might do about them separately, and as a community, for true healing to become a possibility.

Sadly I did not post this topic until after the meeting. Besides the main topic above, Harold Fields gave us a brief overview of his tour to Civil Rights sites with Claudia, and we noted that many membes could not be with us as they were attending services for Yom Kippur.

What challenged you this summer? Moving from anger/despair to solidarity, transformation, and liberation
From a social justice standpoint, this has been a challenging summer on many fronts. For our kickoff to the 2019-2020 STRF year, we’d like to give you the opportunity to share how events have challenged or disturbed you, consider the impact on our health/wellbeing, and strategize actions we can take to move forward for healing, transformation, and liberation.

Accessing the Forum
Please remember to come into the church from the large parking lot on the north side of the church that is accessible off of Glencoe St, that is just east of the church. The door to the church you should use is the one that opens onto that parking lot. If you have passengers with mobility difficulties, you can pull up to that entrance and then park in the lot or on the street. We will be meeting downstairs in the Youth Lounge this month. Take the stairs to the right side just inside the door, or the elevator in the short hallway across from the entrance.

We will be having our annual Celebration for Juneteenth on Tuesday June 11th at 6:30 PM at Park Hill United Methodist Church.  This will be our last scheduled meeting as we start our summer break. Please note that we will start this month at 6:30 PM, a half hour earlier than usual. For our celebration, we will have a "sponsored" pot luck.  We are arranging to provide generous servings of fried catfish, spareribs, and brisket that are traditional for Juneteenth celebrations.  We are asking that each of you who are coming will bring along some complementary dishes to serve.  We always look forward to the tasty favorites that folks bring to share! We also have to ask that you contribute a donation to cover the costs.  Our suggestion is that you donate $10 if you can afford it.  Please don't let it stop you from coming if you cannot.  Donate what you can; we want you to come! Won't You Please RSVP to this invite by Replying to this email by Friday June 7th so we can place our food orders.  Tell us how many guests you are bringing, and what dish you are going to bring in one of the categories below: ·       Veggie Sides ·       Bread ·       Salads ·       Drinks to share: (We will provide the traditional Strawberry or Red Pop) ·       Vegetarian main dish (for vegetarian folks) ·       Dessert ·       Ice We are pleased to have as our special guest for this celebration Ann Chinn who is the founder and executive director of the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project that honors the millions of Africans who perished during the transatlantic crossing and the millions of Africans who survived to build the Americas. Accessing the Forum Please remember to come into the church from the large parking lot on the north side of the church that is accessible off of Glencoe St, that is just east of the church. The door to the church you should use is the one that opens onto that parking lot. If you have passengers with mobility difficulties, you can pull up to that entrance and then park in the lot or on the street. We will be meeting downstairs in the Youth Lounge this month. Take the stairs to the right side just inside the door, or the elevator in the short hallway across from the entrance. IMPORTANT UPDATE: Many of you have heard that Park Hill United Methodist Church is now a sanctuary location with a family currently seeking refuge there.  Security has been enhanced as we continue to be welcomed to use the building for our meetings.  We can only enter the building from the parking lot where someone will be there to open the door for us.  You may not be able to gain access if you are more than 45 minutes late. The Second Tuesday Race Forum meets on the second Tuesday of each month from September to June at the Park Hill United Methodist Church at Montview Blvd and Glencoe St. in Denver. Here is a link to a map on Google:   https://goo.gl/maps/oekAR4UReYn If you are not on our mailing list and would like to be, please go to this link and follow the directions to register to our list: http://eepurl.com/dcnLN5