Our first two Common Conversations about Christian Nationalism and Black Burdens lead us now to sit with the trauma created from this history. It is personal and has given us PTSD which we must confront. Our fragile mental health is struggling all the more with a pandemic, political polarization of our communities, images of abuse on black and brown bodies, and a general sense of hopelessness.
We received questions from Rev. Jessica Stokes (class of '13) Associate Director of Partners in Health and Wholeness, NC Council of Churches, Renisha Harris Lyon current MD/MA in Counseling student of the class of ‘22, Rev. Clare C. Johnson ('11) mental health therapist in private practice, Spartanburg, SC, Mary Beth Beck-Henderson ('21) family educator, Imprints Cares.
Note that the audio version is missing a few components from the video or transcript versions; however, all the conversation is included.
Common Conversations are conversations on common topics between experts in our community and members of the Wake Divinity faculty and staff moderated by Wake Divinity alumnus, students, and supporters. CC is sponsored by the Baptist Commons.
For our first Common Conversations series in the fall of 2020, we focus on three topics under the theme of “the weight of racism.”
As architects of equity, hope, and healing, we feel there is no more important place to begin than to talk about racism in America. The weight of this injustice is on us all. As our beloved Deacon Maya Angelou said, “It is impossible to struggle for civil rights, equal rights for blacks, without including whites. Because equal rights, fair play, justice, are all like the air: we all have it, or none of us has it.”
In our series, we’ll tackle
Don’t worry; you don’t need to be a Baptist to engage.
We hope, however, you’ll do more than watch. We hope you are inspired to start your own conversation after listening to ours. And that you, too, will continue the call for justice, compassion, and reconciliation.