The Dr. Emmanuel McCall Racial Justice and Leadership Initiative’s purpose is to create avenues for God’s imperfect church to move toward meaningful unity between racially diverse communities.
Systemic racism and bigotry are deeply rooted and on display in the United States. The tragic murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, and countless others are reminders that America’s Original Sin still permeates society in the form of police brutality, mass incarceration, and inequitable public education. This moment requires more from us as a church and as a nation. CBF is committed to long-term racial justice and repair work. We must be willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of personal growth and the sake of our Gospel witness.
Overview of CBF’s Racial Justice Initiative
Who is Rev. Dr. Emmanuel McCall?
The Rev. Dr. Emmanuel McCall is a trailblazer who has spent much of his life working for racial justice – as a student, denominational leader, pastor, author, and scholar. Additional highlights of McCall’s impact are available via YouTube.
The Emmanuel McCall Racial Equity Fund
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, in partnership with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Foundation, has established the Emmanuel McCall Racial Equity Fund to support both the immediate and long-term racial justice and inclusion efforts of the Fellowship.
As we advance our commitment to racial justice and reconciliation, we are excited to enter the next phase of this important work. Our goal is to raise $150,000 to support the following transformative efforts:
• Develop Educational Resources: Inspire and equip churches and individuals to take actionable steps toward racial justice.
• Create Immersive Experiences: Foster deeper understanding of systemic inequities and promote healing through racial justice experiences.
• Establish a Certificate Program: Train leaders and congregations in racial justice and reconciliation work.
• Facilitate Diverse Partnerships: Build relationships among racially diverse congregations, encouraging dialogue, understanding, and shared mission.
The Impact of Your Support
Your generosity has already made a significant difference, launching impactful initiatives such as:
• The 2024 McCall Racial Justice Lenten Devotional: A widely used resource guiding individuals and congregations in prayerful reflection and action during the Lenten season.
• The Narratives of America Project: Introduced at the 2024 CBF General Assembly, this initiative fosters dialogue and understanding around race and religion, envisioning a more equitable America.
• The Pan African Koinonia Racial Justice and Reconciliation Cohort: Launched in South Carolina, this initiative empowers leaders and communities to engage in transformative racial justice work and build bridges between racially diverse congregations.
Thank you for partnering with us in this meaningful journey. With your continued support, we can reach our goal and advance this essential work of racial equity and inclusion.
DONATE TODAY
Racial Justice Trailblazer Award
The Dr. Emmanuel McCall Racial Justice Trailblazer Award, which provides recognition to individuals and ministries that have trailblazed in the area of racial justice. You can view previous award recipients via the showcases below.
2025 Dr. Emmanuel McCall Racial Justice Trailblazers:
2025 McCall Racial Justice Trailblazer Award – Fellowship Southwest
2025 McCall Racial Justice Trailblazer Award – Broadway Baptist Church
2025 McCall Racial Justice Trailblazer Awards – Full Program
VIEW PAST TRAILBLAZER VIDEOS HERE
2026 McCall Lenten Devotional: God in this Justice Work
This year’s McCall Lenten series, God in this Justice Work, features wonderful reflections on God’s Word, thought-provoking questions, prayers, art, noteworthy information and resources. It is designed for use by individuals, small groups and congregations.
Start preparing for Lent now and sign up for the resource today!
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McCall Racial Justice Pilgrimage Seed Grant
Embark on a transformative journey with the McCall Racial Justice Pilgrimage Seed Grant.
This opportunity supports churches, small groups and CBF-connected organizations in fostering racial justice awareness through immersive pilgrimages.
With grants ranging from $500 to $2,000, participants can explore the intersection of faith and race, engaging in meaningful reflection and action. Eligible trips focus on education, awareness and impactful community outcomes. Don’t miss the chance to amplify racial justice efforts within your community.
Racial Justice Resources
Below are resources related to CBF’s racial justice work, including a Racial Justice Pilgrimage guide and a playlist of workshops and previous Emmanuel McCall Trailblazer Award recipients.
Getting Started: Book List
Download PDF Guide
- Tears We Cannot Stop– Michael Eric Dyson
- Where Do We Go from Here– Martin Luther King Jr.
