I was wondering if you might be available to write a Bible study for Black History Month?

‘There’s no way I can do this’ was my first thought. Me, a white guy, from England?

What do I know about Black History? I ought to be taking a course, not writing a resource. And even if I did, this is the sort of thing that I hear bitter jokes about – a white person posing as an expert on another culture. I don’t want those jokes being made about me!

At best, I would be exposing myself to criticism for accepting the assignment; looking for cookies and kudos for being a ‘good ally’ while taking up space intended for Black people. At worst, I might make mistakes, misrepresenting or obscuring the Black realities that the month is meant to explore.

‘Why would they ask me?’ I wondered. I had to consider it seriously, laying aside my fears and re-reading this request from people I trusted.

…we wanted to include resources this year written from the perspective of being an ally…

The first thing I know about trying to be an ally is that I need to be willing to show up when asked. That can be hard, because I like to get things right first time, and I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake. But if I’m not going to show up when I am asked, my solidarity is abstract and absent. In this case, asked to write from my ‘ally perspective’, my own discomfort was no excuse.

…since you are part of the working group on the UN International Decade for People of African Descent, and since you already have some good experience with anti-racism work…

In studying the United Nations Decade for People of African Descent, I’ve read of the generations-deep roots of Black communities in Canada, which are nevertheless perceived as newcomer or transient compared to the white majority. Portraying people of African descent as ‘without history’ is an old dehumanization tactic of imperialism and the slave trade, and explains the significance of Black History Month.

Today, anti-Black racism and Afrophobia in North America are everywhere and nowhere at the same time. There is no legal or ethical justification for racism, and yet oppression and dismissal of Black bodies, psyches and communities continues, in fields as diverse as housing, healthcare, policing, and sports.

What can I meaningfully offer? My own experience of learning, of recognizing the implicit racism in the societies (and the church) that I call home, and committing to change.

Saul was a man who followed the rules of his society – to a fault. He approved of the violence meted out on the scattered members of the bizarre sect. Then, in a blaze of light outside of Damascus he was transformed into Paul, Persecutor-No-More, a leader in the church and a champion of Christ!

Except it’s never that simple. Our personal experiences of transformation may have moments that feel like a Damascus conversion, but there is always a deeper reality, a history, proceeding without our awareness. Acts 9 draws back the curtain somewhat to show us the courage and care of Ananias in reaching out to the stricken Saul. The Bible Study invites us to consider what it was like for Ananias, and acknowledge the patient work of those who experience oppression, and still hold the door open.

In my life, the truth-telling of Indigenous people first opened my eyes to the ways colonialism has shaped my national history and culture. It was the challenge of Jewish people that helped me see the antisemitism in parts of my faith tradition. It has only been through the patient work and witness of people of African descent that I have been able to see the ways that racism has benefitted me, and the ways that I am complicit.

With each lesson I have been urged to continue on, to understand more how racism persists and perpetuates, and pass this challenge and knowledge on to others, working with them to dismantle systems of oppression. I understand this to be part of the work of God’s people on earth. So, I aim to show up.

Resources:

• You can see the United Church resources for Black History Month here
• A direct link to the Bible Study is here
• Follow the SCM Canada Facebook Page for more links and discussion of Black History Month here

Peter Haresnape is a white, cis man from the United Kingdom, and a permanent resident (Settler) in Canada. His work with the Indigenous Solidarity project of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) brought him to Turtle Island in 2010. CPT operates at the invitation of communities who welcome accompaniment in their nonviolent struggles against injustice, violence, and fear. CPT’s work in Turtle Island largely focuses on supporting Indigenous Nations taking nonviolent direct action to assert their rights to land, livelihood, and liberty.

Peter is a member of Toronto United Mennonite Church, and since 2016 has worked with the Student Christian Movement of Canada.

Food for Thought – Transfigurations

Written and performed by Peterson Toscano, director Samuel Neff, March 2017. Screening at Bloor St United, February 13, 2018.

