Walk the heart maze in prayer for racial justice. As John Lewis said, “You are the Light. Never let anyone — any person or any force — dampen, dim or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant…”
“At the first conference on religion and race, the main participants were Pharaoh and Moses… The outcome of that summit meeting has not come to an end. Pharaoh is not ready to capitulate. The exodus began, but is far from having been completed” Rabbi Heschel. For Moses, like for many of us, the thought of walking the path of racial justice seemed scary. Fear was part of the process.
No spiritual people with a devotion to the work of justice will want to be seen as in favor of racism. Therefore: We acknowledge these aspects and commit to taking specific actions. Who better? — WE can do better. That of God within connected each of us soul to soul. Unexamined oppression keeps us apart, interrupts our union, our integration with each other and with our Creator. Diversity is the Divine. Nurture the Light within. Love is the song.
There is a lurking problem happening within “spiritual” thought and dialogue. Many people who view themselves as healers, “starseeds,” or spiritual teachers, are doing something dangerous: — spreading violence and aggression under the guise of love and light. … But racism is tricky. Racism is not a simple matter of “being racist” or “not being racist.” It is a complex, endemic, historical issue that lives within our collective psyche.
Audre Lorde wrote a letter in May 1977 to white feminist Mary Daly, the author of the book Gyn/Ecology. “Four months later, having received no reply, I open it to the community of women… I wondered, why doesn’t Mary deal with Afrekete as an example? Why are her goddess-images only white, western-european, judeo-christian? Where was afrekete, Yemaya, Oyo and Mawulisa?” —Audre Lorde
I am a black man.
I was planted in deep, loamy, black soil by my black father.
Cradled, cultured and coaxed out like a tuber of yam by my black mother.
Though I came from one womb, I am birthed by many mothers – some of skin like bark and timber, some of eyes of yellow like cassava.
I have a scandalous affinity with shadows in this here regime of light.
