First Tiger Woods and now Shirley Sherrod. What is the deal you might ask! A day short and a dollar late. Yes, I realize that I am addressing the issue of Shirley Sherrod well after the fact. Yet, these issues are so complex that I am finding I must seek out reasoned voices and analyses and that is not always my own.lol So from time to time I will bring what I think are some helpful viewpoints on complex issues.
The ‘Christianization’ of Shirley Sherrod
Christianization by Any Other Name (or Color) Smells the Same
By Rosetta E. Ross
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Andrew Breitbart, American.
Rosetta Ross is Dean of Academic Affairs at Howard University. She is author of Witnessing and Testifying: Black Women, Religion, and Civil Rights (Fortress Press, 2003).
Blogger Andrew Breitbart’s recent attack on Shirley Sherrod reflects the American legacy of “Christianization”—the measure of black acceptability in white civil society. Sherrod (a former Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee activist, and longterm farm advocate) lost her job as the USDA Director of Rural Development in Georgia after Breitbart manufactured an image of her that was out of compliance with his standard of appropriate black behavior toward white persons. The reality of Breitbart’s deception has been made painstakingly clear through full presentation of the context from which the excerpted sound bite was clipped.
The sound bite came from Sherrod’s March speech during which she encouraged a black audience toward sensible racial collaboration to help “poor” people and not just “black” people. Sherrod told the story of helping a working class white farmer save his farm. Memories of her father’s still-unsolved racial murder and legacies of racial injustice against African Americans, she said, initially made her hesitant to put full efforts behind white farmers Roger and Eloise Spooner when they approached her for help.
However, when the white attorney to whom Sherrod referred the Spooners failed to take their predicament seriously, she realized the challenges they faced were the same as those faced by the black farmers she helped everyday. “[W]orking with him,” Sherrod said, “made me see that it’s really about those who have versus those who don’t, you know, and they could be black, they could be white, they could be Hispanic.”
While Sherrod told the story to demonstrate and encourage transformation (a transformation she identified as divinely inspired), Breitbart intentionally sought to discredit her by posting an edited clip showing only Sherrod’s discussion of her initial hesitancy. Breitbart’s construction of a mechanism to “get” Sherrod and her black audience is not significantly different from the narrow and arbitrary policies drawn to confine African Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries (e.g., convoluted literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and behavioral policies required for black enfranchisement and interaction with whites). Such practices are rooted in colonial uses of Christianity to circumscribe black life.
Colonial use of Christianity—or “Christianization”—is the employment of “Christian” rhetoric and identification to construct meaning in social and political life. This has included establishing specific conceptions of citizenship, structures of education, social roles and behaviors that simultaneously develop and inscribe hetero-patriarchy, white supremacy, and racial subjugation in policies, practices, and the imagination.
Examining Christianization during the US antebellum era, religious historian Albert Raboteau says Christianity initially had a slow start among enslaved Africans in the United States because, among other reasons, enslavers feared a common baptism would signal social equality. To resolve the dilemma Christian missionaries declared that Christianity would help better fit black persons to enslavement.
Crafting a “Christian” argument that enabled the participation of enslaved Africans continued even after Emancipation as some black racial uplift workers, and white evangelical home missionaries, argued that Christianizing formerly enslaved persons was necessary in order to make them acceptable and respectable participants in civil society. Christianity (rather, Christianization) functioned in both instances as a mechanism to define or justify black humanity and participation within white civil society.
To add injury to Breitbart’s insult, the NAACP and Obama Administration hastily misjudged Sherrod, condemning and firing her, respectively. Notwithstanding recent apologies and retractions, more disappointing than the administration and NAACP’s failure to investigate Breitbart’s claims is their rush to show they are not guilty of supporting so-called “black racism” (i.e., that they do not condone black “misbehavior”). Similar to some racial uplift advocates of the Reconstruction era the Obama administration and NAACP officers apparently seek to broker acceptable black participation in civil society. Also similar to that era is the cross-racial patriarchal collaboration against a black woman.
The current cultural offensive launched through poisonous sound bites and blogs includes a subtext advocating a constricted, “Christianized” social morality that excludes racial, sexual, class, language, and even certain gender diversity. In the face of so much knee-jerk speaking and thinking, the time is ripe for critically thoughtful governing officials, civic leaders, compassionate conservatives and liberation theologians to celebrate and follow Sherrod’s longterm lead of overcoming direct racial injury and speaking the truth while encouraging thoughtful collaboration to build a diverse society for everyone
Ruminations of the Soul reflects insights and conversations prompted by the authors diverse interests and innate curiosity about the world as a Unitarian Universalist minister, growing theologian, teacher, writer, activist/researcher and seeker.The blogger is a mystical humanist/child of the Universe on a path seeking to encounter the Sacred and Divine and to be of service to heal self and the world.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Phoenix Heats Up
Below is information covering the immigration issues that have become the focus of the nations attention since Phoenix, Arizona passed legislation Senate Bill 1070 that encourages racial profiling. Unitarian Universalists along with a number of other faith communities have gotten involved. This article is taken from the website of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA):
Twenty-nine Unitarian Universalists, including eight ministers, were arrested in Phoenix, Ariz., for acts of civil disobedience protesting Arizona's strict anti-illegal immigration law.
Among those arrested were Unitarian Universalist Association President Peter Morales and the Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, minister of the UU Congregation of Phoenix. They were among 150 UUs, many from out of state, who came to Phoenix for actions in support of immigrant families on Thursday, July 29, the day Senate Bill 1070 went into effect. Opponents of SB1070 say it encourages racial profiling by police, although a federal judge issued an injunction July 28 that blocked several controversial provisions of the law.
UUs were among hundreds of people who swarmed into downtown streets, blocking traffic at midday in the vicinity of the Fourth Avenue Jail and the offices of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio, who calls himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” is a strong supporter of anti-immigrant legislation, launching workplace raids and authorizing the arrest and deportation of thousands of undocumented people.
Morales and Frederick-Gray were arrested as they blockaded the prisoner intake entrance at the jail with three other UUs and members of Puente, a Hispanic human rights group. One of those arrested at the jail entrance was Salvadore Reza, a Puente leader who came to the UUA General Assembly in Minneapolis in June to invite UUs to Phoenix to act in concert against SB1070. Most of the other UUs were arrested as they blocked a city street outside the sheriff’s office several blocks away. Across the downtown area similar blockades were undertaken by other groups.
UUs were acting in support of local immigrant groups, including Puente, an affiliate of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.* In all, more than 80 people were arrested Thursday.
The demonstrations went forward as planned, even though a federal judge blocked key parts of the law from going into effect, because a higher court could reverse that decision. As written, SB1070 would have authorized local police to check the immigration status of people already stopped or detained if a “reasonable suspicion” existed that they were undocumented; the law also would have made it a crime for undocumented workers to solicit or perform work. Under the new ruling, both provisions have been removed, although much of the law remains, including a part making it a misdemeanor to harbor or transport undocumented people.
Phoenix police and sheriff’s deputies allowed the blockades to go on for one to two hours before arresting those who refused to move. Arrests began around noon on Thursday; prisoners were released overnight or Friday morning. Court appearances were set for some in mid-August. Most were charged with obstructing a public roadway and with failure to obey police, both misdemeanors.
Events started early on Thursday. Some UUs were at the State Capitol in Phoenix at 4:30 a.m. to march about a mile to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral for an interfaith worship service.* UUs marched in support of a group of mostly Hispanic and Latino/a people who have held a daily vigil at the Capitol since SB1070 was approved in April. The vigil ended Thursday morning out of fear that some participants, who are undocumented, might be arrested.
The nearly two-hour service at the cathedral included Roman Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal, Muslim, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, and nondenominational faith group representatives. A rainbow lit up the sky just before the service began, following a rainstorm that passed through overnight. A mariachi band participated in the service, as did a combined choir that included many UUs. During the service immigrant family members told stories of being separated from loved ones.
During the service, Frederick-Gray noted that her congregation includes families separated by deportations as well as the family of a police officer who was killed. She received strong applause when she said, “We must not be intimidated, and we must not be silent about where we stand. We must be clear that we stand on the side of love, that we stand on the side of family unity, that we stand for justice. We will not let more families be torn apart.”
From the cathedral, UUs and others marched downtown, gathering in César Chávez Plaza amid a complex of city and county government buildings, before beginning the blockade.
There were echoes of the 1960s civil rights movement in Phoenix. Tempie Taudte, from the UU Church of Tampa, Fla., says she was too busy graduating from college in the sixties to do anything. But at General Assembly this year she made a decision to come to Phoenix. “Now I have time, and I want to give back, in part because I didn’t do anything then.” On Wednesday she decided to risk arrest the following day. “It breaks my heart to know that families are being disrupted and parents taken away,” she said. “I want the rest of the country to hear us. I’m also concerned that other states, including mine, will try to adopt something like this.”
Taudte was indeed arrested Thursday when she sat down in the street and refused to move. After her release Friday afternoon she called her experience “life changing.” She said she plans to go back to Florida and challenge her congregation to get even more active than it has been on immigration issues.
The Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo, minister of the UU Church of Marblehead, Mass., and president of UU Allies for Racial Equity, was arrested at the county jail with Morales and Frederick-Gray. The experience was “physically frightening,” she said. “The experience validated much of what I understand about white privilege and racism.” She said that while she experienced some roughness during the arrest and the jail experience was harsh, fellow inmates of color were treated far worse.
Held overnight in a cell with as many as 30 other women, von Zirpolo said the group bonded, even those people who had been arrested for other issues. “It was an unintended consequence of their strategy to disrupt our sleep by moving us around. Each time, we would share names and origins. We sang together, held those who needed to cry, demanded medical attention for our sisters in need, and most importantly, listened to each others stories. We made community.”
The Rev. Gregory Scott Ward, minister of the UU Church of the Monterey Peninsula in Carmel, Calif., said being in jail changed him. “I no longer think I’m different from other people. I was surprised by how quickly one’s humanity can be diminished when wearing prison stripes and the pink socks and pink underwear they make you wear. And how that humanity is restored when you find out that people are waiting for you when you come out.”
UUs who had not been arrested held a late evening candlelight vigil outside the jail Thursday night, bringing a guitar and flute and singing songs in Spanish and English. A few people remained all night, to be there when fellow UUs were released from jail.
Unitarian Universalists were the most visible religious group in Phoenix. Many wore the yellow T-shirts of the UUA’s Standing on the Side of Love campaign. UUA Moderator Gini Courter said, “On the street we were clearly identifiable as religious people. We lived our faith in a very public way. People were coming up to us and thanking us for being there.”