Pancakes, scripture and conversations were all to be enjoyed with the SCM on Pancake Day, 2018. After a shared meal with Bloor St United Church, SCMers gathered for the screening and discussion of ‘Transfigurations’ by scholar-actor-activist Peterson Toscano. The one-person play looks at a variety of characters in the Bible that appear to transgress gender roles and provides plenty of food for thought.

Toscano has toured extensively with this play and others, including in Toronto some years ago, hosted by the local SCM groups. His play Transfigurations was retired recently and committed to film, with the DVD available from the Quaker publisher Barclay Press.

It makes an excellent film for discussion, with multiple sections depicting different Biblical figures, some significantly expanded and detailed, presented to emphasise the ways they do not conform to the gender norms of their society, or the gender roles projected onto their society by Biblical interpreters.

The lecture version of the performance also includes Toscano’s commentary and insights into each story as well as some additional accounts of characters in scripture that are not expanded into full scenes. This gives a sense of the scholarship behind the interpretation, as well as an insight into Toscano’s own perspective and inspirations.

Our discussion group was made up of sixteen participants, predominantly young adults from two SCM groups and members of local congregations. We were joined by a few people from Bloor Street United Church, who had graciously agreed to host our screening, reviving a long-standing partnership. Several of those who were at the Pancake Dinner decided to stay for the screening after hearing about it.

After viewing the film, we entered a time of open discussion. Initially, conversation centered around the new and surprising interpretations of often familiar stories, with one participant commenting humorously ‘It was all new to me – well, I’m in the church, so I don’t know the Bible at all’. Certainly, the performance made some of the familiar stories almost new, like Joseph in Genesis, and Desta, the name Toscano used for the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8.

The opening performance was the story of Deborah, the judge and warrior. Toscano represented Deborah as someone who was neither man nor woman, but a powerful individual who mediated between. Our discussion explored the possibility that this interpretation eroded some of the feminist power of Deborah’s story as a women who resisted patriarchy.

Likewise, the exploration of the world of the eunuchs and court officials scheming behind the scenes in the story of Esther potentially detract from the courage and resoursefulness of Esther herself. Our reactions helped underline how few are the positive stories of women in the Bible, and how this sparse representation has required feminist theologians to be both bold and imaginative in their interpretations. Hopefully, Toscano’s own work will not overwrite or oppose feminist readings of scripture, but uphold and support.

The group discussed how ‘Transfigurations’ functions as one translation among many, recognising that although 21st Century conceptions of gender can’t be uncritically projected onto the past, these types of reading must be available to those seeking to take the Bible seriously. Toscano often comments that he does not know the full meaning of each instance of gender-variant behaviour or presence, and we appreciated this capacity to avoid ‘absolutes’.

Understanding Toscano’s presentation as one translation among many also welcomes the possibility of other voices, especially those of non-Western cultural perspectives. We discussed how the strict definition of both gender and sexuality is a function of imperialism and colonialism, and that decolonising scripture is another way to make space for variant readings.

The evening was a very informative experience, and we hope that our experience will encourage others to hold screenings. The DVD can be ordered online from Barclay Press (click here)

When the study guide is available it will be posted on the SCM website.

Some more great opportunities to do good work with good people – and get paid for it!

In addition, keep an eye out for the Canada Summer Jobs ads that will be coming out in the next few months – if you see one that SCMers would be great for, get in touch! We’d love to promote it.

• Blue Communities Coordinator

Part time – working for the Sisters of St Joseph, working towards making water a human right!

Read the Job posting: Blue Communities Coordinator

• United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel

Part time – Administrative Assistant – 10 hours per month (average), $20 per hour.
Read Job Description: 2018 02 Job description admin assistant

• Geez Magazine, the awesome Winnipeg-based magazine exploring contemplative cultural resistance is hiring for three positions.

Geez is an important contributor of thoughtful conversations about the roles of faith in society, challenge to Christian complicity or triumphalism, and a collector of wisdom and folly from the frontlines of contemplative cultural resistance.

