Summer Inter-parish Pop-Up Book Discussion: "Waking up White" by Debby Irving
July 8, 15, and 22
7:30 to 9 pm EST on Zoom.
Join in a conversation with parishioners of St. Mary's Newton Lower Falls, MA, St. John's, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, and St. John's Lattingtown, NY!
July 8: Introduction, Childhood in White, Midlife Wake Up Calls
July 15: Why Didn’t I Wake Up Sooner and Rethinking Key Concepts, Twenty-Five Years of Tossing & Turning
July 22: Leaving My Comfort Zone, Inner Work, Outer Work, and Reclaiming My Humanity
Participants will be encouraged to use the text as a mirror rather than a window; that is, we are using the author’s description of her own journey in order to understand who we are, not to critique writing style and the like. Come to as many as you are able; if you miss one, you are still welcome to join. Each session will begin and end with prayer and a brief Scripture passage.
Fill out this FORM to let us know you’re interested!
About the book: "By sharing her sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, [author Debby Irving] offers a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance. As Irving unpacks her own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color, she reveals how each of these well-intentioned mindsets actually perpetuated her ill-conceived ideas about race. She also explains why and how she's changed the way she talks about racism, works in racially mixed groups, and understands the anti-racism movement as a whole.”
About our primary facilitator: Mary Green is a white cradle Episcopalian who grew up in the segregated South, graduating from the University of South Carolina, which admitted the first three African American students in 1963, her freshman year. Taking a White People Challenging Racism workshop in 2013 transformed her life and gave her the perspective and framework to act on her long held belief that segregation and racism were simply wrong. An active member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Newton Lower Falls, she continues her lifelong learning and active involvement in fighting systemic racism.
