Leslye's Labyrinth

The sun rose and the sun set, but the plans for this cursed day were never to be realized. The hopes for this lifetime were eviscerated as a historic land was targeted. There were primordial screams from the depths of their humanity as they were kidnapped by Europeans or with the assistance of other Africans. The gut-wrenching cries were repeated across the land as families and communities were broken irreparably with each subsequent kidnapping. In the blink of an eye, they were considered as tools exclusively for the economic gain of others. It was inconceivable to imagine the depths of the depravity used to monetize their existence. Death was the only guaranteed escape from this racialized enslavement. Recognized no longer as humans but solely as chattel, they were forced to cross the threshold of a door of no return and thrown into the bowels of ships. Denied their name, language, faith, and culture, they were shackled and chained. Now, their lives were claimed by someone ...

Taboos shelter and comfort those threatened by perspectives different than their own. Sadly, to counter taboos with silence is to avoid an opportunity for dialogue that may bear fruit. While differences may not be resolved, dialogue provides for the planting of seeds that may, in time, foster internal growth and a greater depth of understanding. In 2020, I can think of no larger taboo than conversations on the construct of race in racially diverse settings. After centuries of not being free to speak our truth publicly, or of others not being free to have intellectual curiosity about the racial divide, there is much to gain by taking the risk. However, attention must be given first to provide a safe and sacred environment for words of lived experience to flow. As a Black woman, I know the risk is great. I understand not wanting to experience one more microagression or an even greater wounding. For people of the dominant group, there is the risk of changing a commonly held opinion or per...

"Don't get into trouble."  How many heard this phrase innumerable times as children?  I cannot speak for the dominant culture, but for African-Americans the words meant, "As you leave my sight, I bless you with this reminder because I love you dearly and want no harm to come to you in this world where people will judge you by the color of your skin." The words were spoken by elders who had witnessed countless unjust and unexplained atrocities against people for simply being Black.  They recognized a timeless pattern predating their birth and continuing until the present moment. Through their traumatic lived experience they knew well the lived experience of Jesus as a powerless person in an unjust and corrupt system. Like him, they too had witnessed innocent members of their family or community being crucified or lynched for affirming their humanity, embracing the marginalized, and questioning the status quo. The elders understood what Billie Holiday meant when s...

Young children practice interesting behaviors in a number of situations. One of the most common is expecting their words to bridge the chasm between reality and what they want reality to be. Often, even before being questioned, a young child will provide an answer to distance themselves from reality. "No, I didn't do it." "No, I wasn't playing with matches." "No, I didn't leave the door open." "No, I didn't break the cookie jar."  It is as though their words will function as a magic wand to resolve an undesirable situation. Hopefully, they soon learn from experience that personal desire does not empower words with magical powers, and the ability of parents and older siblings to reason prevents them from being as gullible as hoped.  Unfortunately, there are adults who never learned that denying a behavior does not make it true. They continue to believe that regardless of the context their declarative statements have the capacity to...

What fuels the hubris of racism  other than the people's refusal  to confront the intentional history of crafting the white supremacy lie?  The lies of the colonizers became the constructed sins of the nation  as they were crafted with the intention  of being an expanding yoke of injustice.   The yoke's intentional lies produce absurd but commonly accepted untruths  fostering actions, both committed and omitted, of reinforced oppression, privilege, and shame. Instead of aspiring for  justice,  the dominant group ignores calls for resolution and  dismissively bequeaths the unjust yoke to the intentions of tomorrow. The weight of yesteryear's enshrined sin is today's burden of lived experience until you give intention to the heavy lifting required to dismantle  the lies supporting the yoke.