Geez has a flat pay scale for all workers, and a board that makes decisions by consensus. Read more details on each of the positions here:

Designer (5 hrs)

Social Media Coordinator (5 hrs)

Managing Editor (19 hrs)

We’re loving Black History Month as a way to tackle ignorance and encourage attention to the amazing stories of people of African descent.

This year, SCM General Secretary Peter Haresnape was asked to prepare a Black History Month resource for allies, which can be downloaded from the United Church website using this link: The Conversion of Saul

We also recommend the other resources available, including liturgies and service outlines for worship, and resources for picking songs and prayers:
Black History Month United Church Resources

Keep following the SCM Facebook Page where we’ll be posting using the hashtag #BlackHistoryMonth

Geez Magazine, the awesome Winnipeg-based magazine exploring contemplative cultural resistance is hiring for three positions in the next month.

Geez is an important contributor of thoughtful conversations about the roles of faith in society, challenge to Christian complicity or triumphalism, and a collector of wisdom and folly from the frontlines of contemplative cultural resistance.

Geez has a flat pay scale for all workers, and a board that makes decisions by consensus. Read more details on each of the positions here:

Designer (5 hrs)

Social Media Coordinator (5 hrs)

Managing Editor (19 hrs)

The right to live without harassment- Short Hills 2017

by Manchari Paranthahan, SCM Brock

Every year, a 6-day deer harvest at the Short Hills Provincial Park honours Haudenosaunee Treaty and Land rights. The Haudenosaunee people have exercised their legal right to hunt, but several members of local animal rights groups have actively protested against the hunt in violent ways, from barricading entrances to the park to carrying signs with white supremacist and racist messages on them to oppose the hunt. These anti-hunt protesters have been able to organize a vehicle stall with the Ontario Provincial Police and the Niagara Regional Police Department to create an additional obstacle to the access to the park. Unfortunately, the anti-hunt protesters continuously seem to find new ways to ignorantly perform microaggressions against a vulnerable community in the Niagara region. Since 2013 the Short Hills has hosted the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt Reconciliation events and activities in response.

The first Short Hills activity I attended this year was the ‘Sweet Blood’ documentary screening held at Brock University. This documentary focused on the high number of Cree community members who suffer from diabetes as a result of a colonized diet. The documentary emphasizes the importance of Indigenous people needing to eat and gather food in traditional ways not only to upkeep tradition but also for their health. During this screening I was told by one of the organizers of the hunt that the documentary left out testimonies from a few Cree men who had mentioned that returning to their old ways of hunting and eating actually cured them of their diabetes. They were left out because of funding through a government grant that didn’t want these testimonies in the final product, to prevent controversies with pharmaceutical companies creating medical treatments for people who have diabetes. “It’s like another form of colonization,” said the organizer, describing both the ways that a colonial diet has affected the health of Cree people and how they were being policed through what information made the final cut of the documentary.

Trailer of SWEET BLOOD – The Cree Living Well With Diabetes from Whirlygig Productions on Vimeo.

The Niagara Anti-Racism Coalition also did a workshop for supporters of the hunt on challenging white supremacy in the Niagara Region. The workshop involved having members of the community share their stories and experiences with white supremacy in the region. These stories were then printed out and brought to the harvest. The supporters at the harvest were asked to read out one of the experiences or share their own and then take a rock from a bowl that was placed next to the fire. This was to represent how every time an act of greed or fear caused by white supremacy impacts any one of us, we take away from the bettering of society and the love we have to give to each other. This simple act emphasized how we are all affected negatively by oppression and silencing.

After we all went around the circle, we were asked to then share a way that we can help change and challenge white supremacist actions and then put the rock we took back in the bowl. This was to represent the ways we can all contribute to a better society and community. This workshop was a powerful one as I got to see how different members of the same community that identified in different ways were able to put aside the things that made us different and instead focus on how we can all help each other. It was a creative way of acknowledging the responsibility we have in creating a better society whether we are the oppressor or the oppressed – a crucial point to acknowledge in contemporary social justice politics. This workshop allowed space for everyone and allowed them to say what they believed to be true in regards to the Short Hills hunt as well as white supremacy in general, making for a safe and brave space.

