Conversations Around Race

Our Church has been having a five week session called " Conversations around race" we met together as a large group and then we broke off into ethnic specific groups to have more discussion. Our last meeting had everyone  together again. Each group gave a summary of what they had talked about and learned. We were asked to answer some specific questions. Our group decided to answer our questions poetically. I gathered everyone's notes and tried to answer our questions in a poetic way, keeping it honest, and hopefully capturing the heart of our conversations.

The questions were:
What was one highlight?
What was one challenge your ethnic group faced?
What is one gift of your ethnic group?
How do you view " Power" in light of the Gospel, and God calling us to be willing to lay our power down at times?
What message would you like to share with your brothers and sisters of different ethnic backgrounds/



Here are the responses.

Highlight

It was all significant in one way or two

It’s difficult to share only one with you

But to keep to the question

And to help keep the rhyme

The reality is… we had a wonderful time!

The Challenge

I can only speak for me

Although “I” am a “We” and “they”

But individually our opinions range

From “yes” to “no”, to “maybe so”

From I’m not sure are you?

But what I speak today is from all of us

And true

It’s our challenge

The thing we see we need to wrestle and manage

Even when we don’t have all the advantage

We know we have this

Our wits and our sense

The ability to get over the fence

And find a way through

Up down or in between

Travel down roads unseen

Until we…

Well… until we know we are where we need to be

We come in all shades

And we have more in common than we sometimes want to admit

Trials have greatly formed who we are today

And for that…

We are stronger

But we are also dispersed

And at times discouraged

We have plenty of strengths in our community

But also weakness

Often in the form of internalized oppression

And it only adds drama it does not lessen

What is eating us up

We challenge ourselves to rethink ourselves

And to redefine who we really are

Based on standards set by ourselves

We cannot base our ability to be or become

On who we are told we are or who we are not

Growth and truth must first reign supreme in our own hearts

Our challenge is to fight the internal battle

And we are fighting it

Daily we must each speak life to ourselves

And to those around us

We must spread this new propaganda of life giving truth!

And remember who we are

And whose we are…

And reassess our assets

So we know

What we bring

And then bring it with confidence

And in doing so better understand

All the God given ability that lies within

We must remember we are all one with each other

Even though we range in shades of color and tone

And were birthed in different places and homes

And speak languages foreign to some

From the African brother

To the light-skinned African-American mother

Some may try to split us up and claim we are not one

But we don’t want to play that game

It isn’t any fun

We are who we are; we will be who we will be this Negro-African-Black-American multi-faceted family!

Yes, still part of the human race

Although sometimes confused in this crowded American space

We challenge those who desire to conquer and divide

Those who encourage black on black oppression, to lessen our pride

We stand strongly and speak of unity

Not just you… not just me… but we

We desire to stand united

But at times we stand divided

And too often… we stand alone

We began, again during this process of conversations around race to

Remember…

Cause it’s a daily thing

That we are created in the image of God and we are precious in his sight

We are beautiful

We have wisdom and might

And resilience, and passion

And truth to be shared

And wisdom from those who with burdens did bear

But we must share this with the young in our community

And remind the elders too

And whisper it in the ears of babes

So they grow up hearing the truth

We are in this thing together

The race is not yet won

But if we keep on trekking

We shall overcome

Gift

All it takes sometimes is one head nod

And you know

Right then

That you belong

That someone sees you

It’s like a secret handshake

A special language

Without words

And we have it

This instant community

On the street

In the grocery store

At that convention on the other side of town where nobody looks like you

Wherever we are

Where two or more gather

Just give the nod

Get the gift

Power

Clouds have it when they thunder down rain

And the sun expresses it when it warms the earth

God gave it when he breathed his breath into Adam

And he gave it to you and I when we exited the womb

We really have it when we lay it down

And it lasts longer when we manage it well

It’s meant to be shared

No Lording over one another

It’s meant to be laid down

And respected

You have just as much power as I do

My pie may be peach and yours apple

But we both have pies

And we both have something to offer

I will give you a slice of mine

And surely you will share with me too

You might just get hooked

Interested in the recipe?

Listen

I want to know your secret too

Tell me, if you will

I am powerful by the grace of God

And we are powerful together

Let’s teeter totter our power

So one of us doesn’t end up always on the ground

We must choose to not abuse

And we must be willing to share

Those things meant for sharing

With love, grace, humility, joy

And sometimes dragging our feet

Unto each other

For the good of all

And for the glory of God

(c) Charissa Carroll 2011

 Message

When God made humankind

He said we were good

When God confused languages at the Tower of Babel

I’m sure none of them spoke English and he understood them just fine

God sees us and loves us

He sees our dark skin and boasts of the smoothness

And he sees our brown skin and thinks of chocolate

He sees our yellow skin and is reminded of the sun

And he sees our peachy skin and thinks of summer

He sees our white skin and is reminded of the first snow

But he also sees our hearts

And is reminded of why he died

And our brokenness

And our inability to love one another

Because some of us don’t like summer

Or chocolate

Or we prefer sun over snow

But remember

He knows

And he cares

It is his burden to bear

But by his grace

And by his spirit

And because

He told us to

We must learn to love

Not always like

But give love a try

Like learning to ride a bike

And be okay with falling down

And scraping a knee or two

And when you do

When we do

And we see the blood

Let’s remember

The cross and all that is true

Jesus didn’t die for just you

Or me

He died to set us free

From ourselves and our sin

So that love could win

Charissa Carroll 4/14/2011

All rights reserved (c)  2011 Charissa Carroll