About Plymouth, the Anti-Racism Committee (ARC) and the series:
Plymouth Church has been engaging in rich conversations around diversity and race to better understand anti-racism as a spiritual practice – a daily practice which includes preparing ourselves to listen to God in silence, to listen to ourselves in self-reflection and to listen to others through our presence. There is much we can accomplish through the power of listening to each other and practicing the principles of our covenant church.
The Anti-Racism Committee (ARC) was created in 2017 as an educational and action committee when the Plymouth Church Council voted to display a Black Lives Matter banner. (ARC) embodies the practice of a Just Peace church through the tenets of seeking a world where we all can live free from fear and with dignity which are central to the mission to grow in love of God and neighbor by:
- Identifying educational and outreach opportunities specific to combating racism for both internal church and community audiences.
- Initiating action in response to these opportunities.
In conjunction with this mission, Plymouth is offering the church and broader community an opportunity to learn more about The 1619 Project, an examination of how the legacy of slavery continues to shape our country. In the August 2019 special issue of The New York Times Magazine, The 1619 Project marked the 400th anniversary of the first arrival of enslaved Africans to Jamestown, Virginia and includes a series of essays, images, stories and poems that challenge readers to reframe their understanding of U.S. history by considering 1619 as the start of this nation’s story. The opening essay, “The Idea of America,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones and creator of The 1619 Project, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2020.
1619 Revisited
- 1619 Revisited will run for six sessions, January 24 to March 7 (no session on Feb. 14) on Mondays from 6:30-8:15 p.m.
- All sessions will be live online experiences via Zoom.
- All sessions will be recorded for later viewing.
- Participants can expect to read the 1619 Project essays published in The New York Times and other articles, listen to podcasts and musical performances, watch videos, learn from speakers, and engage in small-group discussions around the idea of America, medical inequality, the wealth gap, mass incarceration, education malpractice and undemocratic democracy.
- Each session will offer ideas for taking action and a bibliography for further learning.
- To join 1619 Revisited, all persons must be registered in order to receive zoom links for the series.
About this Page
This page is organized by session. There is a separate section set aside for each of the six sessions with all the information related to that session.
- Study guide and bibliography for each session will be posted to the website about two weeks before the session.
- Check below before each session for updates to material posted for the session (study guide, bibliography, take action, etc).
- The Zoom link to join each session will be emailed to you the day of the session. In order to protect the sessions from interruptions, please do not share the link.
Session Materials
Below you will find materials for all six sessions of 1619 Revisited. These materials will include the following:
Study Guide: Includes tips for using the study guide, a description of the six sessions, appendices and acknowledgements. Review and read the study guide specific for each session. Key elements for each session: speaker/bio/photo; readings/audiovisuals and study questions; take action; bibliography
Speaker Information: See each session for speaker bio and photo.
Appendices: Click on the document links below to view contents.
Bibliographies: A specific bibliography has been prepared for each session. Specialty bibliographies have also been created on key topics.
Video: “Transforming Conversations” 7:08 minutes. An introduction to the 1619 Revisited program. Please review before Session One. There are challenging topics in our lives which can lead to challenging conversations. We choose to view these conversations as transforming our lives along with those we converse with. Watch three vignettes of “true life” conversations that occurred in our lives and how they can be transformed. Enjoy your future conversations on the topics presented in the series! Karen Kellogg & Dee Martin
Information to Review Before First Session January 24
Prior to the first session on January 24, you are encouraged to review these items, especially the covenant and the video on transforming Conversations. Just click on the item to see its contents.
- Covenant
- Video: (“Transforming Conversations”) 7:08 minutes. There are challenging topics in our lives which can lead to challenging conversations. We choose to view these conversations as transforming our lives along with those we converse with. Watch three vignettes of “true life” conversations that occurred in our lives and how they can be transformed. Enjoy your future conversations on the topics presented in the series! Karen Kellogg & Dee Martin
- Reflective Prayers
- Music Selections
- Cross Walk
“Today, we are having a national conversation about how we should study, remember, and account for the shameful parts of this country’s history. Many people are asking: How different might our country look if all of us, collectively, understood the full truth of what has happened here?”