I have always thought it racist and unpatriotic to celebrate the confederacy for any reason. Over the past decade, those who choose to do so allege it to be a celebration of their heritage, but not hate. The confederacy cannot be separated from the enslavement of Africans, my ancestors, and its continuing legacy in direct conflict with all that is holy. While my family tree includes a confederate general, even he said the battle flag should be put away and there should be no monuments after the war. Of course the confederacy did not establish the slave trade and chattel slavery, but it seceded from the nation and risked the lives of its men to protect it. The word "heritage" is such a complex one especially when you realize the absence of muted voices speaking of a history more expansive than that promoted by the dominant group. While millions of people share the heritage of being from my home state, Alabama, we embrace different and often conflicting perspectives on what tha...

Upon my birth, the State of Alabama identified me as "colored." In my lifetime, our label has moved from "colored" to "Negro" to "Black" to "African-American." These identifiers were initially used to ensure we would be reminded constantly that in the eyes of the law we were neither fully human nor full citizens. As a child, I remember the sense of pride in proclaiming "Black Power" and "I'm Black and I'm proud" as statements of resistance to the common narrative even if only at home with our parents. The Black Lives Matter movement is a proclamation of another truth long denied as we demand the undoing of white supremacy. My elders affirmed our inherent God-given dignity as they shared their lived experiences of blatant oppression as descendants of enslaved Africans. As a child, the kidnapping and enslavement of my  ancestors seemed parts of the distant past as did the Emancipation Proclamation. Most of my g...

The Catholic Church describes the liturgical celebration of the Mass as its greatest prayer. The Confiteor is the penitential rite that occurs within the context of the service after the celebrant processes into the sanctuary and offers a greeting of welcome. The words of penitence are offered together by the celebrant and the faithful. For those familiar with the practices of the Church, the Confiteor brings to mind the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which one confesses ones sin with the intention of abandoning the behavior. The clergy has the authority to then absolve the person through God's grace and mercy. Speaking the words of the Confiteor from the heart is an act of humility.  I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the...

It is exhausting to engage with uninformed and/or misinformed people on matters relating to the social construct of race as if the privilege they deny having provides them clear insight on bias.  They have been conditioned to not see the ulterior motives and intended outcomes of systems functioning as desired by the powers that be -- systems designed to ensure that those on the margins remain on the lowest rungs of the ladder.  Who are they and why do I seem to know so many of them? Did they descend from those who supported the racial violence, also know as white supremacy, of slave traders, slave holders, Klansmen, Concerned Citizens, Nazis, and the common racists? Yes, some are, but unfortunately some descend from good and decent people who were bridge builders.  Being a white person who is well-intentioned is not enough. Racial justice requires  members of the dominant group to assume the responsibility of doing their own work.  Having good friends who a...

It began with a lie -- a greed-inspired lie spoken more than 400 years ago and nurtured to thrive like kudzu. As a result of this intentional falsehood, my ancestors experienced ineffable horrors as their humanity was brutally denied for the creation of the wealth of others. That is a lot to process. It beckons to be repeated.  Because of a lie, the humanity of my African ancestors was brutally denied for the creation of the the wealth of others.  In the corrupt creation of this capital, laws, policies, and practices were designed intentionally to protect the expanding lies and the wealth by further denying that people were people.  It was an extreme case of profits over humanity. Four centuries later, the results of this contrived reality continue to bear fruit as evidenced in a seemingly endless list of contemporary disparities.  The arts possess a unique capacity to speak to reality and thereby shape our consciousness in unexpected ways. The commonplace becomes st...

Anger drains me -- emotionally and physically. It is an act of violence against myself and I try not to experience it intensely for this reason. The celebration or glorification of the culture of violence angers me especially when it is done by a person who has been given authority. A priest in my archdiocese posting a photo on social media of himself holding an automatic firearm, a weapon of war, while wearing his clerical collar angers me greatly. As a Black woman in a southern state, I am aware of the use of law and order rhetoric as a racist trope as is the priest's expressed intention of "protecting my people and property."  We also live in a period when stand your ground laws are used to justify murder. Sadly, I remember the murder of a child, Tamir Rice, who was killed because he was a Black boy playing with a toy gun.  There are many people who respect firearms and use them for hunting and sport. They understand and respect the deadly force at their fingertip. Gro...