Last Wednesday, I was honored to lead an evening of dialogue at the Levine Museum of the New South with Dr. Ron Carter, the esteemed President of Johnson C. Smith University. “Kinship and Conflict: Black/Jewish Relations” was the topic at hand. Sitting in comfortable chairs on a stage, the two of us reflected on the times our paths as Blacks and Jews historically united and the times they parted.
The conversation was honest. The conversation was, at times, painful. The conversation brought healing to so many who were there. The six years of friendship that Dr. Carter and I shared enabled us to discuss openly our personal experiences with anti-Semitism, on one hand, and racism on the other.
Tensions can arise in communities. The strong partnerships across lines of difference that we share will better enable us to ride out the storms that come our way. Our best response to the riots in Ferguson is to create faithful friendships here in Charlotte.
The conversation that night inspired me to write the following poem.
A Cosmic Kinship
Remember, you were slaves.
Together we remember
Seas crossed, campuses crossed, lines of protest crossed.
At times we walked together.
At times we walked apart.
Holy ground in Black churches
Holy ground in Jewish synagogues
Yet we all come from the same ground
In Hebrew, adam from adamah
In English, human beings from the dust of the earth
Given life by the breath of God
Brothers disappoint
Brothers uplift
Brothers hurt
Brothers heal
May we find common ground.
May we find holier ground.
May we find higher ground.
