THE POWER OF REMEMBRANCE
Here we are, the first month of 2021 is coming to an end and I have to say, it already feels like a whole year by itself.
While my expectations were generally low, seeing that London had just gone into Tier 4 (4 out of a 3 tier system might I add, but let me not get started) and data around the virus was indicating that we would be entering tighter restrictions on the other side of the holidays, and Brexit would officially come into effect, I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted what was coming.
The first month of 2021 has so far been marked by an act of domestic terrorism in the US, the UK pushing through with Brexit and many countries failing to look after their most vulnerable in the continuation of this pandemic (I’m talking the UK school meal disaster, the welfare scandal in the Netherlands, the $600 stimulus for Americans and so on).
That said, I think most of us will have felt a sense of relief by the time we hit January 20th.
Whether you’re American, half American (like myself) or not American at all, we have all felt the impact of the last 4 years and were ready for it to be over.
I certainly sighed a deep and tearful sigh of relief when the clock struck midday in D.C.
We made it and it seems like democracy has prevailed yet again.
I had to limit my social media intake on the day, because I wanted a day – just one - to celebrate.
The first woman, the first Black woman and the first South Asian woman being sworn into the office of Vice-President was a huge moment and I didn’t want the naysayers and doomsday slayers (as right as they might be) to take that from me.
The fact that DT was no longer in office and some of his most bizarre and harmful decisions would be revoked by executive order within Biden’s first 24hrs (hello the madness that was the 1776 commission, the ‘Muslim ban’ and many more) was worthy of celebration and I didn’t want to be robbed of that.
That said, I was and am under no illusion.
The last 4 years of Trump’s presidency were only possible because of the longstanding state of a nation that has yet to truly reckon with and repair its history.
‘The lies and the deceit, were only possible because after 8 years of a Black man in the most important office, America’s true soul was laid bare and, in her whiteness, she was willing to do whatever it took to maintain whiteness, money and power as the status quo.’
Even if it meant lying to those of her citizens she claimed to protect – white people.
Starting all the way back, when the electoral college was established and the republic was built on a deadly compromise, coddling white supremacist who literally owned human beings, it was only landowning white men who benefited from that decision. Centuries later, the idea of whiteness as a concept, a badge of sorts, a ticket to the promised land, is still deceiving white working-class families, white women, white people from other groups, because contrary to popular belief, the money and power promised isn’t really for them either.
The groups represented at the siege on the capitol tell that story.
Then there is of course the role white American evangelicalism has played in the narratives of the last few years. That’s a whole other conversation in itself (one myself and Cephas will explore in a future episode of The Third Way Podcast) but one worth mentioning here because the common thread is a denial and distortion not just of current facts, but of the past.
All of this isn’t just an American problem by the way.
The trend to nationalism and far-right groups gaining momentum across Europe over the last few years, has been fuelled by many of the same principles. Here in the UK the patterns are certainly similar, and we’d do well to learn lessons from what transpired in the US over the last few years.
Anyways, this is where this quote comes in:
‘Why must we remember?
Is this but a counsel of vengeance and hate?
God forbid!
We must remember, because if once the world forgets evil,
evil is reborn’
The Crisis, 1919
(Quote as seen in the NMAAHC in Jan 2018)
If you’ve ever attended a talk or workshop of mine, you have most likely heard me quote this. It’s been a real guiding principle to me both in my personal life, as well as in my work around social change and particularly antiracism work. It seems fitting to pull it out and share it with you all at the end of this big week.
Here’s how I see it:
I’ve seen the damage that denying the past, sweeping things under the rug or selectively remembering the past, can do in my own life.
I’ve found myself caught in cycles of destructive behaviour, self-sabotaging and not understanding why. It was only when I truly started naming, unpacking, and processing traumatic experiences that my healing journey could begin.
The moment of ‘recognition’, the moment where I’d realize what had caused my dysfunctional behaviour, was only ever the starting point. From there it has taken (and is taking) time to undo old stories and behaviours and start introducing new beliefs, values and ways of interacting with others.
If this approach is true for me as an individual, how much more is it true for us a society? Especially when we look at society not as a metaphysical concept, but really the amalgamation of people who, as diverse and different as we all are, do pretty much all function very similarly.
Remembrance and reckoning is not, as the quote says, about vengeance and hate.
There are a lot of people out there these days claiming that anti-oppression work is the thing that divides us, that educating people about the past is somehow divisive. Don’t buy into that. It’s the choices we make and the trajectory we set that determines whether work is unifying or divisive. Not the sharing of facts.
Truth is a, if not the, foundational building block of true unity.
That’s why I love the concept of the Beloved Community. The path to Beloved Community, as Dr. King taught it, is driven by the end goal of win-win. True win-win. A community where the global standards of decency and humanity prevail.
To get there however, whilst we consider means that honor this end, we must be honest. We must educate, we much make sacrifices and we mustn’t compromise on our hunger for justice.
These two ideas can, and according to Dr. King and many who work for social change today, must exist simultaneously.
What then does this mean for the land my ancestors were forced to make their home centuries ago?
A lack of reckoning with the past, of true reparations to the descendants of enslaved Africans and Indigenous peoples, holistic and accurate history taught in schools and pathways of true reconciliation and beloved community set, has led to where we find ourselves today.
It’s important to remember this: we didn’t arrive here by chance and it didn’t have to be this way. There have been so many moments in history where decisions were made that laid these tracks of oppression and inequality.
I believe that we’re yet again in one of those moments. We are on the precipice of change, but we cannot and mustn’t let up now. The decisions and commitments made now, the way things are handled in this crisis will determine whether we continue down a path of inequality, oppression and division (yes, they go together) or whether we turn the tide and begin moving towards real healing.
For the latter to happen we cannot give into the temptation of cheap unity, of ‘moving forward’ or ‘putting the past behind us’, all in the name of ideals that were never real in the first place.
We must remember, for once the world forgets evil, evil is reborn.
So, what does that mean?
I believe it means holding those who have incited violence and allowed white supremacists and neo-nazis to storm the capitol and endanger not only democracy as a whole, but actual lives, to account.
It means convicting Trump in the senate and barring him from running again.
It means going back to the drawing board of how democracy functions and recognising that some things no longer serve the American people (many of them never did, but you get the idea).
For those who are part of the Christian tradition it means taking a good hard look at theologies and doctrines held. Belief systems that were in part shaped to allow for a dangerous dissonance. The ability to hold the sick tension of a good and compassionate God and the enslavement and trafficking of humans.
For us as individuals – wherever we are in the world – it means continuing to engage in the work of remembrance and justice, for I am deeply convinced they go together.
It means educating ourselves, our families and friends on the history of the nations we call home and their complicity in anti-Black racism and white supremacy so we can start reckoning and healing together.
It means staying (or getting) engaged in organising around local and national politics (there are so many important elections happening across the globe this year).
It also means having conversations, discussions and maybe even heated debates with those who have opinions other than ourselves.
Not everyone of course, sometimes we have to protect ourselves and our mental health from those who are seeking to harm us, but we cannot underestimate the importance of discourse, nuance and holding tension on this journey.
As Andre Henry, someone I learn a lot from daily, says: It doesn’t have to be this way.
We can shape a better future, as we accurately remember and deal with the past.
I am convinced of that.
How will you play your part?
May the rest of this year be kinder and better to all of us.
I’d love to hear how you will participate in this journey.
Follow me on IG and Twitter @jessmally and join the conversation!