This week the Antioch Podcast team returned to our discussion of artist and author damali ayo’s piece “I Can Fix It” – and ended up spending the hour talking about the ramifications of one sentence in the document, a sentence written to white people about something they can do to “fix” racism, which reads as follows:
White people – broaden your experience. Caution: please don’t do this until you’ve successfully completed steps 1-3.
Pause a moment and think about this. What could it mean to “successfully complete” steps in combatting racism? I’m recording this prologue to the episode the morning after our recording session, and I’ve been thinking about our conversation since we stopped recording yesterday, reflecting on what was said. This was one of the conversations on the Antioch Podcast I personally will need to return to once in a while, because what we ended up discussing was what individuals and institutions could look like if they had what we ended up terming a “racial conversion.”
What does it mean to have a conversion? Who in scripture had a conversion experience, particularly about inclusion, favoritism, or who belongs in the body of Christ?
For the sake of the listener, know that I have edited out some of the long pauses that happened during this recording as we waited with each other to think deeply about the idea of having “racial conversions.” As always, you are hearing our unscripted conversation, verbalizing our imperfect thoughts as we talk about this challenging topic.
Let’s go now and listen to this conversation.
CREDITS:
Come Ye Sinners (1000 Charms)