Home
in the inner city
or
like we call it
home
we think a lot about uptown
and the silent nights
and the houses straight as
dead men
and the pastel lights
and we hang on to our no place
happy to be alive
and in the inner city
or
like we call it
home
a poem by the late Lucille Clifton
I found myself turning to this poem after two conversations this week. In both of these conversations I found myself frustrated and I was talking with a friend today about it and I thought of this poem. By the way Lucille Clifton's poetry rocks - at least all that I've seen. This is the first poem in a collection entitled "good woman: poems and a memoir 1969-1980."
The first conversation was with a person I don't know very well. She and I serve on a committee together that meets every few months. But that is mostly work - and we don't have much chance to visit. This week it wasn't a meeting, it was a social event. The person I was talking with began to tell me about the good work that she was a part of at a community center on the southside of Indianapolis. I listened with interest.
At one point she was talking about how this community center did a great job of "breaking the cycle of poverty." And then in the very next breath she talked about it as a great place because people were coming there in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations. If the cycle was being broken, I wondered out loud, then how was it that generations still need to be making use of the community center. She seemed flummoxed by the question.
She talked about the parents who are "all in jail." I said that I found that hard to believe. She talked about drug addiction and other issues - but mainly she focused her discussion on how the community center she was involved in was changing the values that the young people who come there grow up with from their home life. I was appalled at both the naivete and the bigotry of this statement.
I dare say that this woman does not know any of the parents of the young people of that community center. Let me say that I don't know them either. But I know that people say the same thing about parents in my neighborhood - and that these things are not true about the parents I know. What do you think it does to young people who attend these community centers and hear good, well meaning people like my conversation partner talk about their parents in this way? What does that make the young people think about themselves?
Yes, there are parents who are lousy. But I've not seen that income level makes much difference in that. And the values of those in the inner city that I know are not discernibly different than the values of people in the culture at large.
Later this week I was with a gathering of clergy and one of them asked me about the sports program at Tabernacle Presbyterian. It is a well known and well established program. The person commented that this sports program had made a difference in people's lives (which, by the way, I'm sure it has). But when I pressed him about what he meant - he talked about how it was reversing negative trends in the neighborhood. I talked with him about that - because Tab has been doing that program for over 40 years - about the same length of time Broadway has been running a summer program - and other churches in our neighborhood as well. And yet things continue to be (as one neighbor put it recently) "as bad as they are."
When I think of all the money invested in these efforts to "make things better" - I'm sure we would be counting in the millions of dollars by now. And there is very little to show for it. It has, I'm certain, helped a few people beat the odds - but it is a long way from helping change the odds for everyone. And that really is what the people of our congregations around here (and at community centers) would say we are trying to do.
In the clergy discussion the people around the table quickly agreed. But then the conversation then again turned to how lousy the parents are and that this is where we really need to focus our work. In some ways I think they are right - that's where we need to focus our work - but not because the parents are lousy - but because the parents need what we all need - people who will believe in us and love us and see the great gifts that we have. And they need institutions that will not put them down, but will function as investors in the life of the Spirit in their lives; shining a light on the wonder that is who they are.
We need folks who will see our communities not as places that need to be fixed (overwhelmingly by people who have problems of their own that they are often running away from) - but as places that are full to overflowing with grace and love and Spirit and hope and mercy. As places that are, in fact, built on very sound values. The values of David and Delores and Jewel and Dorothea and Nora and Arthur and Yusuf - just to name a few of the good folks who live less than a block from Broadway. I can tell you that these folks are not perfect, but have as finely rooted values as all the other non-perfect people I know, including myself.
And so, Lucille Clifton's poem, to me shines a light on a place of beauty. Often un-recognized. But beautiful. Truly.
posted by Mike Mather at 8:23 PM
9 Comments:
Mike, I totally understand the frustration you express here, but I think you go too far when you say "there is very little to show for [our efforts]". I don't even think you really believe that statement.
Of course we are all disappointed that the kingdom of heaven isn't fully established on Earth yet, but it is important to acknowledge the miracles happening every day in our communities. Every soul that we help beat the odds is celebrated in heaven, and we should (I know you do) celebrate it on Earth. Every soul that we help beat the odds improves the odds for everyone.
Don't despair that progress is slow. Instead, lets work harder!
Scott, I appreciate you writing about this because it gives me a chance to clarify something that many people are uncomfortable with and that I am continuing to learn about how to explain. Also, it gives me a chance to think out loud theologically. So, here goes...
First - let me clarify what I mean by "there is very little to show for [our efforts]" What I mean by that - is that we have very little to show for our efforts - considering why we said we were doing them. When I asked some folks here at Broadway why we had been doing the summer program here for around 40 years - they replied that we were doing it for two main reasons: 1)to help young people educationally; and, 2) to provide a safe place.
First of all - educationally, the graduation rate in our neighborhood has gotten worse over the decades of our programs. Does that mean what we did was bad? No, but it does mean that we weren't doing what we thought we were doing or what we were trying to do.
Second, if the goal was to provide a safe place why did we do it only in the safest hours of the day - 9 to 5. Again, did we do a bad or harmful thing? No. But we didn't do what we were trying to do.
