Talking About Race is Hard
What’s needed is a story that we can all relate to; that engages our hearts and minds then guides us to dialogue and reconciliation.
Here is that story.

A story about race that brings us together.
Meals from Mars
On a dark night two worlds collide. Malik, a young black man from the city, and Jim, a middle-aged white man from the suburbs, are thrown together through tragic circumstance. Stuck with each other for the night, they deal with their core prejudices, the walls that keep them from each other, and the discovery of their God-given humanity in one another.
Meals from Mars is a compelling story of racial tension and the challenging, but hopeful gospel of reconciliation. It is the story we need to start a healthy conversation about race.
Ben Sciacca
Ben Sciacca is executive director of Restoration Academy, a K-12 Christian school in the inner city of Birmingham, Alabama. Restoration Academy has been offering great education and making disciples in an under resourced community for over 28 years. Check out the school at restorationacademy.org. Ben is also the author (writing as Judah Ben) of KaiRo: The Journey of an Urban Pilgrim and KaiRo Returns.
Let’s talk about race with reckless compassion.

Afterword by Sho Baraka
“…We must also be allowed to mess up without the threat of being labeled racists or race baiters. We must approach these conversations with reckless compassion— the kind of compassion that may be misunderstood and mistreated, but still extends a hand of grace. Our color matters because our identities matter. We are creations of the Most High. We are a motley demonstration of his creativity.
I would commission us all to be slow to speak and quick to listen, to surrender our presuppositions so that true dialogue can take place. We must throw away bitterness and entitlement since we are indebted to the Maker of all creation, and…”
Sho is a Christian hip-hop artist, writer, and activist. He is a founding member of nationally known Christian hip hop group 116 Clique. He is also the founder of Forth District and artist at Humble Beast Records.
Slow to speak and quick to listen so true dialogue can take place.