– Clint Smith, The Atlantic, September 2021
1619 Revisited provides the framework for a conversation about how the legacy of slavery continues to shape our country. By exploring the complexity of our nation’s history, we will honor our individual and collective journey toward understanding the legacy of slavery and white supremacy culture. The 1619 Revisited speakers are community members, experts in their field, who will share their insights and understanding with us. They will help us see how our nation’s legacy impacts communities on a national and local level. They will help us make sense of the nation’s past and future, offering advocacy ideas and action steps to improve our community. They will help us reckon with our complicated past and move toward a spiritual practice to benefit the greater good.
Rev. Dr. Jared Wortman is the Senior Pastor at Plymouth Congregational Church. For the past five years, he served at Peachtree Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Midtown Atlanta, as the senior associate minister.
Pastor Wortman has served on various boards, including the King Center, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Georgia, the Reconciliation Commission for the Regional Church and Georgia Disciples congregations, and Peachtree Christian Health, and has advocated for dignity and equality throughout Metro Atlanta. He also taught philosophy, religion, and ethics at St. Benedict’s Episcopal School.
Pastor Wortman earned his doctorate from Emory University. He graduated with a Master of Theological Studies from The Divinity School at Duke University with an emphasis in New Testament and Christian origins. He earned a Bachelor of Arts, with a double major in biblical studies and leadership, from Johnson University. His writing has been published in academic journals, and he has been an invited presenter and guest lecturer for churches, colleges and universities, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the American Academy of Religion.
Kesho Scott is an internationally renowned Diversity Trainer/Consultant, an Associate Professor of American Studies and Sociology at Grinnell College, and an award-winning writer. Scott was a founding member of International Capacity Building Services, a cultural competency training team that specializes in facilitating both “unlearning isms” and Human Rights workshops as well seminars and training programs that have been adapted for audiences throughout the United States and abroad. In over two decades of developing unlearning racism work, Scott has led hundreds of professional and community-based workshops; she has been keynote speaker for national conferences as well as a participant on several dozen national and local radio debates, discussions and public service announcements. Scott earned a B.A. Sociology, Wayne State University, 1974; M.A. Political Sociology, University of Detroit, 1975; Ph.D. American Studies, University of Iowa, 1988.
Efrem Jackson is the founder and owner of Free to Serve Financial Ministries, an organization with a mission to help individuals connect their faith and values to their financial decisions. He is a staunch advocate of financial literacy and is passionate about seeing people win with their money and their life. Jackson has taught thousands of people across the Midwest how to manage their resources, get out of debt and pursue lives of passion through his Blueprint for Financial Freedom course and podcast, “The Wealth Exchange.”
Jackson has over 18 years of experience working in the financial services industry. He has worked as a banker, licensed financial planner, trainer, and operations manager for various Fortune 500 companies.
Jacquie Easley McGhee serves as Division Director, Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for MercyOne Iowa. She has been Chair of the Greater Des Moines Partnership Diversity Council and Central Iowa Regional Workforce Investment Board. She currently chairs the Directors Council/One Economy health strategic team and is the Iowa Nebraska NAACP Conference of Branches health chair. Easley McGhee also served as president of the School Board for the Des Moines Public Schools. She holds a B.A. degree from Carleton College and certification in Human Resource Law from the Society of Human Resources.
Hayley Harvey is the section chief and director of dental education at Broadlawns Medical Center. After earning two degrees from the University of Iowa, Dr. Harvey, who served for a decade in the Army National Guard, practiced dentistry in Michigan before returning to Iowa as the health dental director for the Iowa Department of Public Health. She has been a champion for increasing access to dental care and improving the oral health of the underserved.
Harvey Harrison practiced general civil law on the east side of Des Moines until his retirement in 2011. He has immersed himself in school mediation projects, justice advocacy in collaboration with many corporations and agencies, and in the development and ongoing work of Just Voices Iowa. Harrison graduated from the University of Iowa Law school.
Lori Young has focused on a broad range of advocacy issues, including racial justice. She is a polymath of the communication arts, including writing, public speaking, and web-based outlets, and is a graduate of Grand View University
Professor Robert L. Dillingham, Jr. is retired, but he has never stopped working, teaching, giving and making a profound difference in the local, national, and international community. In 1977, at 25-years-old, Professor Dillingham chaired the Black Studies Department at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. He not only served as chair and teacher, but he was an activist. In this capacity, he led more than a thousand students, faculty, and community members to the Weld County Courthouse to protest the police killing of an African-American student in 1979. His legacy looms large at UNC. The Marcus Garvey Cultural Center, which he founded during his tenure there, is a living testament to Dillingham’s commitment to human/civil rights, social justice, equality, and education. Dillingham has served on numerous boards over the last four decades. As editor of the African Holocaust, he has written more than 250 articles. For nearly 30 years, he was the president and owner of the Robert L. Dillingham Insurance Agency–State Farm Insurance & Financial Services in North Palm Beach, FL.
