tvc.dsj.org | February 19, 2019
COMMUNITY
7
Civil Rights as Theology at Santa Clara University
By Leslie Griffy
Standing before the National Mu-
seum for Peace and Justice in Mont-
gomery on a clear, bright day, nine
students from Santa Clara University’s
Jesuit School of Theology (JST) bowed
their heads.
“Blood on the leaves and blood at
the root,” crooned Billie Holiday over
a student’s phone. This was their mo-
ment of contemplation before entering
the museum, which honors the lives
of the estimated 4,743 lynched in this
country between 1886 and 1968.
The tour of the museum was one
of many stations in a nearly year-
long journey for the class from JST’s
Berkeley campus, exploring race, jus-
tice and theology. They examined the
ways theology is twisted in support
of racism–today and in the past–and
how they as people of faith could do
more to speak out against injustice.
The class is the fi rst at the school to
include a domestic immersion trip–a
civil rights pilgrimage touring sites
in the deep South where the fi ght for
modern justice was fought.
“We had to ‘come and see,’” said
Alison Benders, an associate dean
and senior lecturer who led the course
and the trip. Before leaving on their
11-day, 15-site journey the class read
works about race in America, histories
of white people, indigenous people,
Mexican-Americans, and, of course,
black Americans. Writings by W.E. B.
Du Bois and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
fi led the syllabus. But the key to un-
derstanding was the bearing witness.
“I hope to translate this notional
knowledge to experiential knowl-
edge–head to heart,” said Benders. “I
don’t want people to feel that these
things are remote, but to feel that it
happened to us.”
The trip included stops at the Whit-
ney Plantation in Louisiana, where
slaves survived an average of only fi ve
years; Kelly Ingram Park in Birming-
ham, where the Children’s Crusade for
Civil Rights held rallies; and St. Joan
of Arc, a Josephite church in New Or-
leans. Students taught and led prayers
at each of the sites, and talked with the
people they met. Through the journey
the class saw their readings, and the
world they live in, diff erently.
“It enabled us to see that the past
is still present but it is in a diff erent
confi guration,” Benders said. Slavery
and racism as America’s original sin
still colors lives–the assumption of
benefi ts like jobs on the part of some
and disproportional imprisonment
for others.
Masters of Theology student, Cal-
vin Nixon, noted that the class put
them in some uncomfortable places,
but that is where they as servants of
God could do their best work.
“How else can we accompany our
brothers and sisters who are mar-
ginalized if we don’t attend to those
unsettling places?” he noted. “I am
under the belief that we are who we
are because someone loved us and at-
tended to us.”
Nixon thought of Harriet Tubman,
who guided slaves to freedom through
the underground railroad, and those
supporting her. He thought of people
today arguing against mass incarcera-
tion. That power and hope is the depth
and breadth of God’s love, he said.
“We don’t always see the crowd
of people who helped them in their
own becoming,” Nixon said. “White
supremacy was mighty. But it is not
the Almighty.”
Now, back in Berkeley, Nixon,
Benders and the others who took the
journey are sharing the word. They
are going to nearby parishes to share
what they saw, and how the wounds
of slavery remain unhealed, through
modern day racism and unaddressed
privilege.
“When faced with this past and
present, we still must have the courage
to hope,” Nixon said, “and have that
courage of love.”
Knights of Columbus and Saint Clare Parish
Host the Crab Feed of the Month
The Knights of Columbus (KOC)
hosted more than 300 parish guests at
their annual Crab Feed on February 9
at Saint Clare Parish hall.
The house was packed to capac-
ity when the KOC puts on its famous
crab feed. Hungry guests from young
children to folks in their 90’s enjoyed
so much spirit it almost lifted the roof
of the hall. Maybe, its time for a larger
hall was heard during the conversa-
tion. Lots of entertainment including
DJ ethnic variety music across all com-
munities and celebrated singers includ-
ing Father Prosper Molengi and Teresa
Nieves delighted the guests with their
moving renditions of popular songs.
The event was a joint fundraiser be-
tween the KOC and Saint Clare Parish.
Raffl e drawings were also a highlight of
the evening, but the show stopper was
the wonderful and spicy crab that was
pilled on high at each table along with
pasta, bread salad and dessert.
A full volunteer crew of 20 Knights
and their wives prepared and served.
The feeling of community spirit over-
whelmed all.