- The Color of Law– Richard Rothstein
- Race Matters– Cornel West
- Radical Reconciliation– Alan Boesak and Curtiss Paul DeYoung
- Stand Your Ground– Kelly Brown Douglas
- The Politics of Jesus– Obrey M. Hendricks
- Jesus and the Disinherited– Howard Thurman
- The Beloved Community– Charles Marsh
- Dear White Christians– Jennifer Harvey
- Just Mercy– Bryan Stevenson
- Reconstructing the Gospel– Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
- Trouble I’ve Seen– Drew Hart
- The Very Good Gospel- Lisa Sharon Harper
- Waking up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race-Debby Irving
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?- Tatum Beverly
- Gracism: The Art of Inclusion– David A. Anderson
- The Color of Compromise–Jemar Tisby
- Building a Multiethnic Church– Darwin L. Gray
- Be the Bridge- Latasha Morrison
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man- Emmanuel Acho
Diving Deeper: Book List
Download PDF Guide
- The New Jim Crow– Michelle Alexander
- White Rage– Carol Anderson
- Black Theology and Black Power– James H. Cone
- The Cross and the Lynching Tree– James H. Cone
- Dixie’s Daughters– Karen L. Cox
- The Half Has Never Been Told– Edward Baptist
- Black Power– Kwame Ture (Stokley Carmichael)
- The Souls of Black Folk– W.E.B. Dubois
- Tears We Cannot Stop– Michael Eric Dyson
- I May Not Get There With You– Michael Eric Dyson
- Where Do We Go from Here– Martin Luther King Jr.
- When Affirmative Action Was White– Ira Katznelson
- The Color of Law– Richard Rothstein
- Men of Mark– William J. Simmons
- Race Matters– Cornel West
- Black Labor, White Wealth– Claud Anderson
- Practical Theology for Black Churches– Dale P. Andrews
- To Serve This Present Age– Danielle L. Ayers and Reginald W Williams Jr
- Agendas and Instability in American Politics– Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D.
- Jones
- True to Our Native Land– Brian K. Blount and Cai n Hope Felder
- Radical Reconciliation– Alan Boesak and Curtiss Paul DeYoung
- At the Dark End of the Street– Danielle L. McGuire
- Stand Your Ground– Kelly Brown Douglas
- Blow the Trumpet in Zion!– Iva E. Carruthers and Frederick D. Haynes III
- Beyond Respectability– Brittney C. Cooper
- God of the Oppressed– James H. Cone
- Freedom Is a Constant Struggle– Angela Y. Davis and Frank Barat
- What Truth Sounds Like- Michael Eric Dyson
- The Ground Has Shifted– Walter Earl Fluker
- Ferguson and Faith– Leah Gunning Francis
- Ida: A Sword Among Lions– Paula J. Giddings
- Forged in the Fiery Furnace– Diana Hayes
- The Politics of Jesus– Obrey M. Hendricks
- Deserving and Entitled– Anne L. Schneider and Helen M. Ingram
- The Black Church in the African American Experience– Eric C. Lincoln and
- Lawrence H. Mamiya
- Collective Courage– Jessica Gordon Nembhard
- Slave Religion– Albert J. Raboteau
- Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement– Barbara Ransby
- Can I Get a Witness?– Marcia Riggs
- I Found God in Me– Mitzi J. Smith
- Womanist Sass and Talk Back– Mitzi J. Smith
- Jesus and the Disinherited– Howard Thurman
- The Divided Mind of the Black Church– Raphael Warnock
- Southern Horrors and Other Writings– Jacqueline Jones Royster
- America’s Original Sin- Jim Wallis
- The Beloved Community– Charles Marsh
- Between the World and Me– Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Brother to a Dragonfly– Will Campbell
- Dear White Christians– Jennifer Harvey
- Democracy in Black– Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
- Divided by Faith– Michael Emerson and Christian Smith
- The End of White Christian America– Robert P. Jones
- The Hidden Wound– Wendell Berry
- Just Mercy– Bryan Stevenson
- Reconstructing the Gospel– Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
- Stamped from the Beginning– Ibram X. Kendi
- A Testament of Hope– Martin Luther King Jr.
