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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Thanks Joyce<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net
[mailto:oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>Joyce Sloan<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, June 06, 2012
2:22 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Order Ecumenical Community<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [Oe List ...] Being
Black in the Order Ecumenical</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Right you are <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Marshall</st1:place></st1:City> to note the
absence of reflections from black Order members in the conversation that has been
going on. In recalling the conversations Shrop, Carlos and I had about the
struggle with being black in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>
and in the Order, Randy requested that I share the gist of those conversations
with colleagues as a kind of tribute to black Order members who had died.
Then my life went in a tailspin and I just got a breather long enough to
respond. Anyway, here goes.<br>
<br>
We often conversed about how the experience of being black in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> was
undeniably shaped by the enslavement of black people by white people and the
subsequent relationships and identities that were born of that situation. We
talked about how those relationships and identities gave rise to stereotypes
that played themselves out on the stage of American History as if they were in
fact reality. For us they were contained in the stark contrasts between us such
as slavery vs. freedom, restrictions vs. privilege, intuition vs.logic, dark
skin and eyes vs. light skin and eyes, kinked hair vs. straight hair, full
facial features vs. thin facial features, and on and on. For me this was
compounded by the struggles of being a black woman in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>
breaking and breaking through the stereotypes of the nurturing mammy, the
permissive Jezebel or the stiff necked unyielding matriarch. It is no
wonder that it took hundreds of years and a another civil war (AKA the civil
rights movement) to reveal the illusions out of which both races were living in
terms of what was good, and human and beautiful.<br>
<br>
I believe the strength of those stereotypes is evident even today in
mufti-faceted behaviors and attitudes that many call the legacy of
slavery. I am convinced that legacy affects both black and white Americans
regardless of how either one may have personally evolved. That really
struck home when Barack Obama described how his white grandmother, who he knew
loved him dearly, would clutch her purse a little closer when walking down the
street in the presence of young black men. <br>
<br>
As a young black female born and raised in segregated <st1:place w:st="on">East
Texas</st1:place>, black and white race relations defined my existence. It was
not until l went to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">North</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Texas</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> did it
consciously register with me that there really were other kinds of people in
the world. It was not until Carlos and I worked with the Philbrooks in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City> that I began to
believe that in spite of our history, blacks and whites could work together in
a trusting collegiality. But there was (and is) no doubt that that would mean
working through the residual effect of the legacy of slavery. And that is
what I, and I dare say other blacks brought with them to the O:E. That included
bringing such feelings as fear, insecurity, suspicion and anger. <br>
<br>
I don't know anything about the conversations that led to the decision, but I
think it was divinely prophetic that the West side of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:City> was chosen to forge the 5th City
Model. And likewise it was prophetic that the residents of that community
linked arms with the EI and the O:E to make 5th City happen. Many other
ethnic neighborhoods could have been chosen. But in light of the history
between blacks and whites in this country, known across the world, I don't
believe any other would signal the glorious possibility of redemption for <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> and the
world in a more powerful way.<br>
<br>
Joyce Sloan<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 9:49 AM, Charles Hahn <<a
href="mailto:cfhahn30@gmail.com" target="_blank">cfhahn30@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Marshall</span></font></st1:place></st1:City>,
your words are profound and moving. Thanks for the reflective dimension
you bring to our conversation.<font color="#888888"><span style='color:#888888'><br>
Charles Hahn</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 7:00 AM, Ken Fisher <<a
href="mailto:hkf232@gmail.com" target="_blank">hkf232@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div style='word-wrap:break-word'>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Well said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Thank you, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Marshall</st1:place></st1:City>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color="#888888" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#888888'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color="#888888" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#888888'>Ken<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color="#888888" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#888888'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On 2012-06-05, at 3:05 AM, W. J. wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
<div><span style='text-align:-webkit-auto;word-spacing:0px'>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>I was surprised that the question about what it was like to be black in
the O:E really was not addressed by black colleagues. Instead it became a
conversation in which white people TALKED about black people, remembering their
names and unique contributions.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>We didn't really articulate how critical black order members were/are
to bailing us all out of our unconscious cultural reductionisms. I write, of
course, as one of the "pinkies" who showed up in 5th City after the
1968 riots. It was absolutely essential that black colleagues in the community
and in the Order gave their permission for us crazy white people to stay in 5th
City. They claimed us as colleagues, they put up with us, they protected us,
and they confronted us with our unconscious embodiment of white male privilege
and racism. They grounded us in the experience of suffering in the community
and joined with us in working to transcend the internalized racist stereotypes
we were all struggling with. I suspect people of color in the Order had an
often unacknowledged burden to bear in dealing with white male dominance. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>It wasn't just that people of color were just as totally on top of
everything as the white male leadership was (in other words, comfortable
operating with the rational gifts of the white Ur). More importantly, coming
from another profound experience of humanness, these colleagues often surprised
us in their freedom from being stuck in "white man's consciousness",
so to speak.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>I'm trying to get beyond being yet another white person talking about
black people. Several years ago I had the privilege of working with Lela
Mosley, Ruth Carter, and Verdell Trice in getting the 5th City film released on
DVD. Lela was at the end of her days, in and out of the hospital, and on
oxygen, but she could sometimes talk with me on the phone. We were going over a
list of deceased 5th Citizens whose contributions would be honored on the DVD.
I would say, "What about So-and-so? Is she dead yet?" And Lela would
say, "No, she's still kicking!" We would laugh. And it was kind of
funny, you know, just to be standing in the Awe of all those people who had
decided to give their lives in that geography. Not that they were black or
white, economically advantaged or not. OR: In the Order. Or not. You get that?
No difference (despite the difference). I tell you we will be highly privileged
to join that company of 5th City Pioneers some day. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Joe Mathews said that what he was most proud of was being a 5th
Citizen. Not of being the Dean of this crummy outfit called the Order. But (I
would say) of standing his ground and being his "be" with the
profound humanness we discovered and celebrated in 5th City. And if I can have
just a tiny taste of that in my privileged white man's life, and if I was able
to add just the smallest bit to the 'miracles' that we all participated in
creating together, I think that would be enough for me.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Marshall Jones<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
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