The google doc has loads more information than just these books, so definitely check it out, and HERE is a list of black-owned bookstores, and HERE is another list of anti-racist readings from bookshop.org, which is a small-business-owner alternative to amazon. buy your lit local, my friends.
Jesus was thoroughly Jewish. Even so, different cultures and ethnicities have often portrayed Jesus and others from the Bible as being from their group. Sometimes this is done to symbolize the fact that Jesus came for all the nations of the world.
Since Christianity for many centuries was based largely in Europe, these important characters of salvation history have often been depicted as white Europeans. Which is fine, but other cultures have also depicted them according to their own appearances.
Enter Korean artist Woonbo Kim Ki-chang. A Christian missionary during the Korean war suggested he paint biblical scenes with a Korean backdrop, and he painted about 30 within a year. “I was praying for the quick end of the Korean War and a unified peace, and soothed my painful mind with a paintbrush,” he later said.
The paintings above depict, in order:
Annunciation
Adoration of the Magi
Flight to Egypt
Jesus’ Baptism
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
Feeding of the 5000
Jesus Walks on Water
Jesus Carries the Cross
Crucifixion
Resurrection
I think there are certainly risks to “acculturating” the gospel–adapting it intentionally to help a specific culture better relate to and understand–but when it’s done well, it can be truly beautiful. I wrote an essay about this last year, using as my main example a 9th-century Saxon poem that cast Jesus as a noble king and the disciples as his warrior companions, with sometimes lovely but certainly mixed results. I think the above paintings, though, are a purer representation of what a really great acculturation of the story of Jesus can be.
黑人的命很重要 (hei1 ren2 de ming4 hen3 zhong4 yao4) – this is the Chinese version of “Black Lives Matter”
Literally this translates to: Black people’s lives are very important.
I am immensely proud of the langblr community’s commitment to learning about other languages and cultures. It is this openmindedness, curiosity and compassion that will be our weapons in fighting against the ignorance of racism. Continue to be kind, thoughtful, and attentive to the voices of people of colour.
Many of us go to school or work with people around us. Some of us are managers and leaders. No matter where you are, you have power. So use your voice to change the conversation and eliminate the systemic barriers of discrimination and inequity. Be confident and steadfast in your stance. Racism is everybody’s enemy. Today you, tomorrow me.
a black woman named zoe amira posted a video on youtube. this video is an hour long and filled with art and music from black creators. it has a ton of ads, and in result will rack up a ton of revenue. 100% of the ad revenue from the video will be dispersed between various blm organizations, including bail-out funds for protesters. it will be split between the following, dependent on necessity
brooklyn bail fund
minnesota freedom fund
atlanta action network
columbus freedom fund
louisville community bail fund
chicago bond
black visions collective
richmond community bail fund
the bail project inc
nw com bail fund
philadelphia bail fund
the korchhinski-parquet family gofundme
george floyd’s family gofundme
blacklivesmatter.com
reclaim the block
aclu
turn off your adblocker and put the video on repeat. do not skip ads. let it play on loop whether you’re listening or not. mute the tab if you need to focus elsewhere. but let. it. play.
youtube will donate to blm for you.
please, please reblog. for people who don’t have money to spare, this is incredibly important information to have.