Sept. 2025:Touring local underground RR sites
Embedded Files
June 2026:Dinner/picnic celebrating the year’s work.
Sept. 2025 Forum Methods To Protect Democracy
March 2026, Celebrating African American Women
Our Vision
"No one is free until we are all free." Fannie Lou Hamer
We are committed to cultivating practical awareness of racial injustice and inequality, empowering individuals and communities to confront and transform these realities. Rooted in the wisdom, resilience, and lived experiences of our ancestors—especially our Black and Indigenous forebears—and continually shaped through learning, honest dialogue, community forums, book studies, and personal reflection, we embrace the ongoing work of justice. Together, we strive to build a world where every person's inherent dignity is honored, equity is lived, and justice is not merely an aspiration but a shared and enduring reality for all."
The Path Forward
organize and work with and on behalf of the poor, the disenfranchised, and the oppressed communities, organizing for decent, safe, and affordable housing; a fair and replacing our retributive justice system with a system based on restorative justice"
See this link for the complete path forward.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OobnyjPL_xM8I_5J8pvI1VPoIsjMJ58_fPnBcMI_m8g/edit?usp=sharing
Our past work in pictures, click the link: Our Work Google Docs
UPCOMING EVENTS
All programs we sponsor are free and open to the public.
RSVP to racialequitybuddies@gmail.com
September 26, book discussion, via Zoom, 10:30 am - noon. Eddie Glaude's book, U.S.A. How Race Shadows The Nation's Anniversary, examines milestone U.S. celebrations from 1876, 1926, and 1976 through the lens of race and historical exclusion.
Saturday, October 10, 1 - 4 pm The Dulcimer Diaries, a musical about the abolitionist John Brown and how the abolitionist message remains relevant. The musical will be performed at the West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 20401 Hilliard Blvd, Rocky River, OH 44116.
John Brown embodies the idea that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. His violent opposition to slavery, including the Pottawatomie Massacre and his failed 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, made him hated in the South but a martyr to many abolitionists. In non-slave states, his execution on December 2, 1859, was marked by the tolling of church bells and martyrdom within the abolitionist movement.
No less a historian than WEB DuBois credits John Brown’s Harper's Ferry raid as the beginning of the Civil War. Brown's raid helped precipitate the secessionist movement that led to the Civil War. But in non-slave states, his execution on December 2, 1859, was marked by the tolling of church bells and martyrdom within the abolitionist movement.
Lakewood Black Caucus, the Presbytery of the Western Reserve, Undoing Oppressions of the West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, and Racial Equity Buddies of Greater Cleveland are sponsors of the play.
Voting: "The Most Powerful Nonviolent Tool In A Democratic Society"
Last year, our programming was inspired by the powerful words of Rev. William Barber at the City Club. Now, we join his call for a “march to the polls”—a reminder that democracy is not something we simply watch; it is something we make stronger through our participation. Here is a short Facebook clip of Rev. Barber sharing that message: (2) Facebook
IMPORTANT 2026 ELECTION DATES
Ohio Voter Registration and Voting Requirements
Mobilize the Vote NEO: Save our Country Save Ohio MIDTERMS - 2026
The Book Club schedule for 2025-26 is live now - come read, share & take action with us! All book discussions are on Saturday mornings via Zoom. Email us at racialequitybuddies@gmail.com for the Zoom link.
September 26, 2026
U.S.A. How Race Shadows The Nation's Anniversary, celebrated public intellectual Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. presents a groundbreaking analysis of the vicious cycles of American history and the country's enduring refusal to face its true nature—especially at the moments when national anniversaries steer us back toward the mythology meant to disguise the truth.
January 9, 2027
God Is Red: A Native View On Religion, Vine Deloria. First published in 1972, Vine Deloria Jr's God Is Red remains the seminal work on Native religious views, asking new questions about our species and our ultimate fate.
March 6
A Black Queer History of the United States, C.Riley Snorton & Darius Bost. Historical appreciation of queer Black culture and how it shaped American history.
April 17
White Fear: How The Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds
Roland S. Martin with Leah Lakins. White fear has shaped our democracy and society from the beginning—and today, it’s more intense and visible than ever.
May 29
Imagination: A Manifesto, Ruha Benjamin. In this revelatory work, Ruha Benjamin calls on us to take imagination seriously as a site of struggle and a place of possibility for reshaping the future.
Learn more about being a Racial Equity Buddy HERE and attend our events to meet others who are looking for buddies.
From Awareness to Vigilance:
Education should lead to Informed Action.
Informed Action should lead to Unity, Justice and Repair.
The REB book club was the impetus for Forest Hill Church's debt-elimination program. Channel 5 interviewed Natasha Lovelace, the inaugural recipient. Her college debt of 70k has been paid off! News5 Story. Support this work with your financial gift HERE
We are now searching to economically repair another person. Let's continue to spread the news of this work and our capacity to repair.
Natasha is in the middle. To her right is Marina Grant, the chair of the Racial Repair Restoration Task Force of Forest Hill Church, and Mark Chupp, a Task Force Member. Behind Mark is Will Fenton-Jones, Director of Multicultural Ministries at West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church. Next to Will is Task Force member Danielle Cosgrove, to her left is Gordon Landefeld, of the Presbytery of the Western Reserve, and then Task Force member Jeannine Gury. In front is Ryan Wallace, pastor of Fairmount Presbyterian Church, Cleveland Heights, and Quentin Smith is to Natasha's left.
Click the links below to find out more and join us
in person or virtually at an upcoming event!
Funds offered will go towards events and programs for Racial Equity Buddies of Greater Cleveland.
“Of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research. And when you see that you've got problems, all you have to do is examine the historic method used all over the world by others who have problems similar to yours. And once you see how they got theirs straight, then you know how you can get yours straight.” Malcolm X
2025-25 schedule now released - come join us!
Our next discussion
Sept. 26, 2026: American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress
by Wesley Lowery
Meet the Team Click "team".
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