“Whatever you can say about how they were handling the situation, with all of their warrants and examinations and constables carting suspects off to jail, there were real people involved, real lives, real neighbors, real people who they had known for a long time. But now, those people were being turned into something else, something less than human. That’s something we’re all very good at. We always have been if we’re honest about it. People have a knack for isolating certain individuals or cultures and then stripping them of their humanity. When things get rough and a community faces a crisis, it’s the dehumanized who are always the most vulnerable to violence. I know there is a lot about the events in Salem that are singular. They are special and unique and one offs that don’t repeat themselves again. But this, the dehumanizing of the ‘other’ to the point where lives are lost, this is something that’s tragically commonplace to our modern world.”
My knowledge of the events that took place in Salem during the witch trials was shallow. I knew the outcome but not the context and history that informed the outcome. A friend recently told me about the Unobscured podcast, and I have been making my way through Season 1. Aaron Mahnke narrates the episodes, and there are interviews with historians dispersed throughout. While Aaron Mahnke stated in the quote I used above that “people have a knack for isolating certain individuals or cultures and then stripping them of their humanity,” I think a caveat is required. Though someone may desire to isolate individuals and cultures and strip them of their humanity, it is only the privileged and powerful that have the ability to do so. This series on the Salem witch trials provides the context that demonstrates that it was only the privileged that could carry out such egregious acts.
Have you listened to this series?
#aaronmahnke #unobscured #podcast #podcastrecommendation #podcastrec #therefugees #salemwitchtrials #salemmassachusetts #salem #love #loveyourneighbor #history #learning #unlearning #deconstruction #reconstruction #faith #evolvingfaith #faithtransition #spiritualmisfit #learning #seekjustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #restorativejustice #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative
Account to Follow - Feb. 26, 2020
I first heard about The Loveland Foundation through a post by Rachel Cargle. As you can see in The Loveland Foundation IG profile, “Loveland Foundation is committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls.” By visiting the link in the profile, you can learn more about the work of The Loveland Foundation and contribute to the therapy fund.
Follow @thelovelandfoundation if you aren’t already, and financially support the work of the Loveland Foundation.
#thelovelandfoundation #accounttofollow #loveland #lovelandtherapyfund #therapyforblackgirls #therapyforblackwomen #giftoftherapy #mentalhealth #selfcare #love #empathy #equality #reflection #action #loveyourneighbor #seekjustice #socialjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative
Additional Rec. - Feb. 27, 2020
#thelovelandfoundation #accounttofollow #loveland #lovelandtherapyfund #therapyforblackgirls #therapyforblackwomen #giftoftherapy #mentalhealth #selfcare #love #empathy #equality #reflection #action #loveyourneighbor #seekjustice #socialjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative
Additional Rec. - Feb. 27, 2020
Additional Rec. - "Captive Audience: A Black Woman’s Reflection on the Sparrow Conference" by DeeDee Roe
“As the conference began, I quickly realized it was overwhelmingly monocultural. Though there were a diversity of leaders, the message was white-centered. Race was intentionally avoided and dismissed. Where the scriptures shared from Ephesians dug deeply to discuss ethnicity, foreigners, and exclusion – the sermons skimmed. When the first night was over, I sent a message to our group. ‘I’m walking away with the distinct feeling that this event isn’t intended for me, but they don’t mind that I’m here.’ It was a consensus. We debated returning the next day and agreed we were still eagerly looking forward to hearing from Ekemini Uwan and Jackie Hill-Perry; that their messages might have something to say about our part in reconciling our divided nation to Christ.”
“Later, Claire Wilkinson was welcomed with thunderous applause. She spoke passionately about the work of IJM confronting perpetrators of police brutality in Kenya. The audience made tearful commitments to partner in her work, tears I knew did not extend to Black victims of police brutality in this nation.”
“Uwan referenced how the lynching of Trayvon Martin jarred many to explore, for the first time, racial identity and racial politics in our country. Every time she said white people, the white woman sitting to my left physically cringed. I could feel her thigh vibrating against mine as she tapped her foot. Uwan continued, ‘Jesus rose, bodily, as a brown-skinned Palestinian God man.’ As pockets of startled murmuring spread across the theater, she reminded us ‘the Gospel is offensive.’ I looked around at my friends. Some were nervous, sunk in their chairs, oppressed by the building tension swallowing the size of the room. Uwan continued, ‘Race is a social construct that was organized around strife, difference, and racial stratification. White people on the top, Black people on the bottom.’ I nodded, even as I could see women shaking their heads no. She taught theology of ethnicity from Revelation 7:9 and that ‘Whiteness is rooted in plunder, theft, enslavement of Africans, and the genocide of Native Americans. Whiteness is a power structure. The thing for white women to do here is divest from whiteness.’ That’s when I saw the first group of white woman walk out. Uwan touched on the recent college admissions scandal, the 2016 presidential election, detention camps in Texas, calling them modern day concentration camps - all products of whiteness.”
“So, what happens to whiteness when Black theology confronts its idols and takes up room in its sacred spaces? It claws for its purse in the darkness, storms quietly out of the theater, and asks to see the manager because it demands someone pay for failing to protect it from conviction and discomfort. When confronted, whiteness crumbles, falls on its face, head and hands breaking off like the statue of Dagon in First Samuel. We see it for what it really is – an idol meant to destroy us.”
“My prayer in sharing is that the theology and teaching of Ekemini Uwan would forever be a sharp rock which shatters the facade of whiteness as goodness and pushes each of us to reclaim our lost ethnic heritages.”
In this article, DeeDee Roe shared her reflections as a Black woman after attending the Sparrow Conference in 2019. I think of this article often as the idol of whiteness is exposed in my own life, seeking to continually participate in the work of dismantling the idea of white supremacy in myself and in institutions, including the Church. I highly recommend reading the article in its entirety.
#additionalrecommendation #recommendation #captiveaudience #sparrowconference #deedeeroe #thewitness #church #community #dismantlewhitesupremacy #endwhitesupremacy #inallinstitutions #faith #evolvingfaith #justice #humanity #empathy #equality #reflection #action #lovegod #loveyourneighbor #love #learning #socialjustice #seekjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative
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