He received his M.A. in 1976 from the University of Denver in International Relations where he served as Teaching Assistant in the Graduate School of International Studies, 1975, and as Research Assistant in the Center on Teaching International Relations. In 1973, Dillingham received his B.A. in Political Science from Fisk University.
Dr. Terah J. Stewart is an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs and affiliate faculty with the Women & Gender Studies Program at Iowa State University. His research and writing focus on people, populations, and ideas that are in the margins of the margins. His works centers on College Students with Stigmatized Identities, Anti-Black Racism in Non-Black Communities of Color, Identity-Based Student Activism, Activism and Resistance, Creative & Critical Qualitative Methodologies, and Pedagogies for Social Justice Education. Stewart received his Ph.D. from University of Georgia in Counseling and Student Personnel Services, his MLHR from Ohio State University in Human Resource Management, his MA from Ohio State University in Higher Education and Student Affairs and his BA from Ohio State University in Psychology.
Lisa Covington, M.A. is a PhD Candidate at The University of Iowa studying Sociology of Education, Digital Humanities and African American Studies. She is the co-founder of Black Lives Matter at School-Iowa.
In 2020, Covington received the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award from the Iowa Department of Human Rights. She is the Director of the Ethnic Studies Leadership Academy in Iowa City, an educational leadership program for youth to learn advocacy through incorporating digital humanities, social sciences and the arts. Covington received her MA from San Diego State University in Women & Gender Studies.
Dr. Madison DeShay-Duncan is writer and filmmaker of the upcoming documentary, The Center Street Story: An Urban Renewal Retrospective, derived from her undergraduate and graduate research. Dr. DeShay-Duncan is an Assistant Teaching Professor and Graduate Lecturer at Iowa State University where she received her Ph.D. in Education and currently teaches Social Justice in Education and related courses. In 2007 she founded Community Legacy Matters Inc., a nonprofit organization to research and develop creative and innovative educational resources that preserve, promote and educate the public on the history of Iowa’s culturally significant but historically underrepresented communities. In addition to being a documentarian, Dr. DeShay-Duncan conducts Understanding Social [In]justice Through the Power of Place workshops and has developed educational resources for educational institutions and community-based organizations. Dr. DeShay-Duncan also has a MA of Community and Regional Planning and BA of Sociology.
Deborah Turner, MD, JD, serves as the 20th president of the League of Women Voters of the United States and chair of the Board of Trustees of the League of Women Voters Education Fund.
Dr. Turner practiced gynecologic oncology for 35 years at the University of Nebraska, University of Iowa, and the Medical College of Wisconsin teaching residents and students. She also served the private sector bringing her specialty to Genesis Medical Center in Davenport, IA, Mercy Cancer Center in Mason City, IA, and Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines.
In July 2015, Dr. Turner left active practice to become Vice President of International Programs Medical Programs of The Outreach Program. She participated in twelve medical missions to Tanzania since 2011 and worked with Singida’s Medical Center, Outreach’s Children’s Feeding Centers, and Rotary International. She has served as Associate Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of North Central States since 2016.
Dr. Turner received her BS from Iowa State University and her MD from the University of Iowa where she completed her Residency in OB-Gyn. She completed her fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Institute in Houston Texas. She received her JD from Drake University in 2007.
Henry Hamilton is a Federal Administrative Law Judge. He has also served as an Administrative Judge and Senior Trial Attorney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Magistrate Judge for the State of Iowa; City Prosecutor for the City of Des Moines, Iowa; and as a private practitioner with the Parrish Law Firm, Des Moines, Iowa.
Hamilton is a 1988 graduate of Drake University, Des Moines, IA, and a 1992 graduate of Drake University Law School. Hamilton is appearing solely in his personal capacity. The views and opinions expressed do not represent the views or opinions of any past, present or future employer.
