THE CROSSROADS

THE CROSSROADS

            I was in Baltimore earlier this month, helping the Open Door Community move from Atlanta to Baltimore, and one of the great benefits of that effort for me was that I got to stay with our daughter Susan, who lives there.  The new immersive play by Submersive Productions, that she is co-directing, is called “HT Darling’s Incredible Musaeum” and will open the first weekend in April, and Caroline and I will  be back up to see it (and Susan!).  Check it out and go see it!

            Now, with that commercial out of the way, I want to note that while I was visiting with Susan earlier, I read the February/March issue of her Bust Magazine, a very intriguing read!  In it was an interview with bell hooks, one of the deans of the intersection between gender, race and class. (Thanks to Anna Smith for introducing me to Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, who is credited with the term “intersectionality.”)  bell hooks currently directs the bell hooks Institute at Berea College in Kentucky. The interviewer for Bust Magazine, Lux Alptraum, was asking her about the defeat of Hilary Clinton by the ultimate white man, Donald Trump, and hooks made a strong case that it was gender that brought about Clinton’s defeat.  She also added that misogyny is a greater enemy for black women than race.  Here are some of her words from that interview:

            “It’s funny because one of my best women’s studies colleagues here at Berea would always be frustrated with me because I would tell her that I felt very strongly that sexism and misogyny actually posed a greater threat to black women and all women than racism. She just thought, ‘Well, that’s ridiculous.’ She’s black. The night of the election she called me and was like, “You’ve been right all along.” The sexism is so deeply, deeply embedded. If you think about public discourses on race in this past year, where are the big public discourses on feminism? They don’t exist.”

This is a very powerful interview, so please go read the rest of it in Bust Magazine.

            I’m reminded of the intersection between race and gender (and other powers) and how difficult the conversations often are between many of us of different categories, who seek justice and equity.  One of the most explosive forums for discussion that we ever had in my time at Oakhurst Presbyterian was over the intersection between gender, race and sexual orientation.  Was oppression of women worse than the oppression of African-American people?  Why couldn’t white women and black women talk about these issues?  Was the oppression of LGBT people equal to the oppression of African-American people?  There were so many sparks and hostilities flying around, that I felt like I must be back at that legendary crossroads in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Robert Johnson supposedly made his deal to sell his soul to the devil in order to be able to play the blues guitar so well.  While there was heat on that day, there was also light, as many people began to see the difficulties of this crossroads but also the very necessity of going to the crossroads and seeking to find our way.

            Those conversations at the crossroads are even more essential now. As the powers and principalities regain their strength, seeking to re-establish for all to see, that white men are meant to rule the world, we must strengthen our efforts on our own journeys and on our journeys together.  Our white, male history as users and abusers of power is a terrible one, but here it is:  53% of white women voted for Donald Trump for president.  I am not blaming white women, but I am noting the deep-seated belief in all of us that white men are meant to rule the world, and that we all have a lot of work to do.  We must be on our own journeys at times, as we work on our syndromes, but in order for us to find some measure of justice and equity, we must go to the crossroads sometimes and engage one another.   I am grateful for those pioneers and leaders who are showing us the way.