What is one story from your family lineage that impacts how you think about repair for future generations? I rummaged through my stock of family stories to find something fitting this prompt.  I climbed through my dad’s family tree, testing several thin branches, then shinnied into my mom’s where some colorful characters perched, before returning to the first tree and remembering that my dad’s sister Virginia worked in an insurance agency where Theodore S. Geisel was a client.   Yes, my aunt knew Dr. Seuss – maybe when he was writing favorites that unfortunately carried racist illustrations.  (Reports suggest he later acknowledged his error.) I was relieved that “Bartholomew and the Ooblek” isn’t (yet) implicated, although, yes, the character illustrations are entirely “white.”  And the Royal Magicians in Mount Neeka-tave are certainly caricatures of some sort. Dr. Seuss books were perennially popular, and I didn’t know racism (or any “ism”) when

Imagine that you are black and living in a small, tight-knit neighborhood near an old coal mine where about 4 or 5 families have inhabited a group of 25-30 houses for the better part of the last 75 years. Imagine that the city surrounding you was growing and expanding its municipal services. For the last 50 of those 75 years, clean running water has been extended to all of the neighbors surrounding you. While you asked – BEGGED – to be hooked into the new lines, you were denied. Meanwhile, the more expensive, more white, developments get annexed into the city with water lines are run to their door…just out of your reach. Imagine having well water that is so contaminated from the old coal mine that it’s not safe to ingest. Imagine loading your pick up with empty milk jugs from your neighbors and friends every time you went

There’s quite a bit coming out now regarding the one year mark of the pandemic.  This week marks one year since we’ve worshiped together in person on a Sunday morning – or, as our daughter Lily is now calling face-face interactions – “non-virtual.”  Interesting how the reference point for normal can shift… Going from non-virtual to virtual church has been one big experiment.  It’s been wonderful to see how worship and meaningful connections can take place from our homes, not to mention an added efficiency with no-commute meetings.  It’s been a time for tech savvy folks to shine and carry us along.  And experimentation has gone beyond just adapting to Zoom.  Our sanctuary experience has been a holy experiment in what it means to be in solidarity with one family facing deportation.  This has drawn us deeper into our core commitments, and extended us broader in the community.    We

I am a watcher: a stand-at-the-side onlooker. Definitely NOT a do-er. All my life I have been more comfortable being a wallflower—someone who is out of the spotlight. Ever since our church started focusing on racial justice issues, I have felt more compelled to start doing SOMETHING. So besides being the Mission Coordinator at CMC, I am the chair of the Reparation Group. I am out of my comfort zone. The need for white people to experience being uncomfortable, as it relates to issues of race, is one of the messages I’ve received in readings and discussions about racial inequality. I, we, have the privilege of ignoring the disparities, because we are doing just fine. But it is time we dig deeper into the problems. As Richard Rohr wrote in his book, Falling Upward, “The shape of evil is much more superficiality and blindness than the usual listed ‘hot sins’.

About a week ago an article from the National Association of REALTORS® hit my inbox and caught my attention. The title of the article was, “NAR Study Underscores Commitment to Racial Equality” and pulled heavily from a report that the National Association of REALTORS® published. The report, “Snapshot of Race & Home Buying in America,” underscores my assertion from my last Connector piece that my industry needs to be better. The 2020 numbers are not in yet. Statistics cited herein are for the year 2019. The Basics – homeownership rates by race: White American 69.8%, Asian American 60.7%, Hispanic American 48.1%, and Black 42%. In Ohio, it is 72% for whites and 33% for blacks. If homeownership is the symbol of “The American Dream,” how attainable is that dream for POC when the average net worth of a white family is $188,200, nearly EIGHT TIMES that of the average black