land and water, only!

You may have heard the saying that there are two kinds of people in the world—

those who divide people into two kinds,

 and those who don’t...

We love categorizing things, especially into opposites: land and sea, sun and moon, day and night, light and dark, male and female. And it's easy to read a passage in the Bible and assume that this is how things are. For example, that when God made humankind and it says, "male and female he created them", that this is all there is. There are men and there are women.

Let's step back and take a look at some earlier verses in Genesis 1:

 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-10 NIV)

God took one thing (the water under the sky) and divided it into two things. Land. Seas. That's all there is.

But that's not all there is. Land meets sea and sea meets land, and where they do, there are things like marshes, which are not land and not sea. Oh, oh. They are in between, sort of land and sort of water. They don't fit the creation story. Are they bad? Evil? The result of the fall? Or a natural part of God's creation? And what about swamps and bogs?

marshes and transgender folx

 

This cartoon will make more sense to you if you read my other post.

I want to focus on one key part of what God says above: "... that people would take everything so literally and unkindly..." 

Why do we take things so literally and unkindly? Why do we default to suspicion over grace, to being right over relationship, to not giving the benefit of the doubt?

Isn't this the opposite of grace, the opposite of Jesus?

strategically inclusive leadership #3: the table I long for....

[core topic]

This is part of an ongoing series 
on strategically inclusive leadership. 
Read the introduction here.

You may be familiar with some sayings about "if they don't give you a seat at the table… then _______”. For example: “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring your own chair.” or “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, build your own table."

In the context of such sayings, “table” is usually the conference table, the executive decision-making table. 

I'd like to share a quote with you from Jeff Chu. Jeff is Chinese American, a journalist and author of Does Jesus Really Love Me? A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America. Here’s what he said:

"The Table I long for...

is one where all are not just welcome

but desperately & fiercely wanted."

Isn’t that amazing? Wouldn’t that be the table to beat all tables?

reflect

Before we look at this in the context of strategically inclusive leadership, let's take a moment to reflect by ourselves. We won’t be asking anyone to share, or to draw pictures of what you thought about, or any of that. Let’s just close our eyes, slow down our breathing, and reflect: are there or have there been times and places where I am desperately and fiercely wanted? 

(Pause again to let people reflect)

That’s the personal backdrop… 

While Jeff  said this in the context of the communion table in his faith tradition, you as the leadership of a community organization or ERG could explore what this might look like by thinking of "the table" as your organization or ERG. 

[Happy International Women's Day!]

 

Celebrating International Women's Day and all women, transgender and cisgender -  recognizing also that there are some who present as women and have similar experiences to women but are non-binary.

Picture is of a Hershey chocolate bar with packaging specifically for this month: "Her for She". Featuring Fae Johnstone of Wisdom 2 Action. Art by @gosiakomorski 

Picture is of a Hershey chocolate bar with packaging specifically for this month: "Her for She". Featuring Autumn Peltier. Art by @gosiakomorski 

sil #2: Indigenizing the academy (part 2: exercises)

[core topic]

This is part of an ongoing series 
on strategically inclusive leadership. 
Read the introduction here.

The purpose of this exercise is to explore the ideas presented in part 1 of Indigenization of the Academy in the context of your organization. The exercise presumes a larger organization at which you are part of a smaller part. For example, the following types of situations:

• A company or institution where you are involved in an Employee Resource Group
• A religious institution or faith community where you provide leadership in one particular location or sub-community
• A municipality where you are involved in a community association or cultural organization

getting practical with your team

part 1 - what the broader level is currently doing 

Draw the following chart on a whiteboard or large chart.

	Things our company / institution / organization /government currently does that matches each of the three categories:
Denial, status quo, continuing, etc.
Helping minoritized and racialized employees succeed in existing structure
Transforming the organization and building a new one together
Other thoughts and ideas

As a group, use sticky notes or just write down what your larger organization -- the company, government, etc. for which you work, is doing that matches each of the three categories on the left.. Additional thoughts which do not fit the three main categories can be put in the lower row.