As a consequence, Morales was in constant demand for interviews. Dea Brayden, special assistant to the president, said Morales was interviewed 15 times by local, national, and international media. After he was released from jail, Morales participated in yet another press conference. When asked by a reporter if blocking streets is the best way to address human rights issues, he said, “We want to interfere with the incredible intimidation that is going on here. We as people of faith are called upon to take action to stop that. This is what happened in Selma. This is in the greatest tradition of America. While we are law-abiding citizens there are times when the laws are so immoral they need to be changed. That’s what responsible citizens do.”
Courter said this week’s efforts build on the long-term work of UU congregations in Arizona, as well as local human rights groups like Puente and the National Day Laborer Networking Organization, in confronting racism and immigration injustices. She said, “I have seen us take our calling very seriously here. Our ministers and lay people have taken some real risks. Our work here is a substantial move toward living our UU values in a democracy. And there is so much more for us to know and learn.”
“What we need to do now is build capacity to do this work,” Courter said. “We need congregations to take seriously the fact that their delegates at General Assembly this year chose immigration reform as the next Study/Action Issue. We need congregations offering Spanish and learning hymns of other cultures and building partnerships with groups in their communities. There is such a critical role for Unitarian Universalism in this human rights struggle.”
The Rev. Kenneth Brown, district executive for the UUA’s Pacific Southwest District, which includes Arizona, said, “I have been doing this work for 45 years, and this was one of the most meaningful events I’ve been involved with. What we hope happens now is that the people who came here take this issue home and work on it there. This is the civil rights issue of our era.”
The main action happened Thursday, but that wasn’t the end of things. On Friday, members of Puente, the Ruckus Society, the Catalyst Project, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and Let's Build a U.S. for All of Us, were arrested when they tried to prevent sheriff’s deputies from conducting an immigration sweep.* Salvador Reza was arrested again while watching events from across the street. For the second night in a row, Unitarian Universalists held a vigil outside the jail until Reza and others were released.
The UU Congregation of Phoenix and the Valley UU Church in Chandler, Ariz., served as headquarters for last week’s events. Events were also held across the country, in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, in support of the protests against SB1070.
Delegates to the UUA's 2010 General Assembly voted to hold a “justice General Assembly” focused on immigration and human rights in Phoenix in 2012; they also passed a resolution condemning SB 1070 and similar legislation in other states.
Dan Furmansky, campaign director of Standing on the Side of Love, the UUA’s campaign against identity-based oppression, said that UUs made a real difference in Phoenix this week. “Media outlets across the world have images of SB1070 protests with our message of bright yellow ‘Love’ emblazoned everywhere. Our partners striving for immigrant justice know that their struggle is our struggle, and that we stand on the side of love with them for the long haul. Sheriff Joe Arpaio has met a new form of resistance that brought greater scrutiny to his actions. And those who were arrested showed that there are people of faith who feel morally compelled to put their bodies and their freedom on the line when injustice pronounces itself with an exclamation point and demands a response.”
The Rev. David Miller, minister of the UU Fellowship of San Dieguito in Solana Beach, Calif., wrote in an e-mail after last week’s events that he believed events in Phoenix marked a turning point for Unitarian Universalism. “It was phenomenal to be part of a well-coordinated effort of civil disobedience with Unitarian Universalists from every corner of this country.”
He added, “I was personally thanked many times for being there—the desk clerk and maintenance person at the hotel, someone on the mayor’s staff who I met at Starbucks, people in the street. Finally, as I stood on the street corner watching those who had volunteered to get arrested stake their claim to the street, I heard a young African-American girl turn to her mother and say, ‘What are they doing?’ Her mother replied, 'Do you remember what I told you about Dr. Martin Luther King? That is what they are doing.' I broke into tears.
“Growing up just after the Vietnam era . . . I have never truly felt a part of a great struggle for human rights that has moved my soul. Now, with the struggle for marriage equality and for basic human rights in Arizona, I feel so honored and called to do whatever I can. The desire to do this work is one of the primary reasons I felt called to the ministry. I am filled with deep gratitude for being a part of this act of love, and I have so much hope for our future.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corrected 8.4.10:As originally published, we did not indicate that Puente was an affiliate of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (click here to return to the corrected paragraph), mistakenly said that "many" UUs were at the State Capitol (click here to return to the corrected paragraph), and did not include the names of additional organizations who had members arrested on Friday (click here to return to the corrected paragraph).
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UU World Magazine | 25 Beacon Street, Boston MA 02108 | (617) 948-6502
© 1996-2010 Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. All rights reserved.
Twenty-nine Unitarian Universalists, including eight ministers, were arrested in Phoenix, Ariz., for acts of civil disobedience protesting Arizona's strict anti-illegal immigration law.
Among those arrested were Unitarian Universalist Association President Peter Morales and the Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, minister of the UU Congregation of Phoenix. They were among 150 UUs, many from out of state, who came to Phoenix for actions in support of immigrant families on Thursday, July 29, the day Senate Bill 1070 went into effect. Opponents of SB1070 say it encourages racial profiling by police, although a federal judge issued an injunction July 28 that blocked several controversial provisions of the law.
UUs were among hundreds of people who swarmed into downtown streets, blocking traffic at midday in the vicinity of the Fourth Avenue Jail and the offices of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio, who calls himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” is a strong supporter of anti-immigrant legislation, launching workplace raids and authorizing the arrest and deportation of thousands of undocumented people.
Morales and Frederick-Gray were arrested as they blockaded the prisoner intake entrance at the jail with three other UUs and members of Puente, a Hispanic human rights group. One of those arrested at the jail entrance was Salvadore Reza, a Puente leader who came to the UUA General Assembly in Minneapolis in June to invite UUs to Phoenix to act in concert against SB1070. Most of the other UUs were arrested as they blocked a city street outside the sheriff’s office several blocks away. Across the downtown area similar blockades were undertaken by other groups.
UUs were acting in support of local immigrant groups, including Puente, an affiliate of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.* In all, more than 80 people were arrested Thursday.
The demonstrations went forward as planned, even though a federal judge blocked key parts of the law from going into effect, because a higher court could reverse that decision. As written, SB1070 would have authorized local police to check the immigration status of people already stopped or detained if a “reasonable suspicion” existed that they were undocumented; the law also would have made it a crime for undocumented workers to solicit or perform work. Under the new ruling, both provisions have been removed, although much of the law remains, including a part making it a misdemeanor to harbor or transport undocumented people.
Phoenix police and sheriff’s deputies allowed the blockades to go on for one to two hours before arresting those who refused to move. Arrests began around noon on Thursday; prisoners were released overnight or Friday morning. Court appearances were set for some in mid-August. Most were charged with obstructing a public roadway and with failure to obey police, both misdemeanors.
Events started early on Thursday. Some UUs were at the State Capitol in Phoenix at 4:30 a.m. to march about a mile to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral for an interfaith worship service.* UUs marched in support of a group of mostly Hispanic and Latino/a people who have held a daily vigil at the Capitol since SB1070 was approved in April. The vigil ended Thursday morning out of fear that some participants, who are undocumented, might be arrested.
The nearly two-hour service at the cathedral included Roman Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal, Muslim, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, and nondenominational faith group representatives. A rainbow lit up the sky just before the service began, following a rainstorm that passed through overnight. A mariachi band participated in the service, as did a combined choir that included many UUs. During the service immigrant family members told stories of being separated from loved ones.
During the service, Frederick-Gray noted that her congregation includes families separated by deportations as well as the family of a police officer who was killed. She received strong applause when she said, “We must not be intimidated, and we must not be silent about where we stand. We must be clear that we stand on the side of love, that we stand on the side of family unity, that we stand for justice. We will not let more families be torn apart.”
From the cathedral, UUs and others marched downtown, gathering in César Chávez Plaza amid a complex of city and county government buildings, before beginning the blockade.
There were echoes of the 1960s civil rights movement in Phoenix. Tempie Taudte, from the UU Church of Tampa, Fla., says she was too busy graduating from college in the sixties to do anything. But at General Assembly this year she made a decision to come to Phoenix. “Now I have time, and I want to give back, in part because I didn’t do anything then.” On Wednesday she decided to risk arrest the following day. “It breaks my heart to know that families are being disrupted and parents taken away,” she said. “I want the rest of the country to hear us. I’m also concerned that other states, including mine, will try to adopt something like this.”
Taudte was indeed arrested Thursday when she sat down in the street and refused to move. After her release Friday afternoon she called her experience “life changing.” She said she plans to go back to Florida and challenge her congregation to get even more active than it has been on immigration issues.
The Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo, minister of the UU Church of Marblehead, Mass., and president of UU Allies for Racial Equity, was arrested at the county jail with Morales and Frederick-Gray. The experience was “physically frightening,” she said. “The experience validated much of what I understand about white privilege and racism.” She said that while she experienced some roughness during the arrest and the jail experience was harsh, fellow inmates of color were treated far worse.
Held overnight in a cell with as many as 30 other women, von Zirpolo said the group bonded, even those people who had been arrested for other issues. “It was an unintended consequence of their strategy to disrupt our sleep by moving us around. Each time, we would share names and origins. We sang together, held those who needed to cry, demanded medical attention for our sisters in need, and most importantly, listened to each others stories. We made community.”
The Rev. Gregory Scott Ward, minister of the UU Church of the Monterey Peninsula in Carmel, Calif., said being in jail changed him. “I no longer think I’m different from other people. I was surprised by how quickly one’s humanity can be diminished when wearing prison stripes and the pink socks and pink underwear they make you wear. And how that humanity is restored when you find out that people are waiting for you when you come out.”
UUs who had not been arrested held a late evening candlelight vigil outside the jail Thursday night, bringing a guitar and flute and singing songs in Spanish and English. A few people remained all night, to be there when fellow UUs were released from jail.
Unitarian Universalists were the most visible religious group in Phoenix. Many wore the yellow T-shirts of the UUA’s Standing on the Side of Love campaign. UUA Moderator Gini Courter said, “On the street we were clearly identifiable as religious people. We lived our faith in a very public way. People were coming up to us and thanking us for being there.”
As a consequence, Morales was in constant demand for interviews. Dea Brayden, special assistant to the president, said Morales was interviewed 15 times by local, national, and international media. After he was released from jail, Morales participated in yet another press conference. When asked by a reporter if blocking streets is the best way to address human rights issues, he said, “We want to interfere with the incredible intimidation that is going on here. We as people of faith are called upon to take action to stop that. This is what happened in Selma. This is in the greatest tradition of America. While we are law-abiding citizens there are times when the laws are so immoral they need to be changed. That’s what responsible citizens do.”
