BRIDGE BUILDERS
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A Word from Jason Daum

At Valley Christian Church our mission is to Seek God, Share Our Lives, and Serve Others. As part of the fulfillment of that mission, we have formed Bridge Builders, to:
  • Expand our understanding of what it means to love our neighbor,
  • Journey alongside one another as we reflect on issues like white   privilege, historical trauma and racism, and
  • Extend Christ’s love to the community in ways that advance racial equity and promote social justice.

SEEKING...
We want to become more and more like Christ by caring deeply for all people. Part of caring deeply about people is learning about who they are, where they’ve come from, and understanding the oppression they face daily for simply existing. Additionally, we want to reflect on how we as individuals, and as a church, have (un)consciously contributed to that oppression.    
1 John 4:20-21

SHARING...
We want to love each other no matter what. We want to explore our own biases individually and support each other in unpacking those biases in loving ways. We want to love the community around us. We want to build relationships in our community that helps us understand our own lives and the lives of our neighbors.
Romans 12:10-18

SERVING...
We want to act. We want to act in big ways and in small ways — both unseen. We want to learn to do what is right for our neighbors, seek justice for all communities, and defend those who are experiencing oppression.
Isaiah 1:17a
Where do we start?
Caring, listening, and learning.

As a starting point for Valley Christian Church, we are curating the resources below to support an ongoing initiative we’re calling “Know Your Neighbor”.

Each trimester we’ll focus our listening and learning around specific cultures and communities that we interact with in Dakota County and Greater Minnesota. Our hope is that by learning and listening, our fear of others will be driven out by love and that love would lead to further trust and community. 1 John 4:20

This list will be updated and expanded to include resources appropriate for all ages. At this point, we recommend the following resources only for adults.
Know Your Black Neighbor
 
Black or African Americans make up about 6.6% (28,112) of the Dakota County population according to information from the county in 2018. After White and Hispanic, Black or African Americans are the third largest ethnic group in the county. But, what does it mean to be Black? Is there a difference between Black and African American? What is it like to be Black or African American in Dakota County in 2021? Before we rush out to ask the first Black or African American person we see all these questions and more let’s take some time digging in to the resources below. Let’s learn more about this community’s history in the United States, their current lived experience, and carry that knowledge with us as we seek to serve and love more of our neighbors here in Dakota County.
 
To learn more, consider these resources:

Adult Books
  • I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, by Austin Channing Brown
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
  • Why Are All the Black Children Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race, by Beverly Daniel Tatum
  • Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander
  • My Soul Is Rested: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement in the Deep South, by Howell Raines
  • The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, by James McBride
  • Beloved, by Toni Morrison
  • Woodholme: A Black Man’s Story of Growing Up Alone, by DeWayne Wickham
  • Crossing the Danger Water: Three Hundred Years of African-American Writing, edited by Deirdre Mullane
  • In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, by Alice Walker
  • Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family, by Condoleezza Rice
  • Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63, by Taylor Branch
  • Race Matters, by Cornel West
  • The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation, by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff
  • On the Bus with Rosa Parks, by Rita Dove
  • The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin
  • My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
  • Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
  • Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
  • Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
 
Children’s Books
  • “Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters” - Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • “The Day You Begin” - Jacqueline Woodson
  • “My Hair is a Garden” - Cozbi A. Cabrera
  • “Something Happened in Our Town” - Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard
  • “Ruth and the Green Book” - Calvin Alexander Ramsey
  • “Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History” - Vashti Harrison
  • “Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History” - Vashti Harrison
  • “Coretta Scott” - Ntozake Shange
  • “Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom” - Carole Boston Weatherford
  • “Rosa” - Nikki Giovanni
  • “Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History” - Walter Dean Myers
  • “Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride” - Andrea Davis Pinkney
 
Film
  • Amistad
  • The Great Debaters
  • 12 Years a Slave
  • Selma
  • Hidden Figures
  • The Birth of a Nation
  • Just Mercy
  • When They See Us
  • 13th
 
Documentaries  
Podcasts
  • 1619
  • Code Switch
  • Ear Hustle
  • Snap Judgement