White Fragility Is Real My Friends

Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on 25 July 2019 11 Comments

This was a very challenging article to write and I am going to be super vulnerable with you all, so bear with me … and I invite you to join me in a brave conversation.

I recently heard this quote on the radio: “There’s only one thing more powerful than white fear and that’s white guilt.” That statement left me questioning for days. “Could that be true,” I wondered? What does my white fear look like? What does my white guilt look like?

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Question

What is sacred text to you?

Answer

Dear Reader,

Sacred text is commonly referred to as religious texts (such as scripture). They are the texts that religious traditions consider central to their practice or beliefs. Because I identify as a [Hip Hop] Womanist, I have sacred text that has not been historically acknowledged as “Sacred Text;” but it is my work to talk about the ethics of excluding these texts from a conversation on what is sacred, holy, worthy, or right.

Womanist Theology was formed in response to the Black Liberation Theology that asked, “Where do black folk find themselves in the Bible.” Womanist Theologians asked, “Most specifically, where do black women find themselves in the Bible.” As a result of not being able to center ourselves as whole, free people, Dr. Katie G. Cannon suggested that we have to look elsewhere to find what is sacred and what will guide us. This is how books like Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Black Feeling Black Talk by Nikki Giovanni, For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Was Enough by Ntozake Shange, and In Search of Satisfaction by J. California Cooper became sacred texts for Womanist Theologians – using the language of these black authors to find God in ourselves and love Her fiercely.

My need to emphasize the “Hip Hop” in relationship to my “Womanism” also demands that I see Hip Hop lyrics as sacred text. I quote Jay Z and Busta Rhymes as much as, if not more than, I quote Paul or John - because I listen to rap music, and I am able to find the wisdom in the words in more obvious ways, sometimes, than I can in the scriptures. These lyrics become sacred text for me because they have been written and spoken in coded language that my spirit responds to, and rejecting that would be a rejection of a portion of myself.

Thank you for your question.

~ EbonyJanice Moore

 

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11 thoughts on “White Fragility Is Real My Friends

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