Courter said this week’s efforts build on the long-term work of UU congregations in Arizona, as well as local human rights groups like Puente and the National Day Laborer Networking Organization, in confronting racism and immigration injustices. She said, “I have seen us take our calling very seriously here. Our ministers and lay people have taken some real risks. Our work here is a substantial move toward living our UU values in a democracy. And there is so much more for us to know and learn.”
“What we need to do now is build capacity to do this work,” Courter said. “We need congregations to take seriously the fact that their delegates at General Assembly this year chose immigration reform as the next Study/Action Issue. We need congregations offering Spanish and learning hymns of other cultures and building partnerships with groups in their communities. There is such a critical role for Unitarian Universalism in this human rights struggle.”
The Rev. Kenneth Brown, district executive for the UUA’s Pacific Southwest District, which includes Arizona, said, “I have been doing this work for 45 years, and this was one of the most meaningful events I’ve been involved with. What we hope happens now is that the people who came here take this issue home and work on it there. This is the civil rights issue of our era.”
The main action happened Thursday, but that wasn’t the end of things. On Friday, members of Puente, the Ruckus Society, the Catalyst Project, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and Let's Build a U.S. for All of Us, were arrested when they tried to prevent sheriff’s deputies from conducting an immigration sweep.* Salvador Reza was arrested again while watching events from across the street. For the second night in a row, Unitarian Universalists held a vigil outside the jail until Reza and others were released.
The UU Congregation of Phoenix and the Valley UU Church in Chandler, Ariz., served as headquarters for last week’s events. Events were also held across the country, in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, in support of the protests against SB1070.
Delegates to the UUA's 2010 General Assembly voted to hold a “justice General Assembly” focused on immigration and human rights in Phoenix in 2012; they also passed a resolution condemning SB 1070 and similar legislation in other states.
Dan Furmansky, campaign director of Standing on the Side of Love, the UUA’s campaign against identity-based oppression, said that UUs made a real difference in Phoenix this week. “Media outlets across the world have images of SB1070 protests with our message of bright yellow ‘Love’ emblazoned everywhere. Our partners striving for immigrant justice know that their struggle is our struggle, and that we stand on the side of love with them for the long haul. Sheriff Joe Arpaio has met a new form of resistance that brought greater scrutiny to his actions. And those who were arrested showed that there are people of faith who feel morally compelled to put their bodies and their freedom on the line when injustice pronounces itself with an exclamation point and demands a response.”
The Rev. David Miller, minister of the UU Fellowship of San Dieguito in Solana Beach, Calif., wrote in an e-mail after last week’s events that he believed events in Phoenix marked a turning point for Unitarian Universalism. “It was phenomenal to be part of a well-coordinated effort of civil disobedience with Unitarian Universalists from every corner of this country.”
He added, “I was personally thanked many times for being there—the desk clerk and maintenance person at the hotel, someone on the mayor’s staff who I met at Starbucks, people in the street. Finally, as I stood on the street corner watching those who had volunteered to get arrested stake their claim to the street, I heard a young African-American girl turn to her mother and say, ‘What are they doing?’ Her mother replied, 'Do you remember what I told you about Dr. Martin Luther King? That is what they are doing.' I broke into tears.
“Growing up just after the Vietnam era . . . I have never truly felt a part of a great struggle for human rights that has moved my soul. Now, with the struggle for marriage equality and for basic human rights in Arizona, I feel so honored and called to do whatever I can. The desire to do this work is one of the primary reasons I felt called to the ministry. I am filled with deep gratitude for being a part of this act of love, and I have so much hope for our future.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corrected 8.4.10:As originally published, we did not indicate that Puente was an affiliate of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (click here to return to the corrected paragraph), mistakenly said that "many" UUs were at the State Capitol (click here to return to the corrected paragraph), and did not include the names of additional organizations who had members arrested on Friday (click here to return to the corrected paragraph).
Contact us | Privacy policy
UU World Magazine | 25 Beacon Street, Boston MA 02108 | (617) 948-6502
© 1996-2010 Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. All rights reserved.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
How to Plant Your Garden
Some of the "flowers" from General Assembly 2010 that presented on diversity issues.
Instructions for planting your diversity garden.
First, you Come to the garden alone,
while the dew is still on the roses...
FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING,
PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:
1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul
PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:
1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness
PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:
1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another
NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:
1.. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another
TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME:
1. Thyme for each other
2.. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends
WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE. THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.
Q. What are you planting in your garden of life? Have a blessed day!
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
source: Thanks to Mary el for sending me this beautiful information
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Odds N Ends
Sista Chrystal Marshall may be the only individual with a Ginko tree in her front yard. If you want to know how she got the city to plant it then email me and I will pass your email on to her.
More of Chrystal's enormous hibiscus blooms. Notice the leaves are slightly different from the most common hibiscus plants one usually sees.
Did I say that the hibiscus is one of my favorite flowers?
We discovered this hibiscus plant in a yard at S. Woodlawn and 64th st.
President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal while on tour in the United States recently attended a reception in his honor at the DuSable Museum. The evening featured a brief presentation from the President and a popular Senagalese musician along with the local Muntu Dance Theatre. Muntu was so great that the President invited them to be his personal guests at a black arts festival to be held later in the year.
9 Marks of a Champion
I recently found this list in a congregational newsletter that I want to share with you:
1. Believes and visualizes themselves winning
2. Believes and is willing to go through change
3. Believes they are loved by the Most High/God/the Holy
4. Willing to forgive and be forgiven
5. Believes they can rule their thought life (that is, they know that their thoughts are energy that they can and should be in charge of and can manipulate to produce certain outcomes )
6. Believes that they can make a difference and be agents of change
7. Believes that they can accomplish great things and greater works; on the way to the next level
8. Demonstrates that they are a finisher (and can take care of business)
9. Stands in the midst of adversity
I wish to add a 10th characteristic: Knows how to ask for and invite support from others because they understand no one is an island. and that in order to achieve great things we must come together.
Q. How many of these Marks of a Champion/Winner/Self Actualized individual apply to you?
Sacred Text of the Day - James 1:22
Do not be just hearers of the word but doers of the word.
Q. Where in your life are you sitting on the sidelines expecting someone else to do something? How can you more fully take charge of your life and lead the kind of life that you dream about? Begin today! Don't put it off another day!
Radical Disciple
August 4 and August 8 the documentary, Radical Disciple debuted and featured Father Pfleger. It captured his activism, passion and charisma while "exploring issues of racism, theology, and the role of the media." There is still time to view the August 8 airing on PBS, WTTW, Channel 11.
I am so impressed with the ministry of St. Sabina where Father Michael Pfleger resides as pastor that I included the Church in our community tour for 15 students that will begin their part time integrated internships through Meadville Lombard Theological School this fall.
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
If Love is the Answer, then what is the Question?
Art as Spiritual and Political Tools
I have gathered a few pictures to demonstrate these simple words, that is, art (images) can be a powerful source of spiritual and political teachings for both the conscious and unconscious quest for love. I started off writing about something else and Spirit had other things in mind! This post is about love!
Blessing! Rev. Qiyamah
Indigenous Art (from website) In the context of my theme (agape love)this art reminds me that in the midst of lifes struggles, ugliness, celebrations and beauty love can be found if we look for it and expect to find it. Too many of us give up and cease to look for it (including yours truly). In the words of my Holiness and Pentocostal brothers and sisters, I repent and rebuke that which would dispossess me of love. In the affirmations and words of Religious Science and Science of Mind, I am more than good enough to experience all my love and all my good. And so it is!
Rev. Carlton and Makala (daughter of Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons and Ami Santos-Lyons)
I have titled this picture Extended Family Love
Contemporary Love - In the end, love is all there is! Looks fade, money can be lost or stolen, our material belongings can be destroyed but in the end love endures!
Earth Mother (from unknown website)I chose this beautiful graphic because of its universal symbolism of the mother who is depicted here as both alluring (beautiful and appealing) and fierce and deadly if crossed. She holds a child in her embrace that is mostly hidden (part of her protective qualities). Her presence draws attention away from her child so as not to subject it to dangers (seen and unseen). Notice that she has claws with feet pictured below. I believe these are for protection. She is both part human and part animal. The animal is savage and deadly when activated. You do not want to tamper with the animal in Earth Mother. Upon closer observation this same warrior element is depicted in Earth Mother's dress. It reminds me of the Bible verse, ...put on the full armor of god. While colorful with beautiful textures and designs if you look closer it resembles a protective piece of clothing that can serve many purposes. Finally, the sky is filled with shells, a sign of water and the sea. Water cleanses and is a source of food and pleasure. It is one of our greatest resources. Earth Mother is both saddened and angry about the "oil spill" in the gulf. Let it be a warning! Let us not forget that we are stewards of the earth and that we have important work (internally and externally) that we are called to do while here on earth.
Interfaith Conversations and Love
As many of us pursue interfaith ministries there are some general principles that provide common ground for our interactions and actions. These common foci in the world's religions include: 1. goal of alleviating human suffering; 2. avoiding harm to others; 3. striving toward empathy, that is, learning to identify with the needs of others, especially those most vulnerable and 4. primacy of agape love, that is, a love that exceeds all things. Agape love seeks the well being of others. All the world's great religions both teach and assume the priority of love in religious practice. Agape love means feeling and expressing pure, unlimited love for every human being with no exception. Platonic love (shared between friends) and eros or romantic love, shared by partners and lovers pales in comparison to agape love. Agape love is not directed toward a single person or small group but toward all humanity. Agape love cannot be captured within the limitations of language but must be displayed in some of the following ways: good will, kindness, forgiveness in the face of great injury, compassion and sacrifice.
Some scholars contend that the great poet Rumi was intoxicated with the love of god. Others believe he was in love with a human being. Readingne of his poems certainly conveys the depth of his love. But who was the object of his love? We cannot say for certain but we do know that his skill rendering of words allow us even today to feel his deep emotions that existed:
O love, o pure deep love
be here, be now.
Be all: worlds dissolve
into your stainless endless
radiance,
Frail living leaves burn with you
brigher than cold stars;
Make me your servant,
Your breath, your core.
Rumi/Persian sufi Poet
Buddhism - The definition of love in Buddhism is: wanting others to be happy. This llove is unconditional and it requires a lot of courage and acceptance (including self acceptance). Love in Buddhism refers to something quite different from the ordinary term of love which is usually about attachment, more or less successful relationships and sex, all of which are rearely without self interest. Instead, in Buddhism love refers to de-tachment and the unselfish interest in others welfare.
Native American - Manitongquat, a Native American poet, contends that,life is the Sacred Mystery singing to itself, dancing to its drum, telling tales, improvising, playing and that we are all that Spirit. Our stories will but one cosmic story that we are love indeed, that perfect love in me seeks the love in you, and if our eyes could ever meet without fear we would recognize each otehr and rejoice, for love is life believing in itself.
