PROGRAMS  |  BLACK CHURCH INITIATIVE AND LA INICIATIVA LATINA

Clearinghouse and Resource Center

The MultiCultural Programs Department Clearinghouse and Resource Center features a collection of theological books, sermons, speeches,  workshop presentations, youth and adult sexuality curriculums. The Clearinghouse and Resource Center serves as a resource to clergy, seminarians, health and human service educators, parents and youth. Resources are available for loan. For more information, contact bciinfo@rcrc.org or call 202-628-7700.

Past Books of the Month

October

Scared Silent is a riveting memoir by Mildred Muhammad, the ex-wife of the "DC Sniper" John Muhammad. Ms. Muhammad breaks her silence about the domestic violence she suffered and the tragic events that occured after their divorce. She writes: " When the person you love becomes the person you fear, you are scared to the core of your being. Everything you thought was real has become an illusion."

October is Domestic Violence awareness month. Each year hundreds of women are killed by their partners. The church is called to address domestic violence in its midst.

September

Invisible Life, by E. Lynn Harris
Invisible Life is the story of a young man's coming of age. Law school, girlfriends, and career choices were all part of Raymond Tyler's life, but there were other, more terrifying issues for him to confront. Being black was tough enough, but Raymond was becoming more and more conscious of sexual feelings that he knew weren't "right." He was completely committed to Sela, his longtime girlfriend, but his attraction to Kelvin, whom he had met during his last year in law school, had become more than just a friendship. No matter how much he tried to suppress them, his feelings were deeply sexual.

Fleeing to New York to escape both Sela and Kelvin, Raymond finds himself more confused than ever before. New relationships -- both male and female -- give him enormous pleasure but keep him from finding the inner peace and lasting love he so desperately desires. The horrible illness and death of a friend force Raymond, at last, to face the truth.

Mr. Harris died July 23, 2009. Read his obituary.

August

Black Sexual Politics: African-Americans, Gender and the New Racism by Patricia Hill Collins
Drawing on vivid images of hypersexual blacks and the sociological theses of strong black women and weak black men, Collins explores an astonishing range of ideas and images through history, sociology, and popular culture. Rather than debate the dominance of race versus sex in the history of social injustice to black men and women, Collins offers a theory of "intersectionality," viewing race, gender, and sexuality together. She explores the social and personal implications of historical images (black men as rapists deserving of lynching and black women so immoral it was impossible to rape them) and more current concerns about the influence of prison culture on urban youth culture that glorifies connections between sex and violence. Demonstrating how the politics of race has traditionally neglected concerns about gender and sexual orientation, Collins explores a range of issues, advocating that black people "ready up some honesty" and redefine notions of masculinity and femininity.

June
What's Love Got to Do With It?
by Frank Thomas

Author Frank Thomas shoots straight from the hip about what the popular notions of love, romance, power, and sex have to do with God. In a direct, clear, and engaging style, Thomas speaks to the core of society's problems, including lack of commitment and the denial of personal responsibility, and he challenges readers to strive for higher levels of biblical understanding and obedience. In tackling some of the most uncomfortable and taboo topics of relationships, Thomas will take you on an honest reflection of your thinking and beliefs so that you will discover what love has got to do with your own life.

May
My Rose, by Geneve E. Bell
AIDS continues to be a forbidden topic in the African American community. My Rose is Geneva Bell's moving story of her gay son, Jeffery, as he lived with and eventually died of AIDS. It is a plainspoken, personal account of a mother's devastation, of her shame and her anger at God - but also of the deep faith that enabled her to come to terms with this tragedy, even without the full support of the church.

Study questions are provided at the end of each chapter for individual reflection and group discussion.

My Rose is available for purchase from Books of the Bible

The views in Clearinghouse selections are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect thos eof the member groups of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.