Sharing the Burden

It’s common for those of us who are white people, perhaps awakened or reawakened to the racial injustice around us right now, to ask, “What can I do to help?” So I want to dedicate some of the blog entries to resources and people who can provide insights and wisdom.

If you are not already familiar with the Spiritus Anti-Racism Coalition (SPARC), this group is “a coalition of Spiritus Christi parishioners, other faith communities, local activists, and concerned citizens with a vision for a socially just Rochester,” as we describe ourselves on the Spiritus Christi website. The group was founded more than 15 years ago by our pastor, Rev. Myra Brown.

We usually meet at Spiritus the second and fourth Monday of each month, and you are welcome. Currently, we meet by Zoom calls. Our work is broad-ranging. We go through racial justice training; make connections with historically Black churches; and learn from Rochester’s Civil Rights leaders and their children and grandchildren. We have guest speakers and a yearly film festival that involves discussion that opens our eyes beyond anything we could read in a book. We also have fun.

Inspired by a Race Convoy pilgrimage through the South in 2017, we are currently working with other churches and civic groups to raise funds for a Rochester Civil Rights Heritage Site in Baden Park.

Because learning is such an important part of our work, I asked members of the Spiritus Anti-Racism Coalition: What is one insight you have gained since you have been doing anti-racism work?

Melissa Parrish, a longtime trainer in racial justice and a participant in the Race Convoy, shared her thoughts: “Change will not come unless Black people unapologetically speak their truth and white people abandon the practice of  avoiding their own discomfort. Confronting racism is messy, painful, reflective and liberating. You have to be committed to do your own work in order to be authentic in  relationships with others. It will take all of us working together, taking turns carrying the weight of the struggle for justice to dismantle white supremacy.”

I asked Gloria Johnson-Hovey, who founded the annual ROC Juneteenth 5K Race that SPARC helps organize, what a good white supporter looks like. She said that it is simple: We need people who have been taught right from wrong, who can empathize. Where there is injustice, she said, we need people who imagine “what length you would go to if that were your son, your father, your brother, your uncle, your cousin.” She said, “We need people who do the right thing.”

Through SPARC, we are learning. My husband Steve, who went on the Race Convoy, said the experience was life-changing, and one thing he learned is that “white privilege is a real thing, and I have it.”

Elizabeth Osta, who is a member of SPARC and co-chair of the First Universalist Initiative for Racial Equity (FIRE), wrote: “Like so many of my era, I have just recently learned of the failure of Reconstruction, the Jim Crow Laws, the present-day lynchings, and endless unspeakable atrocities that have been left out of mainstream education and media.  These people of persistent faith are so deserving of overdue justice and equity. I am learning that  it’s up to me  to learn all that I can to  become more aware and develop skills to be an ally to a people of faith who inspire me daily.” 

Melissa’s words about “taking turns” bring us right to the “Alleluia” lines preceding the Gospel of Matthew today: “Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.” The One who healed the sick and welcomed the oppressed, who died an agonizing death so that we might be free — He was the model burden-carrier. Maybe we first need to ask our Black friends what their burdens feel like right now. Although as a white supporter, I can never know exactly what that burden feels like, listening can open my heart and help me find ways to share the load.

In the interest of helping us to read more and know more, Melissa has assembled a reading list, below: