July 2025 - Monthly Newsletter
- Shelly Fear
- Jul 15
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 31
AT A GLANCE
Upcoming Events
Funeral for the Empire
It is time to start planning for the Funeral for the Empire which will be held on July 13th this year. Funeral for the Empire is an artistic public performance of resistance and truth telling. Click the event below for more information and to RSVP.
Community Life
Response Requested!
Here is the list of who's leading what through May 2025. If you need to switch leadership with someone or let folks know you’ll be absent, the document should be editable. Here is a guide sheet for preparing to lead Creative Contemplation or Community Response/Prayers for the People.
The Jarrells are off to Spain!
Helms will be out of town June 24-July 6.
Summer Book Club
Get your copy of Belonging: A Culture of Place by bell hooks and start reading. We’ll gather to talk about the book in early August.
QC Family Tree & Praxis Updates
The following are a list of opportunities, organized by QC Family Tree, for you to engage in justice action in our city.
There’s so much going on with QC Family Tree right now. Are you following QCFT’s social media? Do you get the monthly emails? Please reach out to Helms if you need help signing up for this information.
Beloved Community School for the Common Good
forming a culture of justice, connection, and collective care.
Summer Season / Ordinary Time: June - August 2025
We are the Ones We've Been Waiting for: Radical Interconnection, Communal Voice, and Wisdom of the Margins
How are we all connected, and how do our actions affect other people and the world around us?
What can we learn and create together when we work across our differences and grow as a community?
How can we make sure everyone’s voice is heard and valued, especially people who are often left out?
What can we do to share leadership and treat everyone like they have something important to offer?
Tentative Activation (not confirmed yet)
"Rooted Futures: Art, Ancestors, and Collective Liberation" Facilitated by Curator and Culture Bearer, Jasiatic Usher, this activation is an interactive artist talk that weaves together Afrofuturism, ancestral wisdom, decolonization, and ecological connection as pathways toward liberation. Through guided discussion, hands-on activities, shared food, and a powerful exhibition of visionary artwork, we’ll explore how resistance can look like joy, how organizing can feel like ritual, and how imagining the future is a sacred act of reclamation. Together, we’ll honor every participant’s unique gifts, affirm the leadership of those most often unheard, and center the wisdom that lives on the margins. This gathering invites us all to show up as co-creators—offering what we carry, listening deeply, and building a collective vision rooted in care, justice, and belonging. This artist talk is taking place on July 30, 6-8pm.
Toolkit - Resources to use at home, with family, and in small groups. become a sponsor of the school to receive an all seasons pass to this toolkit or order a season at time. Coming soon!
Beloved Community Circles: Facilitated small group conversations Date TBD.
Ritual Gatherings: Bi-weekly practices of ceremony, creative contemplation, story sharing, and connection rooted in the Christian tradition at Ophelia Garmon Brown Community Center, 2647 Freedom Dr, Charlotte, NC 28208, from 5pm - 7pm. + JULY 13, Funeral For the Empire
Communications
Ways to stay up to date
Slack is a communication tool that BCC folks use to update each other throughout the week. If you want to join the slack, let Helms know.
If you don’t want to find us on Slack, you can still find updates on our Linktree.
You can also add the Beloved Community Charlotte Google calendar to your calendar.
If someone you know wants to join our belovedcommunityclt email list, email iamhelmsie@gmail.com and she’ll add you to the list.
If you want to schedule some time to connect with Helms, feel free to find a time that works for you using this link: https://calendly.com/helmsjarrell
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