Beloved Community!
June 2020
Peace and grace!
The evils of racism and anti-black violence that is rampant in our nation and globally can make us feel hopeless and without a voice. We cry out and, no matter how hard we cry out, we are not heard. In a recent podcast, Dr. Miguel De La Torre shared that "To be human is to struggle for freedom and justice,” and as we recall our histories throughout the Americas, this has indeed been the case. As Dr. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier states, “evil is persistent.” Not only is evil persistent but it comes in all different shapes, individually and systematically. It is important to not get lost in the labyrinth of fear, because it is there that we lose our power. Instead, let us stop, catch our breath, breathe, breathe deeply, grieve, and recalibrate our efforts.
More than ever, it is important to call on the spiritual traditions in our rich ancestry for guidance on how to re-harness our power and to recalibrate our energies and actions towards good to continue to chip away at the evil in the world. It is important to understand that we are a BELOVED community, endowed with an abundance of resources to change the horrific rhetoric and actions that continue to diminish human relationships and communities.
In recalibrating our efforts, we can think and be inspired to write and speak and act in ways that are life-giving and life-transforming. HTI offers Open Plaza and the peer-reviewed journal Perspectivas as forums for you to consider sharing your reflections as one way to act.
At HTI, to be en conjunto means that we are in this struggle together, that we can make a difference together, that we are stronger together. It is by working en conjunto, that we can best reflect with, challenge, and transform ourselves, our communities, and our world.
Blessings,
Rev. Joanne Rodríguez
Executive Director
Hispanic Theological Initiative
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AfroSpiritus: Honoring our lives, calling on our spiritual traditions