Christianity - The Prophet Micah in 6:8 says, "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God."
1 Corinthians 13:13 But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Islam - Surely (as for) those who believe and do good deeds for them will Allah bring about love Quran - Marium 96
Closing - This post has provided my morning reading, research and recitation. I thank you for that. In closing I share with you the words of a pastor, a Catholic priest, Rev. Dr. Michael L. Pfleger from St. Sabina. I had the opportunity to visit this Sunday, July 25. If you have not experienced the range of Catholic worship then you want to get yourself to St. Sabina. You would think that you were at a Baptist revival or UCC Trinity. This formerly all white church and neighborhood has transitioned to all black (or nearly). They have brought the cultural worship elements of the traditional black church and melded it with the Catholic culture and tradition. Worship was three hours plus and included: praise time prior to actual service, announcements (traditional in any church), bible readings 1st reading: Genesis 18:20-32 and 2nd reading: Colossians 2:12-14 and Luke 11:1-13. Their choir, small but powerful includes an array of musicians that can truly get down! That combined with some gifted vocalists brought the spirit into the place. Things get loud - loud music, loud exhortations, loud preaching. If you don't like loud this is not the church for you. At different times Father Pflager and the pianists lifted up the immortal words of Kirk Franklin exclaiming, "Make some noise up in here." And they/we did!
What I wanted to leave you with are Father Pflager's words about worship. He stated that true worship opens up a realm of imagination where we can see a world of possibilities. In this world of imagination you can imagine a world where nobody is hungry, no violence, joyfulness and peace endure. He called the members to the altar where the praise dancers had previously rendered joyful movements and the vocalist in his white tennis shoes, with white vest, jeans and shirt showed that you could be fashion conscious and devout at the same time! I loved the experience of everyone coming up to the altar.
As my elders say, "Truly God was in the place."
Question: When was the last time you gave yourself over to worship? to connecting with whatever you identify as the sacred and holy and communed in the presence of the I Am?
Isn't it about time? Do not deny yourself the gift of imagination and sacred mystery!
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
ps The documentary, "Radical Disciple" is about Father Pflager. It will air on PBS, WTTW, Channel 11 on Wednesday, August 4th at 8pm and again on Sunday, August 8th at 4pm. The documentary captures his activism, passion and charisma, while exploring issues of racism, theology, and the role of the media.
I have gathered a few pictures to demonstrate these simple words, that is, art (images) can be a powerful source of spiritual and political teachings for both the conscious and unconscious quest for love. I started off writing about something else and Spirit had other things in mind! This post is about love!
Blessing! Rev. Qiyamah
Indigenous Art (from website) In the context of my theme (agape love)this art reminds me that in the midst of lifes struggles, ugliness, celebrations and beauty love can be found if we look for it and expect to find it. Too many of us give up and cease to look for it (including yours truly). In the words of my Holiness and Pentocostal brothers and sisters, I repent and rebuke that which would dispossess me of love. In the affirmations and words of Religious Science and Science of Mind, I am more than good enough to experience all my love and all my good. And so it is!
Rev. Carlton and Makala (daughter of Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons and Ami Santos-Lyons)
I have titled this picture Extended Family Love
Contemporary Love - In the end, love is all there is! Looks fade, money can be lost or stolen, our material belongings can be destroyed but in the end love endures!
Earth Mother (from unknown website)I chose this beautiful graphic because of its universal symbolism of the mother who is depicted here as both alluring (beautiful and appealing) and fierce and deadly if crossed. She holds a child in her embrace that is mostly hidden (part of her protective qualities). Her presence draws attention away from her child so as not to subject it to dangers (seen and unseen). Notice that she has claws with feet pictured below. I believe these are for protection. She is both part human and part animal. The animal is savage and deadly when activated. You do not want to tamper with the animal in Earth Mother. Upon closer observation this same warrior element is depicted in Earth Mother's dress. It reminds me of the Bible verse, ...put on the full armor of god. While colorful with beautiful textures and designs if you look closer it resembles a protective piece of clothing that can serve many purposes. Finally, the sky is filled with shells, a sign of water and the sea. Water cleanses and is a source of food and pleasure. It is one of our greatest resources. Earth Mother is both saddened and angry about the "oil spill" in the gulf. Let it be a warning! Let us not forget that we are stewards of the earth and that we have important work (internally and externally) that we are called to do while here on earth.
Interfaith Conversations and Love
As many of us pursue interfaith ministries there are some general principles that provide common ground for our interactions and actions. These common foci in the world's religions include: 1. goal of alleviating human suffering; 2. avoiding harm to others; 3. striving toward empathy, that is, learning to identify with the needs of others, especially those most vulnerable and 4. primacy of agape love, that is, a love that exceeds all things. Agape love seeks the well being of others. All the world's great religions both teach and assume the priority of love in religious practice. Agape love means feeling and expressing pure, unlimited love for every human being with no exception. Platonic love (shared between friends) and eros or romantic love, shared by partners and lovers pales in comparison to agape love. Agape love is not directed toward a single person or small group but toward all humanity. Agape love cannot be captured within the limitations of language but must be displayed in some of the following ways: good will, kindness, forgiveness in the face of great injury, compassion and sacrifice.
Some scholars contend that the great poet Rumi was intoxicated with the love of god. Others believe he was in love with a human being. Readingne of his poems certainly conveys the depth of his love. But who was the object of his love? We cannot say for certain but we do know that his skill rendering of words allow us even today to feel his deep emotions that existed:
O love, o pure deep love
be here, be now.
Be all: worlds dissolve
into your stainless endless
radiance,
Frail living leaves burn with you
brigher than cold stars;
Make me your servant,
Your breath, your core.
Rumi/Persian sufi Poet
Buddhism - The definition of love in Buddhism is: wanting others to be happy. This llove is unconditional and it requires a lot of courage and acceptance (including self acceptance). Love in Buddhism refers to something quite different from the ordinary term of love which is usually about attachment, more or less successful relationships and sex, all of which are rearely without self interest. Instead, in Buddhism love refers to de-tachment and the unselfish interest in others welfare.
Native American - Manitongquat, a Native American poet, contends that,life is the Sacred Mystery singing to itself, dancing to its drum, telling tales, improvising, playing and that we are all that Spirit. Our stories will but one cosmic story that we are love indeed, that perfect love in me seeks the love in you, and if our eyes could ever meet without fear we would recognize each otehr and rejoice, for love is life believing in itself.
Christianity - The Prophet Micah in 6:8 says, "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God."
1 Corinthians 13:13 But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Islam - Surely (as for) those who believe and do good deeds for them will Allah bring about love Quran - Marium 96
Closing - This post has provided my morning reading, research and recitation. I thank you for that. In closing I share with you the words of a pastor, a Catholic priest, Rev. Dr. Michael L. Pfleger from St. Sabina. I had the opportunity to visit this Sunday, July 25. If you have not experienced the range of Catholic worship then you want to get yourself to St. Sabina. You would think that you were at a Baptist revival or UCC Trinity. This formerly all white church and neighborhood has transitioned to all black (or nearly). They have brought the cultural worship elements of the traditional black church and melded it with the Catholic culture and tradition. Worship was three hours plus and included: praise time prior to actual service, announcements (traditional in any church), bible readings 1st reading: Genesis 18:20-32 and 2nd reading: Colossians 2:12-14 and Luke 11:1-13. Their choir, small but powerful includes an array of musicians that can truly get down! That combined with some gifted vocalists brought the spirit into the place. Things get loud - loud music, loud exhortations, loud preaching. If you don't like loud this is not the church for you. At different times Father Pflager and the pianists lifted up the immortal words of Kirk Franklin exclaiming, "Make some noise up in here." And they/we did!
What I wanted to leave you with are Father Pflager's words about worship. He stated that true worship opens up a realm of imagination where we can see a world of possibilities. In this world of imagination you can imagine a world where nobody is hungry, no violence, joyfulness and peace endure. He called the members to the altar where the praise dancers had previously rendered joyful movements and the vocalist in his white tennis shoes, with white vest, jeans and shirt showed that you could be fashion conscious and devout at the same time! I loved the experience of everyone coming up to the altar.
As my elders say, "Truly God was in the place."
Question: When was the last time you gave yourself over to worship? to connecting with whatever you identify as the sacred and holy and communed in the presence of the I Am?
Isn't it about time? Do not deny yourself the gift of imagination and sacred mystery!
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
ps The documentary, "Radical Disciple" is about Father Pflager. It will air on PBS, WTTW, Channel 11 on Wednesday, August 4th at 8pm and again on Sunday, August 8th at 4pm. The documentary captures his activism, passion and charisma, while exploring issues of racism, theology, and the role of the media.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Tiger Woods
I realize this post is after the fact. But Junee Hunt, a friend, nailed the whole situation so succinctly I could not resist posting it to my blog. So here it is, the low down on Tiger Woods from the sistahs!
(for more posts on a variety of topics you can read more from Junee Hung. Go to http://wwwakaziaj.blogspot.com)
Tiger Woods
Am I the only one who feels like, enough already on the TW. Tiger is a rich, nerd, dummy. Yeah I said it. He might be the best in golf, but he has failed miserably in the game of life and relationships. I don't go along with the whole sex addict thing, but clearly dude's got major issues.
Tiger has some valuable lessons to learn and sadly his wife and children will have to attend the classes with him. Tiger thought his honorary white boy status would protect him. Not. As one writer said, Tiger is the new O.J. He was allowed acceptance into main stream culture and afforded all the perks, including a "nice" blond girl (OTFL) and he showed his natural born Caublasian ass (it's rumored literally). For this my dear boy you will have to pay the price.
Tiger, I don't know if the black community will allow you to come home in that: a) you never embraced your blackness and b) some claim black women are mad because you didn't cheat with any of us. Now I disagree with this. Sisters, this is one hot mess we should be thankful we were left out of.
At the end of the day, Tiger, his wife and all his jump offs will be just fine. Everybody will get at least one check to clear. Now the rest of us must return to more pressing matters, such as youth violence, homelessness, foreclosures, health care access and our children's ability to compete in a global economy.
(for more posts on a variety of topics you can read more from Junee Hung. Go to http://wwwakaziaj.blogspot.com)
Tiger Woods
Am I the only one who feels like, enough already on the TW. Tiger is a rich, nerd, dummy. Yeah I said it. He might be the best in golf, but he has failed miserably in the game of life and relationships. I don't go along with the whole sex addict thing, but clearly dude's got major issues.
Tiger has some valuable lessons to learn and sadly his wife and children will have to attend the classes with him. Tiger thought his honorary white boy status would protect him. Not. As one writer said, Tiger is the new O.J. He was allowed acceptance into main stream culture and afforded all the perks, including a "nice" blond girl (OTFL) and he showed his natural born Caublasian ass (it's rumored literally). For this my dear boy you will have to pay the price.