This was my second year at the counter protest and I have seen firsthand the dedication and hard work that goes into organizing the reconciliation activities. The organizers and supporters of the hunt do everything possible to get as many voices heard and represented during the reconciliation activities. This year, a representative from the Brock Students for Animal Liberation was able to talk about white privilege, animal rights and how that affects their stance on the issue and why they still support the hunt. The two-fold understanding of the issue, something that strips a community of their traditional practice and is also responded to with violently racist language, is something that seems to be happening more and more within the community.

Throughout all of this I found the workshop done by the Christian Peacemaker Teams about de-escalation tactics to be extremely helpful in dealing with the complexities. I was able to go to three of the harvest days and witnessed the multiple ways the protesters would oppose the hunt. Through barricading the entrances, to drowning out the music of the drummers, to overpowering the supporters with their shouts and by flashing lights and taking pictures of the hunters, it is clear how much of this issue has stemmed from systemic racism. The freedom with which the anti-hunt protesters can express violent messages, create an environment with additional obstacles and stay firm in their problematic beliefs can only be a result of socially ingrained racism against Indigenous communities.

During the workshop on de-escalation, we talked about how humour and distraction can be key strategies to prevent derailing. As a student activist, this information was useful because of the way student activism gets criticized for being inaccessible because of the elite nature of institutions. In my experience, more often than not student activism gets met with ignorance or intentional derailing tactics. Learning the different ways that we can acknowledge our own triggers and then use humour and distraction as a way of combating negative behaviour emphasized the importance of doing this work in institutions as well as doing on-the-ground frontline activism work – there will always be resistance no matter how it’s done, but it will always be worth it.

Throughout this conversation we also ended up talking a lot about intersectionality; the ways our different identities intersect with one another and how they affect experiences of privilege and oppression. It is important to see how this issue is intersectional , as the Haudenosaunee community ends up dealing with a lot of racist oppression as well as oppression through their cultural practices, something that the animal rights activists on the other side of the Short Hills entrance seem to glaze over. The intersectional nature of the protests, the “animal rights vs. treaty rights” conversation, also creates a tense atmosphere. Intersectionality is a tricky thing, one that can pit activists against each other.

In contemporary society, when we talk feminism we have to acknowledge the micropolitics that have often been overlooked throughout history. When we fail to recognize the communities that we have missed so far in mainstream feminism movements, we are contributing to harmful structures that white supremacists have put in place. As Audre Lorde puts it, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Intersectionality here, and in most social issues is something that is often discussed but rarely put into practice when it comes to our activism – why is that?

The Short Hills accompaniments have always stressed the importance of education, love and acceptance in our teachings. Everyday at the harvest I found myself asking why anti-hunt animal rights activists were pushing so hard to keep the Haudenasaunee hunters out of the park when some of the hunt’s supporters are vegan animal rights activists themselves. Wasn’t the damage that has been done to Indigenous peoples throughout history already clear? Doesn’t it make sense to take a minute to hear the other side? Why are microaggressions still being overlooked and not viewed as just as harmful and damaging as blatantly forms of racism? These questions still remain and have provided a realization that these issues aren’t getting worse or resurfacing – it is just our turn dealing with them.

The closing ceremony for the Short Hills Reconciliation Events and Activities was celebrated with a lovely feast on the last harvest day, a panel discussion and another screening of ‘Sweet Blood’. The past five years has seen growing support for the counter protestors and the Haudenosaunee people. There have been more collaborations with local groups for workshops and activities available for the supporters at the reconciliation events. The growing support for the hunters over the years has created more room for conversations, change and acceptance. Moving forward, through educating and being open to reconciliation, hopefully the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt continues to get more support than resistance.

Manchari Paranthahan is a Communications, Women and Gender Studies and Theatre student at Brock University. They are involved in various activist movements at the University and in the Niagara Region, including the Brock SCM and the Brock Student Justice Centre. As the current Program Director of the Brock Faith and Life Centre, Manchari and SCM Coordinator Emilie Philips are dedicated to bringing social justice work and activism into their faith work.