What this Moment Requires: A Call to Justice + Equity (An Online Conversation on Racial Justice)

What This Moment Requires: A Call to Justice + Equity
A Conversation on Racial Justice

The EHF Congregational Engagement Team and Project Curate are hosting three VIRTUAL gatherings for three regions of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. The gatherings will bring together congregations in the Austin-area, Houston-area, and Tyler/East Texas.

COVID-19.
Ahmaud Arbery.
Breonna Taylor.
George Floyd.
Elijah McClain.

The recent uprisings for Black lives and the pandemic continue to highlight the disparities and injustice that exist in our communities. We may find ourselves awakened to these realities and yet we may be stifled because we just don’t know where to start and how best to address these issues. However, this moment requires us all to do the work necessary to begin moving toward justice and equity.

In this one hour session, we will begin to imagine, discuss, and interrogate how we can, more specifically, begin to actualize our visions for justice in our communities. Let’s move forward together to begin to live into new realities and ways of being which are all the more crucial now in these times.

THREE REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR VIRTUAL GATHERING

AUSTIN | Wednesday, August 5, 2020 @ 12:00 – 1:00 PM CST
Register Here!

TYLER | Wednesday, August 5, 2020 @ 6:00 – 7:00 PM CST
Register Here!

HOUSTON | Thursday, August 6, 2020 @ 6:00 – 7:00 PM CST
Register Here!

GET TO KNOW THE SPEAKERS

Cleve V. Tinsley IV is an ordained Baptist minister, a scholar of American religion and African-American culture, and a community social justice strategist and organizer based in Houston. He is a Co-Managing Partner of projectCURATE—a social justice and civic engagement organization—and earned his PhD in the Department of Religion at Rice University. Cleve’s research explores critical understandings of the wider social scientific and historical approaches to the study of religion in general and African-American religion in particular. His dissertation explores the nature of black religion at the intersections of power, symbolic authority, and black freedom struggle, arguing that understanding African-American religious identity requires more expansive sociological approaches given the complex nature and meaning of religion in the lives of African Americans today. Cleve also works as a research fellow in Rice’s Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP). Prior to his academic training at Rice, Cleve earned his Master of Divinity (MDiv) at Princeton Theological Seminary. Cleve has worked in the past as an associate pastor and consultant for several churches and educational non-profit organizations both on the U. S. East Coast and in the US South.

Brandi Holmes is a Co-Managing Partner of Project Curate, one of three responsible for the overall strategic direction, planning, development, and implementation of a range of initiatives and projects that aim for broad social impact and change. Brandi is a native Houstonian who left the city for a brief stint (8 years) due to her career with Ford Motor Company in Memphis, TN. She held a variety of different roles while at Ford, including Business Development Specialist and Marketing Manager. She travelled throughout the South during this time, and it was during a trip to a local plantation in Louisiana that she was challenged to think more deeply about her contribution to black freedom struggles. Having participated in black liberation work from an early age, she felt called to contribute in a more meaningful and focused way which led to her relocation back to Missouri City, Texas. Brandi is an activist, community organizer, and strategist dedicated to policy and criminal justice reform and community empowerment. She is Co-founder and the Director of Strategy and Community Organizing for the Imaginoir/BLMHTX-Truth2Power Organizing Collective. She has engaged in criminal justice reform in Harris County and has also helped to implement sustainable and equitable community focused initiatives in some of the most under-resourced communities in the city of Houston. Brandi is a graduate of the University of North Texas and she holds a BBA with a concentration in Marketing.

Matthew Russell is currently on staff at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church Houston as the Senior Associate Pastor, is co-founder of Iconoclast Artists and is Assistant Professor of Recovery Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. Prior to this he was on faculty at Duke Divinity School as professor of Theology and Community Development. In 2013 he completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge’s Psychology and Religion Research Group (PRRG) where he explored redemptive narratives and models of the Church’s ministry of reconciliation in urban settings. While at Cambridge he was a tutor at Cambridge Theological Federation and on staff at St. Edwards King and Martyr congregation. He received his Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and completed his PhD at Texas Tech University in 2010. His dissertation explored how women construct alternative narratives of redemption from years of sustained trauma and abuse and was awarded the “Outstanding Dissertation Award” for the University. While at Texas Tech he was the Associate Director at The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery. From 1996-2008 he was Associate Pastor of Houston’s Chapelwood United Methodist Church and founding pastor of Mercy Street an alternative community for people who “hated church”.

Rachel C. Schneider is a scholar of religion, race, and culture as well as a social justice advocate based in Houston, Texas. She is Co-Managing Director for projectCURATE—a non-profit social justice and civic engagement organization that works with academic, faith-based, and other institutional partners to promote collective flourishing among diverse publics. Rachel earned a PhD in religion from Rice University. Her dissertation, The Ethics of Whiteness: Race, Religion, and Social Transformation in South Africa, explores how progressive white Christians living in South Africa engage with past and present racial injustice. Her current research examines how religious commitments shape ethical and political practice and inspire social change. Rachel is passionate about transformative learning that has real-world impact. Since 2017, she has worked with other projectCURATE team members to help design innovative public curriculum that brings together clergy, academics, activists, artists, laity, and students to learn from one another. She also serves as a leader in Showing Up for Racial Justice, Houston (SURJ HTX): a group dedicated to educating and mobilizing white communities for racial justice. In addition to working with projectCURATE, Rachel serves as a Visiting Research Fellow at Rice University’s Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP). Prior to her academic training at Rice, Rachel worked in student affairs and multicultural programming at several universities. She is a member of Houston Mennonite Church.