Tiger, I don't know if the black community will allow you to come home in that: a) you never embraced your blackness and b) some claim black women are mad because you didn't cheat with any of us. Now I disagree with this. Sisters, this is one hot mess we should be thankful we were left out of.
At the end of the day, Tiger, his wife and all his jump offs will be just fine. Everybody will get at least one check to clear. Now the rest of us must return to more pressing matters, such as youth violence, homelessness, foreclosures, health care access and our children's ability to compete in a global economy.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Stop to Smell the Roses!
I recently spent some time at the Garfield Conservatory in Chicago, one of the largest in the country. Wandering through the beautiful plants and flowers fed my soul and connected me to nature. I felt so centered and connected.
Thank you Spirit for the opportunity to commune with the sacred and holy in nature.
Q. When was the last time you engaged nature and explored your relationship with nature? If you cannot remember then carve out some time to do so.
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
Thank you Spirit for the opportunity to commune with the sacred and holy in nature.
Q. When was the last time you engaged nature and explored your relationship with nature? If you cannot remember then carve out some time to do so.
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
A story of faith-based resilience in Haiti
Below is the story of a female pastor in Haiti. She recounts the impact of the earthquake and how they are coping. Let us hold the Haitians in our hearts and in prayer as they rebuild their lives and country. Go on line to find agencies to make monetary donations.
Q. When disaster strikes what support network is in place in your life? How do you cope and what resources do you draw on?
Blessings! Rev. Dr. Qiyamah
A story of faith-based resilience in Haiti
Mitchelle Mothersil in front of the ruins of her church which was destroyed in the earthquake in January.
Photo: Catianne Tijerina/WCC
By Maria Halava (*)
When the earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January, Mitchelle Mothersil, an independent Pentecostal pastor, was lying on her bed in a two-story house in Carrefour Feuilles in the suburb of Port-au-Prince. When she heard the noise, which seemed to be coming from beneath the house, she immediately knew that it was an earthquake.
”The house was shaking and I fell down several times when trying to find my mother and my children,” she says in describing the first moments of the quake.
She managed to get downstairs but could not open the door to the yard. The house next door had fallen on her house and blocked the door. The fence of another neighbour fell on them from the other side. When she finally managed to get her children out of the house, she still needed help from the neighbours to get her mother out in her wheelchair.
Now the family lives in a wood and tin-sheet hut next to the ruins of the house.
”There is no way to explain what happened that day,” she tells a reporter five months later. "People in the streets were shocked, and they didn’t know what to do or where to go. Many of them were calling for God."
Recently, when an ecumenical delegation led by the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) visited Haiti, Mitchelle Mothersil traveled with them as their interpreter.
Radical woman pastor
Originally born to a Catholic family, Mitchelle Mothersil committed herself to serve God for the rest of her life seventeen years ago, while worshipping at a Pentecostal church.
Later on, while living in the United States, she felt the call to become a pastor. She started engaging in Bible studies, preaching in different churches and even hosted a radio show on biblical themes.
After four years in the United States, she felt led by the Holy Spirit to move back to Haiti with her youngest children and her mother. Her two oldest children stayed behind. But she knew in her heart that it was meant to be that way.
In Haiti she started a church, and to her knowledge became the first woman pastor serving there in a church. ”In the first service, we had about 10 people,” she recalls.
The church-goers were mainly teenagers and university students who were searching for something and were willing to "have their minds changed". But others thought Mitchelle Mothersil was too radical. That’s also the reason why her radio show in Haiti was terminated.
”I ask people realistically what they want God to do for them if they just sit at home without attempting anything. God will bless you if you work, but if you don’t work, you shouldn’t even eat,” she declares.
She also urges people to take responsibility for their lives. ”Ask God what it is in your hands or inside you that can use to help things change. The change is not in the hands of your pastor, your mother or your father. It is in you.”
At the moment, her church has approximately 30 members. They join in worship services, prayer services and Bible studies. Many of them have sought support from the church after the earthquake.
”Even though the church was destroyed in the earthquake, people kept coming. We meet outside instead of inside,” she says.
She has explained to the church members that the earthquake was a natural catastrophy. She does not know why it happened, but she is sure that God was not absent.
”God is not responsible for how we build our houses,” she said, referring to the destruction of almost 1.5 million houses in the earthquake. ”The quake in Chile was stronger than the one we had in Haiti, yet they survived with less damage.”
Calling in Haiti
Many of the church members lost houses or loved-ones in the quake. Together with Mitchelle Mothersil, they have been talking and crying in the ruins of the church. ”Sometimes there are no words. Everything would sound like a cliché,” she admits.
Some people, like Mitchelle’s youngest daughter, don’t want to talk about the earthquake. Most of them do, because the quake affected so many people’s lives.
”Our theme song in the church for the year’s end was I’ll Praise you in This Storm. After the earthquake a lady who had lost her three daughters in the earthquake told me: 'Pastor, we sang, I’ll praise you in this storm, but I did not know that the storm was going to hit so hard.' It was heartbreaking.”
Life has to continue, though, and what happened in the past is past.
Mitchelle Mothersil doesn’t know where she gets the strength to continue her life, but she knows that she has to do it. She is taking care of her 90-year-old mother and her children who, after having lived a very protected life, were suddenly living in the street.
”I cannot show them my weaknesses. I have to be strong for them,” she says with emotion.
Demolition work on the house and the church is underway. But since it is done by hand, it will take a long time. The most important thing for Mitchelle Mothersil is to rebuild the house.
”Food and washrooms are not priorities: we need help to rebuild our houses,” she says in anticipation of the approaching hurricane season.
Life has not been easy during the past months. But Mitchelle Mothersil knows that the future is in God's hands. ”God will take care of his own, I’m sure.”
She herself will stay in Haiti. Her calling is there, until God tells her to go somewhere else.
[929 words]
(*) Maria Halava is communications and advocacy advisor for the ACT Alliance in Haiti.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Belated Reflections on Father's Day
I recently took the train to Ann Arbor, MI to hang out with my family. We were celebrating Father's Day. My youngest sister Jackie lives in Ypsilanti, MI. She and her husband are truck drivers and they usually spend their time hauling loads all around the country. She was a short order cook in a previous life and loves to cook. She has recently bought a HUD house that she fixed up. It is her pride and joy.
It was great seeing family that I have not seen in a while. And the food was great!
It is so easy to take our loved ones for granted, to be short tempered and ill acting toward them or worse yet to ignore and neglect them. One is particularly vulnerable to this if you live away from your family like I do. I call my children, my daughter in law, my mom and two of my sisters. I talk infrequently to my brothers and my other sisters and almost never call my nieces, nephews and cousins. I usually wait until family reunions and holidays to see everyone.
So one day when three of us were on the phone we talked about putting together a small BBQ to bring everyone together. This BBQ would be a way to let the fathers in the family know how much we love and appreciate them. It would be a small gesture but imagine if we were more intentional about doing this in various aspects of our lives? What a difference it would make.
Besides seeing everyone and falling off my diet, Sunday I had the opportunity to hear my younger brother preach and hear his testimonial. He was saved at 19 years old. He will be 50 next year. As he tells the story, my mother had given up on trying to make him a productive citizen and well rounded human being. So she decided to turn things over to god. At the time he thought that was the best thing that could have happened. He was coming and going when he wanted to and hanging out with his buddies, smokin' and drinkin'. Then he got in trouble and was facing 5-15 years in prison. That was when he took a hard long look at his life and decided to in his words, "serve god and not the devil".
While our theologies are very different and I do not believe in heaven or hell or the devil I love his very compelling testimonial. Life has a way of getting our attention! We can heed it or ignore it. The choice is ours! Intentionality and taking responsibility for our lives is key to creating happiness in life.
Q. How can you step up and take more responsibility for those things you want to change in your life? What is your pattern of change? Do you resist change? Do you wait until things get so bad that you have to have the universe/god knock you on your behind before you take action?
Q. What do you need to change in your life to fully be the loving and wonderful human being that Spirit/god is calling you to be? Who are you called to be in the world?
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Stories for the Journey: Creating Multiracial and Multicultural Congregations
Workshop presenters at Strategies for Growing Inclusive Multicultural Congregations and Ministries
L-R Lynn Anderson - member at UU Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA)and Rev. Anthony Davis, minister of UUCA
L-R Lynn Anderson, Rev. Anthony David,Senior Minister at UUCA in Atlanta, GA; Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister of All Souls Unitarian Church; Rev. Elizabeth Lerner McClay Silver Springs; Rev. Kathleen Rolanz at Rocky River UU Church in Rocky River, OH and Sunshine Jeremiah Wolf, intern at Rocky River UU Church.
Please find below a rich resource list obtained from Taquina Boston, Director of Identity Based Ministries at the Unitarian Univeralist Association in Boston, MA.
Each year several thousand Unitarian Univeralists attend several days of the General Assembly (GA) in different locations around the country. This years GA is being held in Minneapolis, MN. I facilitated a panel titled, Stories for the Journey: Creating Multiracial and Multicultural Congregations. This unique panel of ministers and laity shared their cutting edge journey stories that were warmly received by the attentive audience. The panel consisted of: Rev. Rob Hardies, All Souls Church Unitarian, Washington, DC; Rev. Dr. Fred Muir, Senior Minister and Rev. John Crestwell, Associate Minister at UU Church of Annapolis; Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK and Ms. Taquina Boston, Director of Identity Based Ministries with the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Please find the resource list below:
Question: What are you and your faith community doing to make your church/mosque/synogogue/temple welcoming to diverse individuals?
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
Creating Multicultural Congregations Resource List:
People of the Dream by Michael O. Emerson
Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations, Korie L. Edwards and Michael O. Emerson
The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches, Korie L. Edwards
The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leading Multiracial and Multicultural Congregations, Jacqueline J. Lewis
One Foot Planted in the Center, the Other Dangling Off the Edge: How Intentional Leadership Can Transform Your Church, Gordon L. Dragt
The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity, Soong-Chan Rah
Building A Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church, Mark DeYmaz
List of multicultural congregation resources developed by Alicia Forde and Janice Marie Johnson:
the Diversity of Ministry initiative (uua.org website - , including a recent story about the first 2 settlements – UU Church of Pittsburgh, PA (Rev. Alma Crawford) and UU Church of Annapolis, MD (Rev. John Crestwell) are included on the UUA website. A few URLs are listed below. Also search at uua.org using “Diversity of Ministry.”
http://www.uua.org/news/newssubmissions/151377.shtml
http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/leaderslibrary/interconnections/119956.shtml
http://www.uuworld.org/news/articles/11198.shtml
http://www.uuworld.org/life/articles/145503.shtml
Additional Sources:
The UUA will release the DVD and study guide for the UU University Multicultural Track in November. Meanwhile, contact Diane Martin to get copies of the “Now Is the Time: Leading Congregations Into a Multiracial/Multicultural Future” conference DVDs. There have been 3 conferences . The last DVD from 2009 was in production.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Prayer for Forgiveness, Hope and Reconciliation
(During our times of crisis life is like a desert - dry and unyielding as we struggle to find nourishment and renewal - hoping to find the means to sustain us on this journey of life.)
