Black Catholic Ministry
The Black Catholic Ministry for the Diocese of St. Petersburg continued its collaborative work with the Office for Life, Justice and Advocacy in sponsoring its ‘Conversation on Race” series on April 27, 2021. For the 3rd event in the series, the topic was “What is the Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation”. The event was held on Zoom and was open to the entire diocese for participation. For this event, we partnered with Florence French Fagan, Florida Senior State Organizer for Bread for the World.
The Wealth Gap Simulation is an exercise that demonstrates how poverty impacts people of color disproportionately in our nation. As awareness of the realities of racism in our nation grows, Bread for the World offers this 2-hour experience, designed to introduce participants not just to the current racial wealth gap, but how for centuries, it has been and continues to be embedded in the fabric of the U.S. economy. Through it, participants learn more about the systems that create many of the challenges we face, as well as sustainable approaches to changing them.
Through the efforts of the Office of Life, Justice and Advocacy, the Black Catholic Ministry and the Office of Multicultural Ministry, this series began in October of 2020. The goal of the series is to offer participants an opportunity to hear about current realities and issues from a presenter or speaker, and then have time to dialogue with one another on their reaction to the presentation, and to look at how it affects their lives and what they can do to help or bring awareness. Due to the ongoing Covid restrictions, the sessions are held online, via Zoom. The sessions are recorded and posted to the diocese’s YouTube channel so that they are available to those not able to attend.
