Today, we watched Eyes on the Prize and went to City of Refuge United Church of Christ to connect the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s & 60s with today's LGBT movement.
We started the day by grounding ourselves in history as people of color in the United States, as people of faith, and as leaders. We did this by watching a segment of Eyes on the Prize, a documentary about the Civil Rights Movement. Eyes on the Prize brought us back to 1950, a time of racial segregation and violence in the Southern part of the United States, a time when African Americans had to sit in the back of the bus, a time when African Americans had to use separate theater entrances and water fountains, a time when White men could kill a 14-year-old African American boy for talking to a White woman and be found not guilty.
It was also a time of African Americans standing up for their rights, a time when a Black woman refused to give up her seat to a White person on a Montgomery bus, a time when the African American community organized a bus boycott, a time when a young African American minister preached non-violent resistance to counter the violent acts of racism that the African American community faced in their everyday lives.
A trip to City of Refuge United Church of Christ in San Francisco was scheduled for the afternoon. City of Refuge is a predominately African American, working class and poor, LGBTQ church.
In preparation for fellowship and worship at City of Refuge United Church of Christ, two queer API R2W alumni/staff connected their struggle with the Civil Rights Movement and shared why they appreciate City of Refuge. One said, "When I think about the Jim Crow South, the image that stands out to me is of separate water fountains and theater entrances with signs above that read 'White' and 'Colored'. Today, for LGBTQ people, it's as if there is an entrance with a sign above that says 'Straight' and a sign that reads 'LGBT', but there's no entrance under it -- there's not even a door... or sometimes, there's not even a sign -- not even an acknowledgment that you exist. There are not a lot of spaces for me to be all of who I am -- Asian, queer, and Christian. I usually have to check part of myself at the door."
They shared an appreciation for City of Refuge as embodying the Civil Rights Movements of today -- a place where the African American community was creating spaces for African Americans and being intentional about welcoming LGBTQ people and lifting LGBTQ people up as leaders and ministers in the church: "City of Refuge is not just a place where we are depressed about how our lives are hard and fighting in the struggle for social justice. It's a church -- a special place where we can be all of our fabulous selves, celebrating and affirming all the diversity of God's creation. The Civil Rights Movement lives on in City of Refuge. The Civil Rights struggle continues in our generation. Martin Luther King was talking to us."
After an afternoon of worship, fellowship, and blessing at City of Refuge, R2W participants returned and reflected on the day:
R2W 2009 Participant Giselle:
R2W 2009 Participant Kim:
No comments:
Post a Comment