And I was at the center of a lot of the changes made in the program -- both in the 1980's and into the 1990's and since my return in 2003. I don't say these things to beat myself up - but simply to try to recognize when we are not accomplishing what we say we are trying to accomplish. I imagine things work this way, a little bit, around your work (though I don't know a lot about it). So I hope that helps clarify. I'll post this and then add another post for my theological reflections.
While I am "disappointed that the kingdom of heaven isn't fully established on earth yet," I think it is a lot more established than we (the Church and most others) fail to recognize. I think that when Jesus says in Matthew 11 to "go tell John that the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor hear good news..." that continues to be true today as it was then. And our neighborhood and our neighbors are treated all the time as if there is not good news here and now in their lives and in their presence. Instead they are treated as problems to be fixed - rather than as people of Good News and people filled with the Spirit of God - and yes, people who don't have a lot of money (but that is one of the least interesting things about the folks around here).
For me - I wonder if the issue is "work harder" or is it "Play harder." By that - to your point - maybe we need to celebrate more - the good news that is right here in our very midst in our presence. I truly do believe that God has changed the odds for everyone - and I think it is the role and calling of the church to shed light on that truth. But when we try to fix people rather than love, celebrate, pray with and encourage people - well then - we don't accomplish our work (because we are trying to do God's work which has already been accomplished). I hope that makes sense. And I wonder what you make of it. Thanks for the conversation, Scott.
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Harry had the answer Mike - create your own Toolbar! Not only can you get funds to invest in more programs, you can get an Eternal following..."retain them forever." Ain't technology something...I can twit and blog for eternity!
Joking aside...good challenges to think about. I like the clarification on "what do we have to show?" In part what I hear you saying is not that our efforts are in vain...but our claims of how successful we are aren't supported by even our own defined goals or measures. I don't think you're saying throw it all way...but maybe consider how we measure success.
Setting that aside, I think the more valuable insight I've gained from this and other conversations we've had is the "one up/one down" we create sometimes in our language. We create a sense of "we know better..." and make gross assumptions about people's intentions or motives. But fundamentally, we all have the same basic needs...love, appreciation, contribution to the enrichment of life, self-worth, meaning, understanding. The challenge I hear you laying out is how can our conversations and efforts focus on that shared space, rather than putting others down, judging their character or seeing them as "less than" just because we know little to nothing about them...really. In our ignorance (and laziness...not taking the time to engage, to listen, to commune), we make assumptions. And we all know where that leads...
Tod,
Thanks - the way you have articulated this has really given me something to think about. I like the way you've said that - and I appreciate you staying in conversation with me about things. Last night I had a long conversation with a friend from Africa who is teaching "mission" at a United Methodist seminary. He talked about these same issues - both in terms of the global church - but also in terms of the everyday lives of people around the globe. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Keep them coming. And by the way - meet Scott -- I bet y'all would enjoy talking with each other - perhaps that will happen one day.
I think we are reminded of this from time to time when we get pulled up short in our relationships or work. When someone says they are coming to "fix us".
We've had folks with strong opinions about what our office do offer to come in and fix us or rescue our students. When this has been our vocation and we take on the hopes and dreams of our kids as holy things.
As we interviewed folks for our office, it gave us a rare opportunity to reflect on something so important to us. The things you talk about are so important. We listen to our students. We lift up their gifts to them and the schools to which they apply. If they have problems we go over where they need to be to accomplish their goals and see if they can put together a plan for getting there that works for them. It all involves listening and I feel blessed to work in a place where I can openly see my students as beloved children of God (I would anyway, it's just nice we can talk about it). We listen to their stories, ask instead of tell and refrain from judging.
I think about my own family sometimes when I read blogs like this or hear students start to talk about folks from the inner city or Appalachia. If you boiled us down to the few "facts" that are often presented about families with little money we'd not look so promising. My mother married at 17 and had me at 19 and did not graduate high school (until I graduated college). When I was born we lived in a one room house built from Crane ammunition crates and limited plumbing. No one on either side of the family had gone to college. My dad and the GI Bill changed that trajectory after a stint in the Navy. It was my mother's dedication to education that affected us deeply. We were read to every day. We played school and new initial math and phonics skills before starting kindergarten. She read Bible stories each night even though we did not belong to a church until I was 13. She assisted at Head Start when we all started school. She read the entire list of Great Books, checking them out of the library. She loved Crime and Punishment and War and Peace (I have a PhD and never completed War and Peace despite several false starts). Instead of being lifted up for her dedication, people felt uncomfortable and pitied her for not having a degree. This made her angry and me angry. She raised four children with college degrees, one with a doctorate (two working on Master's).
Every time someone talks about at risk parents I think about how they would have viewed us. Listen instead of telling, ask don't judge.
I like you writing about how you treat the students you see at Notre Dame. If we just asked people to do the same for the people they meet when they offer to "help" someone -- it would, i believe, be a big help. And I believe that this belief (which leads to the action you talked about) is what leads to real mutual help and mutual delight (which is something I believe God created us for...)
Thank you.
Very nice blog. Keep writing! - Todd
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