BIPOC: Leadership Link Up
Last fall, I joined a group of 25 ecumenical Asian American ministry leaders for an Asian American Civil Rights Tour across the state of California. The tour was organized and sponsored by the Asian American Christian Collaborative and Asian American Futures. Over the course of five days, we visited historical sites that we don’t usually read about in high school textbooks.
Toward the end of our tour, our group visited the International Hotel in San Francisco, also known as the I-Hotel. The I-Hotel was home to many low-income immigrant workers hired by the city in the 1960s and 70s. According to our tour guide and the newspaper clippings adorning the current I-Hotel’s walls, in its heyday, the I-Hotel also served as a key gathering space not only for the immigrants who lived there but for many people of color in the Bay Area at the time. This mash-up of diverse cultures and circumstances made the I-Hotel a cultural center and an idea incubator.
These days, the I-Hotel is best known as the birthplace of the affordable housing rights movement. In 1968, city officials announced plans to demolish the I-Hotel, leaving many residents displaced. Residents, alongside other organizers and supporters, began a 9-year-long grassroots campaign resisting the eviction. In 1977, police arrived to forcibly remove the residents from the premises, only to be met by a 3,000-person barricade surrounding the I-Hotel. Rows of protestors linked at the elbows spilled over the sidewalk in defense of the dignity and the pursuit of happiness of all those in residence of the International Hotel.
Our group stood on those same sidewalks, linked arms, and chanted the same chants. The amusement and annoyance of some pedestrians in the middle of their work week was not lost on me. We spent a lot of the tour realizing how all of our stories were interwoven, but in this moment, we physically experienced our interconnectedness to each other and realized how much stronger, resilient, and hopeful we felt standing side-by-side and arm-in-arm.
The importance of solidarity, particularly amongst people on the fringes of status-quo systems of power, is not a new concept for us as Christians. The Bible is filled with stories of God bringing together individuals from the fringes of society as they journey as disciples of life-giving change. Mary and Elizabeth meet for shared fellowship and joy as women carrying the miracles that would grow to be Jesus and John the Baptist in Luke 1. In the Book of Ruth, God brings Ruth and Naomi together before re-writing the narrative of who is worthy of grace and authority. In the Gospels, Jesus brings together a motley crew of apostles before he begins his public ministry of reconciliation and redemption. Connection and relationship are foundational to any movement or ministry.
Many of us know firsthand the trusted, sacred spaces that can be formed out of authentic connections, particularly when they link people of similar circumstances. A congregation’s men’s group, women’s group, or youth group are all examples of spaces founded on relationship and connection. And all these groups can be spaces that nurture the faith journeys of those involved.
Over the past two years of my time serving on diocesan staff, I’ve heard longings for a similar space from my siblings-in-Christ in this diocese who are Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC). And these are longings I’ve felt in my heart and spirit. Some of these BIPOC leaders are one of the few or the “only” person of their ethnicity in their home congregation. Others are members of our predominantly ethnic and/or multicultural congregations, hoping to meet others from similar-but-different ministry contexts. All share a desire for new connections and a curiosity and excitement for what might emerge if many of us were able to link up – maybe not physically arm in arm, but at least socially and prayerfully.
BIPOC leaders from EDSD’s various congregations are invited to the first ever BIPOC Leadership Link-Up on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 2-4 PM at Cafe X for a time of connection and conversation. I’ll be there with my co-hosts and collaborators: Karla Chavez from St. Matthew’s, National City; Stephen Arturo Greenlaw from St. Luke’s, North Park; and Alyson Terry from Resurrection, Ocean Beach (as well as EDSD’s Registrar). There will be space for mingling and networking, as well as for large-group structured conversation. Light food and drinks will be provided. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at rambasing@edsd.org.
I know we have many BIPOC leaders in our diocese who are not located in San Diego proper. If the idea of a BIPOC leadership link-up sounds exciting, but driving all the way to San Diego is less than, please send a message to me. I’d be happy to partner with you and other leaders in your area to help plan something more geographically friendly.