Wednesday night I responded to an invitation I received and visited the Calvert House, the Catholic Center at the University of Chicago. Many of you are aware of my interest in interfaith dialogue. At the time I responded I was not aware that this gathering was a "prayer for forgiveness, hope and reconciliation" for the misconduct of Catholic priests recently revealed by the media. A student had evidently approached Father Pat, the Director at the Center about conducting the service. Since I had not been following the news I sat present with a sense of deja vu hearing the pain and anguish expressed by the students. Those of you that know me are aware that I did my dissertation research on clergy sexual misconduct in the Unitarian Universalist Association. While my degree was conferred in 2007 I began my research around 2004. Listening to the students and the priests conversations about recent occurrences it almost appeared that nothing has changed except recognition of its global context. This global misconduct now removes the perception that somehow American decadence was a result of the clergy misconduct in this country.
A total of eleven students attended. All but one of them was Catholic. The other was Disciple of Christ.
Here is an excerpt of a prayer, A Song of Christ's Goodness from Saint Anselm of Canterbury that was recited:
Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you; you are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Often you weep over our sins and our pride, tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgment. You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds, in sickness you nurse us and with pure milk you feed us. Jesus, by your dying, we are born to new life; by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy. Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness; through your gentleness, we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead, your thought makes sinners righteous.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy, remake us. In your compassion, bring grace and forgiveness, for the beauty of heaven, may your love prepare us.
Amen.
The rest of the service was modeled after the 2000 "Day of Pardon" Service by His Holiness John Paul II in which participants confess their sins, repent and ask God's forgiveness. After each reading there was a moment of silence and after each confession and prayer a candle was lit on the candelabra at the front of the Chapel.
The service was ended with a very moving prayer and we dismissed, exchanged the greeting of peace and I departed.
Q. What have you recently done to promote healing where there is dis-ease and pain? to promote justice where there is injustice? and to stand with the marginalized?
Blessed Be! Rev. Qiyamah
Friday, May 28, 2010
Conflict at University of Puerto Rico
I am always interested in what is going on in academia. Please find below info on the conflict at the University of Puerto Rico:
Dear colleagues, students, and friends:
As many of you already know, students at the University of Puerto Rico have been on strike for 37 days now and have de facto paralyzed all but one of the eleven campuses that comprise the system. At the core of this conflict is the future of public higher education in Puerto Rico. This includes critical issues concerning the current state budgetary crisis and its potentially detrimental effects on the life of the university, but it also bears upon questions that go beyond economic matters, as we hope the information enclosed below makes clear.
Even though talks between students and the university administration have recently resumed, the situation is still volatile and rather precarious. Students have been beaten by the police as recently as last week, and riot squads have been deployed, and are still on call, to siege university campuses all around the island. Two weeks ago Police Chief José Figueroa Sancha, with the support of university authorities, forbade water and food supplies to students who are occupying the main campus of the system (Río Piedras). This measure was finally withdrawn after much outrage from the community. Most recently, this past Monday a student, Natalia Sánchez López, died from unknown causes following her participation in a student assembly on the Mayagüez campus. University authorities had ensured that this gathering would take place in uncomfortable and potentially harmful conditions in order to discourage participation. Many students were treated for dehydration throughout the proceedings, and an investigation into Natalia’s death is still under way. Finally, yesterday several thousand protesters, of all ages and backgrounds, marched on the capitol building and the governor’s mansion in support of the students’ demands.
For your information, we are enclosing here a link to a segment on Amy Goodman’s program, Democracy Now, that addresses this current crisis, a link to a NYT article on the strike, and both the original Spanish version and an English translation of the Declaration of Puerto Rican Academics in the US (originally published in Spanish on May 20, 2010 and signed by 65 professors) in which we discuss some of the deeper implications of the conflict. Below you will also find two additional links: 1) to the students’ news service (Desde Adentro-rojogallito); and 2) to the strikers’ own radio station (Radio Huelga).
As this situation has received so little coverage outside Puerto Rico, some of us have deemed it important to send this information to our networks. Please help us to disseminate it by sharing it with your lists.
Many thanks,
Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, The University of Chicago
Aldo Lauria-Santiago, Rutgers University
Ivette Hernández-Torres, University of California, Irvine
Luis Avilés, University of California, Irvine
Amy Goodman, Democracy Now
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/17/student_strike_at_university_of_puerto
NYT Article on PR Student Strike
U.S. | May 21, 2010
Student Protests Tie Up Campuses in Puerto Rico
By OMAYA SOSA-PASCUAL and EMMA GRAVES FITZSIMMONS
Most of the University of Puerto Rico system has been shut down by students seeking greater transparency.
UPR Student News Service, Desde Adentro-rojogallito
http://rojogallito.blogspot.com/
Radio Huelga
http://radiohuelga.com/wordpress/
Racial Profiling in Arizona
Below is a statement by The Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM), an organization of UUs of color and Latina/o ministers, religious educators, seminarians and staff comprised of individuals that come together to support and advocate for one another, their colleagues and their ministries.
Question: What are you doing to build and support bridges between people?
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
May 28, 2010
DRUUMM (Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries) join with other Unitarian Universalists concerned with justice to condemn the new racial profiling laws in Arizona and we urge Unitarian Universalists who identify as people of color/Latina/o/Hispanic to express their outrage individually and collectively at these laws which allow law enforcement to target people based on race. We particularly note the statement by LUUNA (Latina/o Unitarian Universalist Networking Association) which notes about this law that “its very vagueness will provide a means for law enforcement agencies to harass individuals on the basis of appearance alone.”
Because some of our members have indicated their concern that they would not be safe travelling to and within Arizona as long as such racial profiling laws exist, we also support the proposed boycott of General Assembly. To hold a General Assembly without the total spectrum of our members is exclusionary. We also urge our General Assembly delegates this year to explore other options that could keep us in dialogue with the people of Arizona.
We remind our Unitarian Universalist family that such actions do have impact. In the late 1980s, when Arizona refused to honor the Martin Luther King holiday, Unitarian Universalists cancelled the General Assembly scheduled to be held there. After the state changed their position, General Assembly was once again held in that state. We believe that, even in hard economic times, Unitarian Universalists must be willing to demand that their money be guided by their principles.
We as people who affirm the worth and dignity of all people must continue to fight against racism and ethnic discrimination in all forms. A law that singles people out by race and ethnicity is by its nature racist. We condemn this law and urge people of faith throughout our country to let their voices be heard.
For The Steering Committee
DRUUMM (Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries)
Rev. Danielle Dibona, President
Robette Dias, Treasurer
Clyde Grubbs, Event Coordinator
Rev. Leslie Takahashi Morris, First Vice President
David Yamashita, Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Chair
Question: What are you doing to build and support bridges between people?
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
May 28, 2010
DRUUMM (Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries) join with other Unitarian Universalists concerned with justice to condemn the new racial profiling laws in Arizona and we urge Unitarian Universalists who identify as people of color/Latina/o/Hispanic to express their outrage individually and collectively at these laws which allow law enforcement to target people based on race. We particularly note the statement by LUUNA (Latina/o Unitarian Universalist Networking Association) which notes about this law that “its very vagueness will provide a means for law enforcement agencies to harass individuals on the basis of appearance alone.”
Because some of our members have indicated their concern that they would not be safe travelling to and within Arizona as long as such racial profiling laws exist, we also support the proposed boycott of General Assembly. To hold a General Assembly without the total spectrum of our members is exclusionary. We also urge our General Assembly delegates this year to explore other options that could keep us in dialogue with the people of Arizona.
We remind our Unitarian Universalist family that such actions do have impact. In the late 1980s, when Arizona refused to honor the Martin Luther King holiday, Unitarian Universalists cancelled the General Assembly scheduled to be held there. After the state changed their position, General Assembly was once again held in that state. We believe that, even in hard economic times, Unitarian Universalists must be willing to demand that their money be guided by their principles.
We as people who affirm the worth and dignity of all people must continue to fight against racism and ethnic discrimination in all forms. A law that singles people out by race and ethnicity is by its nature racist. We condemn this law and urge people of faith throughout our country to let their voices be heard.
For The Steering Committee
DRUUMM (Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries)
Rev. Danielle Dibona, President
Robette Dias, Treasurer
Clyde Grubbs, Event Coordinator
Rev. Leslie Takahashi Morris, First Vice President
David Yamashita, Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Chair
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Tragedy for One of Us Constitutes Tragedy for All of Us
A beautiful 7-year old girl, Aiyana Jones was recently killed when police in Detroit invaded her home under the guise of executing a police raid. Aiyana Jones was peacefully sleeping on a couch in her home when she was fatally shot in the neck by a police officer during a raid on the house allegedly targetting a homicide suspect. It appears the police instead targeted the home of an innocent family.
CBS reported that neighbors told [the] police [that] there were children in the house, and showed them toys in the front yard. However, the police allegedly proceeded to throw a flash grenade through the window of the home despite the warnings.
The tragic incident was reportedly caught on tape by a television crew that was following the police while filming the raid for a crime show.
Aiyana had been sleeping on a living room sofa about 12:40 a.m. Sunday when she was struck by a bullet from a gun carried by a member of the Detroit Police Special Response Team. Officers entered the downstairs flat of the two-story duplex in the 4000 block of Lillibridge on the city's east side after throwing a stun grenade through the glass of a front window.
A video crew with "The First 48" cable TV show was recording the scene as the cops executed a warrant for Chauncey Louis Owens, 34, wanted for the May 14 slaying of a Southeastern High School senior. Owens was captured as officers simultaneously raided the duplex's upstairs unit -- without exploding a stun bomb.
Owens has since been charged with murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Jerean Blake.
Officer Joseph Weekley, a member of the Detroit Police Special Response Team, has been identified as the person who shot Aiyana. The 14-year veteran of the force has been placed on a desk job while the incident is investigated.
Police said there was some level of contact between Aiyana's grandmother and Weekley after he entered the home and that led to the shooting.
A lawsuit has been claiming negligence, civil rights violations and a police cover-up of the true facts.