- Trouble I’ve Seen– Drew Hart
- Trouble the Water– Michael-Ray Mathews, Marie Claire Onwubariri and Cody Sanders
- The Very Good Gospel- Lisa Sharon Harper
- Waking up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race-Debby Irving
- White Like Me– Tim Wise
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?- Tatum Beverly
- Gracism: The Art of Inclusion– David A. Anderson
- Insider Outsider- Bryan C. Loritts
- Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0: Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness and
- Justice- Brenda Salter McNeil
- One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race-John Perkins
- The Color of Compromise–Jemar Tisby
- How to Fight Racism- Jemar Tisby
- Building a Multiethnic Church– Darwin L. Gray
- Be the Bridge- Latasha Morrison
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man- Emmanuel Acho
- Consumed by Hate, Redeemed by Love- Thomas A. Tarrants
- White Too Long– Robert P. Jones
- Stamped from the Beginning– Ibram Kendi
Inspiring Action: Book List
Download PDF Guide
- White Rage– Carol Anderson
- Black Theology and Black Power– James H. Cone
- The Half Has Never Been Told– Edward Baptist
- The Souls of Black Folk– W.E.B. Dubois
- Tears We Cannot Stop– Michael Eric Dyson
- I May Not Get There With You– Michael Eric Dyson
- Where Do We Go from Here– Martin Luther King Jr.
- Race Matters– Cornel West
- Black Labor, White Wealth– Claud Anderson
- To Serve This Present Age– Danielle L. Ayers and Reginald W Williams Jr
- True to Our Native Land– Brian K. Blount and Cai n Hope Felder
- Radical Reconciliation– Alan Boesak and Curtiss Paul DeYoung
- Stand Your Ground– Kelly Brown Douglas
- Blow the Trumpet in Zion!– Iva E. Carruthers and Frederick D. Haynes III
- Freedom Is a Constant Struggle– Angela Y. Davis and Frank Barat
- What Truth Sounds Like- Michael Eric Dyson
- The Ground Has Shifted– Walter Earl Fluker
- Ferguson and Faith– Leah Gunning Francis
- The Politics of Jesus– Obrey M. Hendricks
- Deserving and Entitled– Anne L. Schneider and Helen M. Ingram
- Collective Courage– Jessica Gordon Nembhard
- Jesus and the Disinherited– Howard Thurman
- The Divided Mind of the Black Church– Raphael Warnock
- America’s Original Sin- Jim Wallis
- The Beloved Community– Charles Marsh
- Between the World and Me– Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Dear White Christians– Jennifer Harvey
- Democracy in Black– Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
- Divided by Faith– Michael Emerson and Christian Smith
- The End of White Christian America– Robert P. Jones
- The Hidden Wound– Wendell Berry
- Just Mercy– Bryan Stevenson
- Reconstructing the Gospel– Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
- A Testament of Hope– Martino Luther King Jr.
- Trouble I’ve Seen– Drew Hart
- Trouble the Water– Michael-Ray Mathews, Marie Claire Onwubariri and Cody Sanders
- The Very Good Gospel- Lisa Sharon Harper
- Waking up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race-Debby Irving
- Gracism: The Art of Inclusion– David A. Anderson
- Insider Outsider- Bryan C. Loritts
- Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0: Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness and
- Justice- Brenda Salter McNeil
- One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race-John Perkins
- How to Fight Racism- Jemar Tisby
- Building a Multiethnic Church– Darwin L. Gray
- Be the Bridge- Latasha Morrison
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man- Emmanuel Acho
- Consumed by Hate, Redeemed by Love- Thomas A. Tarrants
- White Too Long– Robert P. Jones
- Stamped from the Beginning– Ibram Kendi
Visual Resources on Racial Reconciliation (Movies, TV, Documentaries)
Download PDF Guide
- When They See Us (Netflix)
- 13th (Netflix)
- Just Mercy (Prime Video)
- Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland (HBO Max)
- Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise (Prime Video)
- Clemency (Hulu)
- The Hate U Give (Prime Video)
- Selma (Prime Video)
- The House I Live In (Prime Video)
- If Beale Street Could Talk (Hulu)
- I Am Not Your Negro (Netflix)
- Fruitvale Station (Netflix)
- Whose Streets (Netflix)
- The African Americans (Prime Video)
- Freedom Riders (Prime Video)
- Slavery By Another Name (Prime Video)
- Breaking the Huddle (HBO Max)
- Time: The Kalief Browder Story (Netflix)
- John Lewis: Good Trouble (HBO Max)
- Soundtrack for a Revolution (Prime Video)
- Reconstruction: America After the Civil War (Prime Video)
CBF Specific Resources
- Lenten Devotion 2025 | English | Spanish
- Racial Justice Pilgrimage Guide
- CBF Racial Justice Vimeo Playlist