Community Renewal Society, as a member of the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability coalition, continues to fight for the GAPA Ordinance developed by community members and coalition allies.

How are you impacted by schools opening during this pandemic?

After just a few months of lock-down, why open up schools in the middle of a raging pandemic?

“And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the scripture says, 'How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news!'“ — Romans 10:14-16 (Good News Translation)

Posted outside the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, this statement is a testament to the fact that the Black Lives Matter movement has grown from a national protest to a global call for racial justice.

What is freedom and liberation in this 21st century where as a U.S. citizen, there remains a staggeringly high domestic unemployment rate among young Black men, a lack of affordable housing, disproportionate violence against Black transgender women and a lack of local laws designed to protect Black children?

I call upon faith leaders, houses of worship, and people of conscience to join me in publicly affirming the referendum on a fair tax

It is not a statement that is said lightly. However, it is a bold declaration of affirmation for those within the Black and Brown community who are often marginalized. When we say ‘All Black Lives Matter,’ this means Black queer lives matter. Black lesbian lives matter. Black transgender and transsexual lives matter.

There are over 4,000 people incarcerated at the Cook County Jail and 3,000 people on staff—both are particularly vulnerable to contracting COVID-19.

Where are the sanctuaries for Black people in America? Where can we go to be free, to breathe, to laugh, to love and be loved, and be human without the fears and threats of being harmed? For many, the answer has largely been the Black church.

Most Holy and Divine One,
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
The God of Sarah, Hagar, Rachel and Leah,
On this past Pentecost Sunday, as our nation began physically burning because of systemic oppression, help us God….
--Rev. Dr. Danielle J. Buhuro

More than 250,000 people are in jail every year while awaiting their trial in Illinois. Every day, thousands of people are incarcerated even though they have not been convicted of a crime, and even though a judge has determined it is safe for them to return to their homes pending a trial.

A Just Harvest raises its voice with all who are mourning and demanding justice for Black men, women and trans siblings murdered by police who are sworn to serve and protect them.

As a national partner, Community Renewal Society is committed to stand with the Poor People’s Campaign, alongside our member congregations and faith leadership who recognize and refuse to adjust to the normalcy of injustice.

CRS stands in solidarity with its community partners and is committed to supporting local community efforts. Please share this list of Chicago food pantries widely with your networks and consider supporting if you are able. Together, we will heal, rebuild, and rise.

Publicizing the names of people released from incarceration due to the pandemic, then painting everyone as a repeat offender or exploiting a tragic loss of life, exemplifies a system that demonizes people with records.

We share this video, produced by Black Lives Matter, as a resource for faith communities seeking to facilitate the eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence in honor of Brother Floyd.

The Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ writes to express our acknowledgement of the communal pain, outrage and lament felt by so many of our citizens.

The team at the Chicago Jobs Council is feeling grief and sadness. We are tired of the violence of white supremacy still raging in this country.

We share in the righteous lament of stolen lives and reject white supremacy and a normalized culture of violence that sanctions the undue lynching of Black and Brown bodies.