Dear White Peacemakers
Dismantling Racism with Grit and Grace
Dear White Peacemakers is a breakup letter to division, a love letter to God’s beloved community, and an eviction notice to the violent powers that have sustained racism for centuries.
Race is one of the hardest topics to discuss in America. Many white Christians avoid talking about it altogether. But a commitment to peacemaking requires white people to step out of their comfort and privilege and into the work of anti-racism. Dear White Peacemakers is an invitation to white Christians to come to the table and join this hard work and holy calling. Rooted in the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus, this book is a challenging call to transform white shame, fragility, saviorism, and privilege, in order to work together to build the Beloved Community as anti-racism peacemakers.
Written in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Dear White Peacemakers draws on the Sermon on the Mount, Spirituals, and personal stories from author Osheta Moore’s work as a pastor in St. Paul, Minnesota. Enter into this story of shalom and join in the urgent work of anti-racism peacemaking.
Reviews
“Osheta Moore has given us all the gift of humanity in her book Dear White Peacemakers. Her perspective brings much-needed light and hope into discussions on racism. Her real-life stories can help provide real-life restoration. May the scales fall from our eyes. May restoration and healing come. A must-read for my brothers and sisters in Christ.” —LECRAE, Grammy award–winning artist and New York Times bestselling author of I Am Restored
“Every white person should read Dear White Peacemakers. Osheta Moore serves as the best of guides for how white people, growing in their racial awareness, can both engage the issue of racism and embody a peacemaking ethic moving forward. She will challenge you, shock you, inspire you. After reading this book, you’ll feel all the more equipped to seek shalom and healing instead of hate and retribution in our racially torn world.” —MICHELLE AMI REYES, vice president of the Asian American Christian Collaborative, co-executive director of Pax, and author of Becoming All Things: How Small Changes Lead to Lasting Connections across Cultures
“In the wonderful Dear White Peacemakers, Osheta Moore gives us the gift of insight, offered from a loving sister wanting all the best for her spiritual family. With Jesus at the center, we can move forward with hope in him as our healer of broken relationships and inadequate identities as mere victims and victimizers. Thank you, my sister, for this compelling labor of love. As you say, ‘Let us come together and be free.’ Amen!” —BRUXY CAVEY, teaching pastor at The Meeting House and author of The End of Religion
“This book is our North Star, bright enough to illuminate the anti-racism path and bold enough to offer love for our souls along the way. This book transformed my weariness into a howl of hope in my chest. Osheta Moore challenges us to build peacemaking into our anti-racism work because there is no peace and no justice without the constellation of love.” —DIANA K. OESTREICH, soldier turned peacemaker and author of Waging Peace: One Soldier’s Story of Putting Love First
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Pastor, speaker, mother, wife: Osheta Moore is passionate about peacemaking, racial reconciliation, and community development in the urban core. Osheta (pronounced o-she-da, and no, it doesn’t mean anything, she says, “my dad just made it up”) serves two congregations in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is the outreach and teaching pastor at Woodland Hills Church and the pastor of community life at Roots Covenant Church alongside her husband. Osheta is passionate about equipping the church to be everyday peacemakers, she is the author of Shalom Sistas, an invitation to women to practice the Hebraic concept of Shalom in their everyday lives and an upcoming book, “Dear White Peacemakers. Osheta has “flying in a hot-air balloon” at the top of her bucket list, and she is firmly convinced that everything is better after a nap. Follow Osheta on Instagram @oshetamoore for encouragements to practice everyday peacemaking and invitations for White Peacemakers on their journey towards anti-racism.