From Rev. Susan Frances: June 17, 2022
Dear Friends,
Happy Pride! This week I am reveling in the diversity of the queer communities living in and around Chicago. The photo is of me early this week on my next door neighbors’ porch. My entire block is decorated with a plethora of flags, signs, and banners. Many of which I’ve had to look up to find out what the colors represent. It has me feeling grateful for where I live and the communities of which I am a part. Thank you, to all of you who are part of our wonderful UCE and wider UU communities, for being exactly who you are!
This joy has been starkly contrasted by the realities being supported at the hearings being presented by the House Select Committee Investigating the January 6, 2021 Insurrection at the US Capitol. Right now, I am finding some hope that our democracy will continue to thrive and improve by looking back at some of our country’s history. I want to share the words of our UU ancestor Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who was born a free African-American in Baltimore, Maryland, was raised in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, and became a Unitarian in 1870 when she joined the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia.
In May 1866 she addressed the Eleventh National Women’s Rights Convention in New York City. This quote from her speech titled “We Are All Bound Up Together” could sadly have been written about our current events.
“We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul. You tried that in the case of the Negro. You pressed him down for two centuries; and in so doing you crippled the moral strength and paralyzed the spiritual energies of the white men of the country. When the hands of the black were fettered, white men were deprived of the liberty of speech and the freedom of the press. Society cannot afford to neglect the enlightenment of any class of its members. At the South, the legislation of the country was in behalf of the rich slaveholders, while the poor white man was neglected. What is the consequence today? From that very class of neglected poor white men, comes the man who stands to-day, with his hand upon the helm of the nation. He fails to catch the watchword of the hour, and throws himself, the incarnation of meanness, across the pathway of the nation.”
‘The man who stands to-day’ she references was our 17th US President, but Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s sentiments from 1866 apply aptly to our 45th US President. I know it is overwhelming to think about all that is happening in our country right now, but I encourage you to continue to draw strength from and live into your UU values in each moment as you are able.
Our congregation is involved in so much work for social change. As Marian Wright Edelman, an American activist for civil rights and children’s rights, reminds us, “We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
Here are ways to get involved right now. Email any contact person listed here at admin@ucevanston.org or find their personal information in REALM.
I know that is a lot of options. And if what you need right now is to take care of yourself in some other way, that is okay. If you are having trouble navigating life right now, whether it is figuring out how to be engaged with the world or how to address your complex emotions in response to a personal problem or social ill, reach out to your friends or family, to your co-workers or your ministers. You may request support from our Caring Team or Pastoral Care Team for yourself or someone else through this form on our website. Reach out – relationships are one way to build hope and create joy and beauty to endure and overcome these hardships.
This past weekend, my wife and I sought out some joy and beauty by venturing out to the Andersonville Midsommarfest to meet up with friends that we have not seen in-person for a long time. It is the first large, dense gathering we have participated in since March 2020, and we wore our KF94 masks. We didn’t see many other masked individuals, but we also did not encounter any hostility toward us. A few odd looks, but for our family’s medical history, masking will continue to be something we will choose to do when others with a healthy family history are able to choose maskless options. I encourage you to continue to do what is right for you and your family as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
We met our friends at Midsommarfest to watch the cover band called She’s Crafty. They are an all-female Beastie Boys tribute band. In the middle of their set, they honored our black and brown siblings who have been killed by law enforcement officers by asking for a moment of silence. My first thought was that a request for silence in the midst of a bustling street festival would not feel respectful. But it only took a moment for there to be complete silence in the block leading up to the stage. A silence that spread out and was held for longer than I expected.
In that silence, I felt my individual sadness, and then I started to feel a connection, a silent connection to all those strangers. I felt my sadness being held and I also felt the anger, despair, uncertainty, heartbreak, helplessness in that group of strangers. What I took away from that moment, knowing that I sometimes read too much into such moments, is that this sharing of a moment of silence, in the midst of a crowd of mostly white cisgendered able-bodied strangers in the midst of a busy street fair in the midst of a big city, is one sign of a growing comprehension by those who hold white and other social privileges that we are all in this together. That none of us are unaffected by the violence against our black and brown neighbors. A growing comprehension that this violence and the violence against the Asian and Asian-American communities, against the gay and trans communities, and against women are all interconnected. A growing comprehension that the racism embedded in our culture and influencing our implicit biases must be addressed in order to fuel the change needed to make our democracy stronger and to transform our culture so we are a just and equitable society.
Take care of yourselves, my Beloveds. Find joy and beauty where you can. Get involved when you can. Seek support and nourishment when you need it. We are all bound up together.
Yours in faith,
Rev. Susan