Black Lives Do Matter

Back Home in Connecticut

My sister Beth and I drove back from Maine on Wednesday. The drive was long, of course, just like going, but we had fun. Our only disappointment of the whole trip was that we did not see a moose. But we took pictures of the moose statue outside one of the Rest Stops.

The audience at Southwest Harbor Library was lively. I was pleased to have a full room of about 25 people.

One woman told me she had been in the Peace Corps in Kazakstan. The curate at Bunny’s Episcopal church said her daughter is in the Peace Corps now.

Several people asked challenging questions. One man said, “Sending these young people overseas to help when they are inexperienced doesn’t always lead to good outcomes. Has the Peace Corps been worthwhile?

How would you answer? You can probably guess how I did!

Black Lives Matter

My sermon tomorrow is part of the summer series reflecting on the sources of Unitarian-Universalist beliefs. Tomorrow’s speaker was supposed to be a Buddhist, but he had to cancel, so I was called in.

I told Anita, who invited me, that I’d talk about African customs and relate them to UU sources. So I begin by describing ways I believe Igbo people are made to know from a very young age that they are part of a community and have duties and obligations. I talk about eight traditions that reinforce a sense of belonging.

If you’ve been a reader for a while you’ve seen the pictures from our 50th wedding anniversary which we celebrated in Clem’s village. I included a picture from that celebration on the cover of the church program for Sunday.

Here’s part of what I say: “The sixth way to learn about belonging is at events. When there is an occasion like our 50^th wedding anniversary celebration in Nanka in December, all the family members wear clothes from the same fabric. That day there were about 40 people, all related, who were dressed in the same cloth.”

Later in the sermon I talk about suggestions for using white privilege to confront racism. One of the ideas is to talk to other white people about race. I’ll say, “I find that I can talk about ‘Black Lives Matter,’ why it’s important and relevant.

I say, ‘black lives matter because black lives didn’t matter for two hundred or more years when blacks provided free labor that enriched not just southern plantation owners but also northern cotton merchants, bankers, ship-owners, and traders.’

“Black lives didn’t matter when the civil war ended, emancipated slaves had been promised forty acres and a mule, and the promise went unfulfilled. Black lives didn’t matter when the country turned its back on the lynchings carried out by the Ku Klux Klan.

“Black lives don’t matter when police feel threatened and shoot, not because they are bad people but because our society has taught us to fear black men.”

As the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates says, ‘There is nothing uniquely evil in these destroyers or even in this moment. The destroyers are merely men enforcing the whims of our country.’”

Forgive or Rage Against Violence?

I read an excellent long article in the New Yorker, sent by my friend and fellow member of TEAMWestport Maggie.

Judy is also a friend and TEAM member. After reading the article,she  said, “So are we supposed to forgive like the parishioners in Charleston or rage against the violence inflicted on our bodies like Ta-Nahisi Coates?  I can’t do both.  Can any of you?”

What do we do if we are white and want to confront racism? I hope my suggestions in my sermon will help.

What do you do if you are black and face it every day? Is it possible to forgive and at the same time rage against injustice? How do I answer Judy?

Airport Upgrades

Many of you have been to Nigeria or live in the country. What do you think about Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed Airport? And the way people meeting you have to struggle? I consider it a national disgrace. I think Buhari agrees with me!

I just read that Buhari wants to re-establish a national carrier and improve the airports.

I haven’t been to Abuja so know nothing about that airport. But over the years I’ve been to the airports in Jos, Enugu, Benin, Asaba, and Kaduna. I’ve stopped in Kano’s international airport several times but never actually had Kano as a destination by air.

Buhari says, “Our airports are the windows through which people see our country.” I hope he can succeed.