(source: From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100522/METRO/5220375/1409/METRO/Rev.-Sharpton-to-give-eulogy-at-Aiyana-Jones-funeral#ixzz0odjVwaAP
Reflections
What a painful loss and tragedy for the parents. My heart goes out to them. But we must share in the parents grief and outrage if these facts are correct as reported. How can life be rendered so cheaply by those designated to protect us? How can they profess to uphold the law and be so inconsiderate of the humanity and rights of citizens? The recklessness out of which the police appeared to act reflects a historic alienation rooted in racism that I had thought had begun to dissipate in most instances. Whether this reflects an aberration remains to be seen. I pray the day will come soon when we are healed of the disease of racism and all the other isms that corrupt human relations
Q. When are we compelled to step forward and speak out less we compromise our humanity and become less than human?
Pray like hell for justice and then get up and fight like hell to claim it!
Rev. Qiyamah
CBS reported that neighbors told [the] police [that] there were children in the house, and showed them toys in the front yard. However, the police allegedly proceeded to throw a flash grenade through the window of the home despite the warnings.
The tragic incident was reportedly caught on tape by a television crew that was following the police while filming the raid for a crime show.
Aiyana had been sleeping on a living room sofa about 12:40 a.m. Sunday when she was struck by a bullet from a gun carried by a member of the Detroit Police Special Response Team. Officers entered the downstairs flat of the two-story duplex in the 4000 block of Lillibridge on the city's east side after throwing a stun grenade through the glass of a front window.
A video crew with "The First 48" cable TV show was recording the scene as the cops executed a warrant for Chauncey Louis Owens, 34, wanted for the May 14 slaying of a Southeastern High School senior. Owens was captured as officers simultaneously raided the duplex's upstairs unit -- without exploding a stun bomb.
Owens has since been charged with murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Jerean Blake.
Officer Joseph Weekley, a member of the Detroit Police Special Response Team, has been identified as the person who shot Aiyana. The 14-year veteran of the force has been placed on a desk job while the incident is investigated.
Police said there was some level of contact between Aiyana's grandmother and Weekley after he entered the home and that led to the shooting.
A lawsuit has been claiming negligence, civil rights violations and a police cover-up of the true facts.
(source: From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100522/METRO/5220375/1409/METRO/Rev.-Sharpton-to-give-eulogy-at-Aiyana-Jones-funeral#ixzz0odjVwaAP
Reflections
What a painful loss and tragedy for the parents. My heart goes out to them. But we must share in the parents grief and outrage if these facts are correct as reported. How can life be rendered so cheaply by those designated to protect us? How can they profess to uphold the law and be so inconsiderate of the humanity and rights of citizens? The recklessness out of which the police appeared to act reflects a historic alienation rooted in racism that I had thought had begun to dissipate in most instances. Whether this reflects an aberration remains to be seen. I pray the day will come soon when we are healed of the disease of racism and all the other isms that corrupt human relations
Q. When are we compelled to step forward and speak out less we compromise our humanity and become less than human?
Pray like hell for justice and then get up and fight like hell to claim it!
Rev. Qiyamah
Friday, May 7, 2010
II Annual Freedom Weekend
I was recently in Austin, TX, AKA ATX for the II Annual Freedom Weekend held April 29to May 2, 2010. While I helped out in different venues my primary role (besides supporting my daughter, Kaleema Haider Al-Nur) was as one of the guest speakers for the Interfaith Worship Service held on Sunday, May 2. Each of the four clergy delivered ten minute mini-sermons:
Rev. Dr. Joseph Parker, Senior Pastor, David Chapel Missionary Baptist, Austin, TX
sermon - Rebooting Justice
Cardinal Aswad Walker, Shrine of the Black Madonna, Houston, TX
sermon - Why Do You Cry to Me So? Tell the Children of Israel to March On. Exodus 14:15
Rev. Dr. Qiyamah A. Rahman, Director of Contextual Ministry and Senior Lecturer at Meadville Lombard Theological School, Chicago, IL
sermon - On the Road to Beloved Community
Robert Muhammad, Nation of Islam, Austin Study Group, Austin, TX
sermon - The Science of Freedom
WHAT IS FREEDOM WEEKEND?
BLACK FREEDOM WEEKEND 2010 featured 4-days of discussions, Films, performances and trainings!
Annual Black Freedom Weekend featured a gathering of individuals and community groups and organizations, convened by Community and University organizers and partners to confront major issues that impact Black communities in Austin [and throughout Texas] as human rights issues. The Weekend included some exciting venues featuring: a film festival, community forums with keynote speaker, Ajamu Baraka, Executive Director of the U.S. Human Rights Network. His presentation was titled, From Civil Rights Back to Human Rights: Recapturing the Spirit of Revolutionary Change. Freedom Weekend Kickoff Night featured an elder activist, African Martial Arts (stick fighting and a version of Capoeira) and slamming guest poets delivering spoken word. The largest gathering occured on the last day when white allies convened to talk about gentrification in Austin.
FW fosters practical strategy-making, community building, truth-telling, critical dialogue, and creative collaborations and coalitions by inviting a variety of voices to the table during activities held at different locations throughout the Community. Freedom Weekend is:
* Community Art Show & Performances
* ‘Bringing Human Rights Home’ Community Forum
* Sunday Sermon
* ‘People Get Ready’ Community Workshops
Annual Freedom Weekend is Housed at: the Warfield Center for African and African American Studies and the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas.
[2010] II Annual Freedom Weekend: This year’s Freedom Weekend focused on naming the collection of Systems, policies and practices that work in concert to produce a Push-Out/Pull-Out effect of Black communities or Black Community Displacement. As the size of the Black community in Austin continues to shrink, we ask: WHERE ARE BLACK PEOPLE GOING AND WHAT’S GOING ON WITH BLACK PEOPLE!? Last years focus and theme was
"Bringing Human Rights Home."
Question: What are you doing in your community to bring together segments of people that do not usually communicate such as the residential community and academia; grass roots activist and policy makers/legislators and politicians?
If you are currently not doing anything what can you begin to do? Who do you need to collaborate with? Who are the existing players?
Blessings! Rev. Rock (Rahman)
Rev. Dr. Joseph Parker, Senior Pastor, David Chapel Missionary Baptist, Austin, TX
sermon - Rebooting Justice
Cardinal Aswad Walker, Shrine of the Black Madonna, Houston, TX
sermon - Why Do You Cry to Me So? Tell the Children of Israel to March On. Exodus 14:15
Rev. Dr. Qiyamah A. Rahman, Director of Contextual Ministry and Senior Lecturer at Meadville Lombard Theological School, Chicago, IL
sermon - On the Road to Beloved Community
Robert Muhammad, Nation of Islam, Austin Study Group, Austin, TX
sermon - The Science of Freedom
WHAT IS FREEDOM WEEKEND?
BLACK FREEDOM WEEKEND 2010 featured 4-days of discussions, Films, performances and trainings!
Annual Black Freedom Weekend featured a gathering of individuals and community groups and organizations, convened by Community and University organizers and partners to confront major issues that impact Black communities in Austin [and throughout Texas] as human rights issues. The Weekend included some exciting venues featuring: a film festival, community forums with keynote speaker, Ajamu Baraka, Executive Director of the U.S. Human Rights Network. His presentation was titled, From Civil Rights Back to Human Rights: Recapturing the Spirit of Revolutionary Change. Freedom Weekend Kickoff Night featured an elder activist, African Martial Arts (stick fighting and a version of Capoeira) and slamming guest poets delivering spoken word. The largest gathering occured on the last day when white allies convened to talk about gentrification in Austin.
FW fosters practical strategy-making, community building, truth-telling, critical dialogue, and creative collaborations and coalitions by inviting a variety of voices to the table during activities held at different locations throughout the Community. Freedom Weekend is:
* Community Art Show & Performances
* ‘Bringing Human Rights Home’ Community Forum
* Sunday Sermon
* ‘People Get Ready’ Community Workshops
Annual Freedom Weekend is Housed at: the Warfield Center for African and African American Studies and the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas.
[2010] II Annual Freedom Weekend: This year’s Freedom Weekend focused on naming the collection of Systems, policies and practices that work in concert to produce a Push-Out/Pull-Out effect of Black communities or Black Community Displacement. As the size of the Black community in Austin continues to shrink, we ask: WHERE ARE BLACK PEOPLE GOING AND WHAT’S GOING ON WITH BLACK PEOPLE!? Last years focus and theme was
"Bringing Human Rights Home."
Question: What are you doing in your community to bring together segments of people that do not usually communicate such as the residential community and academia; grass roots activist and policy makers/legislators and politicians?
If you are currently not doing anything what can you begin to do? Who do you need to collaborate with? Who are the existing players?
Blessings! Rev. Rock (Rahman)
Get in Where You Fit In!
This post features a potpourri of events that you may or may not be able to relate to. Hence, the title, get in where you fit in.
Enjoy!
Rev. Qiyamah
Politics of Black Women's Hair
At the risk of setting off a deluge of comments (good for the blog - bad for my peace of mine), I have a confession to make. I recently put a light relaxer in my otherwise natural hair. Given that I have worn my hair natural since I was 18 years old and I am now turning 62 I think I can exercise the freedom to explore my hair options without having the the hair police called down on me. The fact that I am very embarrassed to admit this simple fact (Hey! I'm a grown ass woman!) is a sad commentary on the politics of black women's hair. But I reserve the right to be in relationship with my hair however I choose. Besides, I have demonstrated my commitment to natural hair and the polics of natural hair at almost 62. And I have earned the right to make my own decisions about my hair. For those of who that do not know the roots from whence this conversation flows then you have not been paying attention! I do not have the time or patience to school you. Google something like "politics of black women's hair" or "natural vs straightened hair debate."
Here is a picture of the culprit. I chose this product because it does not contain lye. It went on easily, had no odor and did what it said it would do - relaxed my hair. I left it on for 15 minutes. If I had known that my hair texture did not require 15 I would have probably left it in for less time. What I noticed after I rinsed it out is that the "curl/kink" that I slightly straightened also provided body and once I did not have the curl/kink I had less body and my hair was not as full and able to form a natural crown but lay down like a domesticated dog. Did I take all the fight and umph out of my hair. lol I am on the verge of cutting it all off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On a More Serious Note
I said it was not all that serious! And I have just the picture to prove it. This is a dog walker in downtown Chi Town doing his thing!
Ordination: Celebrating a Unitarian Universalist Ministerial Milestone
L-R Rev. David Bumbaugh, Rev. Beverly Bumbaugh, Rev.Rudra, Rev. Ed Searles, Rev. Jim Hobart (back to camera), Rev. Nan Hobart and Rev. Emmy Lou Belcher.
Two of my favorite Unitarian Universalist ceremonies are installations and ordinations. This is a picture of Lynn Garner's recent ordination held April 24 at
3rd Unitarian Church. The ordination marks the congregation's naming and blessing of a UU seminarian that has usually completed a Masters of Divinity and has been fellowshipped by the denominational credentialing body, the Ministerial Fellowship Committee.
Ministers and students in candidate status can process (march)in at the beginning of the ceremony and at the conclusion of the ceremony. Several will also participate in the service. An ordination usually features the following: hymns, readings, meditation, homily, charge to congregation, charge to minister and right hand of fellowship. The ordinee is usually gifted with a stole. The ordaining congregation and ordinee participate in a responsive covenant and the benediction is given and everyone convenes to a reception to indulge in food, drink and conversation.
L-R Rev. David Bumbaugh, Rev. Beverly Bumbaugh and Rev. Rudra
Theatre Gains Another Gifted Playwright
L-R unidentified staff person with Crossroads Theatre, Stephanie Berry and Artistic Director of Crossroads.
Sunday, April 18 I had the pleasure to travel to support my friend Stephanie Berry's endeavors in New Brunswick, New Jersey to witness an important milestone in a friends career. I was privy to the transition of Stephanie's craft from actor to playwright. The Court Theatre premiered Stephanie's play, the Last Fall. It is a love story between two individuals in the senior years of their life. Watching the play I realized an irony, that is, many of the same dynamics and challenges in love attachments are present across generations. Issues of trust, commitment, adjustments to one another and clarity about the relationship and common agreement about same are all similar across generations. The unique factors that aging partners appear to face is the recognition that one might have to settle because advanced age may preclude other options. Also, partners, usually the woman face having to compete with much younger rivals for love interests is another unique dynamic associated with aging love. Sexually active seniors also face more health concerns as they seek sexual pleasures with aging bodies and all the accompanying challenges.
The two protagonists, Lizan Mitchell (Rhea) and Roscoe Orman (Neville) meet and become enmeshed in a verbally combative relationship that is sometimes as toxic as it is loving. The couple treat the audience to their unique blend of intimacy moving back and forth between loving reminising of shared moments of playfulness and lusty sex to sharp and biting verbal exchanges punctuated by Neville's silences or ominous warnings, "you don't want to go there."
The play put me in touch with my own reflections and vulnerabilities about growing old and attempts to claim love and romance. How that process changes is not as obvious as how I have changed and what it means to seek a mature love in a changing world. Rhea and Neville overcome the biggest obstacle, how to meet potential partners, through their accidental meeting one night when Rhea is attempting to catch a cab. They are not going in the same direction. This might very well be the theme of the relationship. Rhea wants commitment and Neville is not sure whether he wants it although iot is obsious he craved love as much as Rhea. Rhea was more willing to take risks to secure it than Neville was. An ironic twist, Neville is an "emotional coward" and Rhea the warrior. Some of the basic differences between men and women are explored in this complex play. Differences about how men and women pursue love interests differently and how men often equate it as more about sex than romance. Rhea defies all those stereotypes and is at times portrayed as a card waving feminist/womanist who clearly will not let any man take advantage of her. She is quick witted and intelligent and feisty!
My regards to the playwright Stephanie Berry for a job well done! I suspect we will be hearing from her in the future and her career as a playwright looks more than a little promising!
L-R Stephanie Berry, John Martin and unidentified theatre goer.
Enjoy!
Rev. Qiyamah
Politics of Black Women's Hair
At the risk of setting off a deluge of comments (good for the blog - bad for my peace of mine), I have a confession to make. I recently put a light relaxer in my otherwise natural hair. Given that I have worn my hair natural since I was 18 years old and I am now turning 62 I think I can exercise the freedom to explore my hair options without having the the hair police called down on me. The fact that I am very embarrassed to admit this simple fact (Hey! I'm a grown ass woman!) is a sad commentary on the politics of black women's hair. But I reserve the right to be in relationship with my hair however I choose. Besides, I have demonstrated my commitment to natural hair and the polics of natural hair at almost 62. And I have earned the right to make my own decisions about my hair. For those of who that do not know the roots from whence this conversation flows then you have not been paying attention! I do not have the time or patience to school you. Google something like "politics of black women's hair" or "natural vs straightened hair debate."
Here is a picture of the culprit. I chose this product because it does not contain lye. It went on easily, had no odor and did what it said it would do - relaxed my hair. I left it on for 15 minutes. If I had known that my hair texture did not require 15 I would have probably left it in for less time. What I noticed after I rinsed it out is that the "curl/kink" that I slightly straightened also provided body and once I did not have the curl/kink I had less body and my hair was not as full and able to form a natural crown but lay down like a domesticated dog. Did I take all the fight and umph out of my hair. lol I am on the verge of cutting it all off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On a More Serious Note
I said it was not all that serious! And I have just the picture to prove it. This is a dog walker in downtown Chi Town doing his thing!
Ordination: Celebrating a Unitarian Universalist Ministerial Milestone
L-R Rev. David Bumbaugh, Rev. Beverly Bumbaugh, Rev.Rudra, Rev. Ed Searles, Rev. Jim Hobart (back to camera), Rev. Nan Hobart and Rev. Emmy Lou Belcher.
Two of my favorite Unitarian Universalist ceremonies are installations and ordinations. This is a picture of Lynn Garner's recent ordination held April 24 at
3rd Unitarian Church. The ordination marks the congregation's naming and blessing of a UU seminarian that has usually completed a Masters of Divinity and has been fellowshipped by the denominational credentialing body, the Ministerial Fellowship Committee.
Ministers and students in candidate status can process (march)in at the beginning of the ceremony and at the conclusion of the ceremony. Several will also participate in the service. An ordination usually features the following: hymns, readings, meditation, homily, charge to congregation, charge to minister and right hand of fellowship. The ordinee is usually gifted with a stole. The ordaining congregation and ordinee participate in a responsive covenant and the benediction is given and everyone convenes to a reception to indulge in food, drink and conversation.
L-R Rev. David Bumbaugh, Rev. Beverly Bumbaugh and Rev. Rudra
Theatre Gains Another Gifted Playwright
L-R unidentified staff person with Crossroads Theatre, Stephanie Berry and Artistic Director of Crossroads.
Sunday, April 18 I had the pleasure to travel to support my friend Stephanie Berry's endeavors in New Brunswick, New Jersey to witness an important milestone in a friends career. I was privy to the transition of Stephanie's craft from actor to playwright. The Court Theatre premiered Stephanie's play, the Last Fall. It is a love story between two individuals in the senior years of their life. Watching the play I realized an irony, that is, many of the same dynamics and challenges in love attachments are present across generations. Issues of trust, commitment, adjustments to one another and clarity about the relationship and common agreement about same are all similar across generations. The unique factors that aging partners appear to face is the recognition that one might have to settle because advanced age may preclude other options. Also, partners, usually the woman face having to compete with much younger rivals for love interests is another unique dynamic associated with aging love. Sexually active seniors also face more health concerns as they seek sexual pleasures with aging bodies and all the accompanying challenges.
The two protagonists, Lizan Mitchell (Rhea) and Roscoe Orman (Neville) meet and become enmeshed in a verbally combative relationship that is sometimes as toxic as it is loving. The couple treat the audience to their unique blend of intimacy moving back and forth between loving reminising of shared moments of playfulness and lusty sex to sharp and biting verbal exchanges punctuated by Neville's silences or ominous warnings, "you don't want to go there."
The play put me in touch with my own reflections and vulnerabilities about growing old and attempts to claim love and romance. How that process changes is not as obvious as how I have changed and what it means to seek a mature love in a changing world. Rhea and Neville overcome the biggest obstacle, how to meet potential partners, through their accidental meeting one night when Rhea is attempting to catch a cab. They are not going in the same direction. This might very well be the theme of the relationship. Rhea wants commitment and Neville is not sure whether he wants it although iot is obsious he craved love as much as Rhea. Rhea was more willing to take risks to secure it than Neville was. An ironic twist, Neville is an "emotional coward" and Rhea the warrior. Some of the basic differences between men and women are explored in this complex play. Differences about how men and women pursue love interests differently and how men often equate it as more about sex than romance. Rhea defies all those stereotypes and is at times portrayed as a card waving feminist/womanist who clearly will not let any man take advantage of her. She is quick witted and intelligent and feisty!
My regards to the playwright Stephanie Berry for a job well done! I suspect we will be hearing from her in the future and her career as a playwright looks more than a little promising!
L-R Stephanie Berry, John Martin and unidentified theatre goer.
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Passing of an Icon
Dr. Dorothy I. Height, in the words of Maya Angelou, was "one of the giants among mighty women." I join millions in mourning the passing of a giant, a woman who set the bar so high that we had to reach to the sky.
Below is one of many tributes written on Dorothy Height:
"Dr. Height worked tirelessly to open doors for people of every race, gender, culture and faith," Eleanor Hinton Hoytt, president and CEO of the Imperative, said. "Her vision was not for a Black America, it was for one America. She climbed over barriers of epic height to achieve equal rights and opportunities for all, particularly for Black children who she understood as being our future."
Many people who honor the life of Dr. Height will remember her as the godmother of the civil rights movement. She was the commanding force who stood on a platform overlooking millions when Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. She was the statuesque female figure who stood steadfast next to Lyndon Johnson when he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She was a trusted counselor who advised every U.S. president from Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama on matters of social justice, racial and gender equality and human rights. Her contributions to the civil rights movement are undeniable.
But, to Hinton Hoytt and other Black women leaders, she was the mother of the Black feminist movement.
"When she stood next to Dr. King and President Johnson during those historic moments, she stood not only as an embodiment of civil rights but of women's rights too. I think when she realized early on that being Black and female put you in a special category; she took on another fight - one for the empowerment of Black women."
In a recent meeting on health care reform and immigration, Hinton Hoytt, who knew Dr. Height as her mentor, confidante and friend, witnessed a profound moment: "Dr. Height looked each of us in the eye and declared, 'Until all women have all of their rights, no one woman can have equal rights.' As the president of the National Council of Negro Women, Dr. Height pushed Black women to take advantage of every opportunity that showed America that they deserved better and were capable of achieving better."
Her wisdom, fearlessness to speak the unspeakable and courage to stand steadfast is what made Dr. Dorothy I. Height not only a legend but a crusader of civil and women's rights equally.
Dr. Height once said, "I want to be remembered as one who tried." On this day that marks the passing of one of the most resounding voices for gender and racial equality, social justice, and human rights, the Imperative wants to thank Dr. Height for doing more than trying. We thank her for uplifting and making the voices of Black women heard.
Q. What do you want to be remembered for?
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah
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