Free Nelson Mandela?

Free Nelson Mandela

Free Nelson Mandela

Free Nelson Mandela

RantWoman notes that Nelson Mandela is set to turn 95 next week. Regular Mandela medical bulletins are reminding RantWoman of Mandela's 26 years on Robben island, of the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, of other sorded details of South Africa today. RantWoman does not think all of that is why the message above was echoing in RantWoman's head during Meeting for worship recently after several Friends who attended WPC13 facilitated a discussion in Adult Education about themes from the White Privilege Conference.

RantWoman approached the session certain that she had lots more on her mind than might comfortably emerge during a one-hour session; even so, RantWoman felt Friends' efforts were well held, well led.

Before we get back to Mandela, perhaps the most concise takeaways from this Adult Education Session:

Friends spoke of all sorts of intersections:
  --family connections to the deportation of the Japanese during WWII
  --an interracial same-sex relationship
  --a Hispanic family in a community on Long Island
  --whether the conference encompassed mainly white-black issues or whether hispanics', muslims', Asians' experiences were reflected
   --A sense that problems for one generation look very different to other generations who have grown up in different environments.
  --Recognition by others besides RantWoman that our country is becoming increasingly multiethnic and multicultural. Instead of a White Privilege Conference at some point what might be needed is more of a White People Adjustment Conference.

RantWoman WISHES the session had gotten to:
   --more about what is equity and how issues look to different people
   --more about the call out / call into dialogue spiritual center / how to sweat with our different personal challenges dynamics of the conference.
   --More about "I didn't tell you about my day," micro aggressions, and macro effects of micro annoyances.

Even without the "would be nice to get to" issues above, RantWoman came away from that session with thoughts about two whole months more of topics that Adult Ed might invite people to speak to. RantWoman gets to take that up with Adult Religious Education.

But back to "Free Nelson Mandela." RantWoman was in college and graduate school during the era when it was fashionable for young caring students everywhere to demand that their institutions divest from firms doing business in South Africa. RantWoman thinks advocating for the cause was valuable on many grounds, and RantWoman understands why one might call people out: a friend of RantWoman's once remarked that one reason white liberals from the US love to talk about South Africa is that at least people there are bigger racists than in the US.

RantWoman has similar opinions about the sudden renewed impetus to rename our Unmentionable / Oops Well committee. RantWoman WANTS to honor the faithfulness of the person who raised the issue. RantWoman thinks the idea is kind of a nice "Thank you for coming to town" gesture in honor of the White Privilege Conference. AND...

RantWoman  thinks the exact proposal is badly seasoned. RantWoman thinks the badly seasoned proposal has now come to Business Meeting twice and the Unmentionable / Oops Well committee has gotten clear feedback from more people than just RantWoman that more work is needed.

RantWoman began with a simple information request about historical usage. RantWoman has NO interest in some internet vote of how many Meetings use which of several alternatives proposed. RantWoman is interested in an articualte sense of WHY different variants have been chosen. What canst thou say, indeed? Harrumph!

RantWoman further repeats her point about hopes that renaming the Unmentionable committee and dealing with one small associated cleanup in our meeting's bylaws is not all our Meeting needs to do to think about privilege.

But why "Free Nelson Mandela. RantWoman will certainly be among those celebrating Mandela's life and mourning his passing whenever it occurs. But his work continues near and far. RantWoman hopes that her Meeting will not be in such a hurry to be loudly visible allergic to a few words to forget the Spirit behind the point of thinking about a change and what all we might need to include..Even worse, RantWoman does not apologize for going all Word Nerd on the situation, trusting that there is Light to be had during the quest for a new committee name..