Racial Justice:
What would Jesus want us to do?

In February 2024, Monsignor Raymond East visited St. John Vianney Parish and recommended that we preserve some of the history of African American people in the Catholic Church of Southern Maryland. This program is our response to his challenge.

The video of this program can be found here: Video

• Opening Prayer by Father Scott Woods: starts at 1:20
• Opening Hymn (The Old Rugged Cross) by Charles Smallwood 3:20
• A History of Saint Peter Claver Parish
  Note: Due to technical difficulties, some of this presentation needed to be re-recorded later.
• Steve Hawkins 7:03
• Claudette Bennett 19:32
• Steve Hawkins 26:10
• Personal Testimonies
• Charles and Nancy Smallwood. 54:30
• Bernice Simpson 1:07:47
• Idella DeLeaver 1:15:36
• Cynthia Thorne Carter 1:22:31
• Conrad and Cheryl White 1:27:40
• Group Discussion 1:40:14
• Closing Prayer by Deacon Jim Caldwell 2:10:11
• Closing Hymn (How Great Thou Art) by Charles Smallwood 2:13:07

Please follow these links to find out more about racism in the U.S. and what we can do to combat it: