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Celebrating 26 Years 1989 - 2015 Dialogue Center for the Healing of Racism Internalize Oneness Send us your email address! To save on postal costs, we no longer routinely mail the newsletter to members. Please send us your email addresses to receive the newsletter. Send addresses to [email protected] or [email protected]. Quotation “The piano keys are black and white but they sound like a million colors in your mind.” — Maria Cristina Mena, The Collected Stories of Maria Cristina Mena May - Aug. 2015 Director's Column Houston Community College System seeks to provide equal educational opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Internalize Oneness This year so far has been a defining time in my life and for Center’s work Black woman was invisible By Cherry Steinwender By Enid McNiece This year will go down as a defining time in my life and in the work of the Center for the Healing of Racism. The events that happened only half way through the year validated for me the knowledge that our 26-year journey has not been in vain. For too long, too many in the LGBTQ community have suffered the cruelest oppression because of gender identity. The recent United States Supreme Court decision to recognize marriage equality is but one issue that provides a measure of relief to them. There remain other ways members of the community can be oppressed and discriminated against. These issues require more education and awareness to be understood and fought. I’ve appreciated members of the LGBTQ community for sharing their experiences of oppression and working and standing with us against racism. I needed to hear news media people using the word RACISM to offset all of the times I heard people deny that racism is still a large On April 19, 1995, 20 years ago, the Oklahoma City bombing occurred and coincidentally that evening was the first session of Dialogue: Racism co-hosted by the Methodist Church and Episcopal Christ Church Cathedral. The media was there and gave the first lesson in racism (if they were paying attention). As the two cofacilitators, Cherry Steinwender, a Black woman, and Barbara Hacker, a White woman, stood side by side, the reporter pointed the mic and addressed all questions to Barbara. Each time, Barbara redirected the the question to Cherry. Both women recognized that for this reporter, Cherry was invisible as a spokesperson. A further lesson in preconceived ideas based on race took place in the days ahead. The initial rumors were all about a "Middle Eastern looking man" in the area about that time, but the perpetrator turned out to be a not so nice home-grown white man, supposedly acting in retaliation for the invasion of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco two years before. It’s important to share our memories as an organization. That event with Cherry and Barbara solidifide a 20year friendship. Continued on page 2 How to reach us 21st Juneteenth Ally Award luncheon honors News 26, Klineberg and Kendall Phone or fax: 713-520-8226 eMail: [email protected] Web site: www.centerhealingracism.org Address: P.O. Box 27327 Houston, TX 77227 Volume 22, Number 2 By Judith Joseph-Jenkin Just in case you missed the Ally Award luncheon, let me tell you just what you missed! As we gathered, we enjoyed the beautiful voice and music from Marcy Rae Jolosky, also known as Sweet Momma Cotton. The beautiful melodies mixed nicely with the wonderful smell of barbecue, prepared once again by James Lacy. As the air conditioner began to reduce the humidity in the room, it was replaced with the genuine warmth of fellowship. Such an awesome sight, a room full of diversity, all gathered to celebrate Juneteenth, the oldest celebration of the Emancipation of slavery. The very graceful Damali Keith of Fox News 26 served as our moderator and kept us on track. FOX 26 Vice President and General Manager, D'Artagnan Bebel accepted the Ally Award for Fox News for the story on The New Face of America. The next award was presented to Dr. Stephen Klineberg who reminded us that Houston is what all of America will look like in the future. Our third recipient, Dr. Frances Kendall, challenged us to connect with one another, exchange information, keep in touch, and commit to being involved in changing the effects Continued on page 3 Center for the Healing of Racism Dialogue Published three times a year by the Center for the Healing of Racism P.O.Box 27327 Houston, Tx 77227 Phone 713-520-8226 © 2015 Center for the Healing of Racism Newsletter Team: Editor Robert C. Newberry Production Newberry Communications Copy editor Tricia McFarlin Printing and Circulation Volunteer Staff Contributors: Members of the Center for the Healing of Racism Executive Director: Cherry Steinwender MISSION STATEMENT To facilitate the healing of racism through education and dialogue in a safe and supportive environment, in order to empower individuals and transform communities. May./Aug. 2015 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2 Director's Column Year has been defining moment in life Continued from page 1 part of the landscape of America and not a thing of the past. I needed to see and hear newspaper articles, TV footage, online articles and blogs using the word RACISM, calling it what it is to know that I was not crazy to give my life to such a noble cause. I know all of the activists that I have hooked my wagon to needed this year as well. For many of us, we have waited for this defining moment in time when we can stop having to convince people of this country’s reality and just go about conducting the work. I needed to see the thousands of White Americans take to the street calling for the removal of the Confederate flag as a symbol of hate. In 1997, when I was teaching a class at Rice University, the students brought up the topic of that flag. It was clear to me that some wanted to hold onto the flag as a symbol of Southern pride. I could give them that, but at the same time I put forth an argument for them to ponder. If that flag is a symbol of pride, why is it that at every march, demonstration or rally conducted by the KKK, Nazis, Aryan Nation, or any of the other hundreds of hate groups with Our hearts and prayers go out to the people killed in South Carolina. And what an example set for this country by many in the black community — teaching us all about forgiveness. names too many to recall, I never once saw any White person show up and protest the use of the Confederate flag being used for the hate. I have never seen protests calling on the removal of the flag from the hands of hateful people letting them know this flag in not a symbol of hate but rather Southern pride. Many of the demonstrations happened not only in the South but even in the heartland of this country, and still that flag waved. I concluded that until I saw these up-holders of Southern pride stand up and protest its use as a symbol of racist division, I will forever see that flag as a symbol of HATE. "BLACK LIVES MATTER!" Such was the cry across the land this year that took me back to the sixties and gave me hope that change is on the way.. I lived through the sixties. I watched as thousands demon- strated, went to jail, and be killed for justice. I find myself wanting this country to return to a time when justice really mattered and people were willing to put life and limb on the line to achieve that justice. I really need to see more people in Houston involved in the healing racism work by rededicating their level of commitment to the Center. Frances E. Kendall, one of the recipients of the 2015, Ally Award, conducted an exercise with those attending the banquet. She asked the people at each table to discuss and write down something they will do to help this country in the fight against racism in the years or days to come. These answers are a vital part of the exercise President Obama proclaimed on the Edmund Pettis Bridge, March 2015, “The work is not done.” Book on being a black man in America goes straight to heart of national conversation Have you gotten around to filling out your membership for 2015? If not, please take the time to do so. The work must go on! Has your address changed? If it has, please notify us so your Center correspondence can be timely delivered! Also, send us your e-mail address to receive your Dialogue newsletter in your email in-box. From the New York Times: Between the World and Me, TaNehisi Coates’s meditation on being a black man in America, has had an almost frictionless glide straight to the heart of the national conversation. The book’s publication was moved up from September after the shootings of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C. Author To n i M o r r i s o n c a l l e d t h e book “essential reading,” and its author heir to James Baldwin. Said Morrison: "....A murmur of recognition passed through the crowd when Mr. Coates read a passage from the book about Prince Jones, a friend from his days at Howard University, who was shot to death by a police officer in Virginia in 2000, a killing he linked to the more recent deaths of Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and other unarmed black men during encounters with the police. There was a thunderous ovation when he spoke of the bodily fear that lies at the heart of the daily lived experience of racism, and ‘the mind-trick’ people play by saying that the racism isn’t real....In a brief talk to a group of students from a local school before the reading, he had put it more bluntly. Understanding how an unjust situation came about "is deeply therapeutic," he told them. ‘It will keep you from going crazy….’ ” Center for the Healing of Racism May./Aug. 2015 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3 Junteenth Ally Award News 26, Stephen Klineberg, Frances Kendall accept awards at 21st luncheon Continued from page 1 of racism. Mr. Kelton Sam, a native of Galveston, Texas, gave us the history of Juneteenth and reminded us of the continued horrific treatment of Black folks under Jim Crow. Although there was a hint of sadness as we were all reflecting on the recent slaying of our brothers and sisters in South Carolina, we were inspired by the work of our award recipients. And how appropriate was the theme: Remembering Selma: “The race is not yet won.” As our Executive Director, Cherry Steinwender, gave the closing remarks, we were strengthened in spirit by her tireless efforts and her ability to continue working even after receiving racist threats. Make plans to attend next year and bring your family and friends. Paul Kivel, social justice edu- Sweet Momma Cotton cator, activist, and writer who has been an innovative leader in violence prevention, said, “Sometimes change comes not in the first round, but at the second, third or fourth. Change starts with one person questioning, challenging, speaking up and doing something to make a difference. We c a n e a c h m a k e a difference . . . because each of us is already part of the community where racism exists and thrives.” Martin Luther King Day, 2015 By Margaret Wheeler, MD Reprinted with permission For this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in the 50th anniversary year of the Voting Rights Act and the Selma to Montgomery March, it is hard not to draw comparisons between those days and ours. The Selma March was partly inspired by the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, an unarmed young black man, killed by an Alabama trooper after marching with his mother and grandfather in an earlier demonstration. King’s comments at Jackson’s funeral a few days before the Selma march still resonate today. Jackson, he said, had been "murdered by the brutality of every sheriff who practices lawlessness in the name of law." Today people all over the nation are again taking to the streets in response to the lawless police killings of black men and boys and the failure to criminally prosecute those who killed them. “Black Lives Matter” and “Racism kills” are slogans chanted and written on placards as people march and protest the racism displayed in the police killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice. The increased rate at which blacks are killed by police compared to whites in America is a matter of both historical and public health record. Evidence that racism drives health inequity among historically underserved populations is equally abundant. Indeed, Eric Garner may not have died from the police chokehold if his health had not already been undermined by diseases that disproportionately sicken poor and minority people: asthma, obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. In Tamir Rice’s case, the failure of the police to provide first aid to the boy they had shot is as shocking as the shooting of a 12year-old with a pellet gun (in an open-carry state) in the first place. Whether it is inequity in police brutality and criminal sentencing or decreased access to first aid, opportunity, education and health care, it is undeniable that racism undermines health. At the end of the Selma March, Dr. King rallied people to pursue the realization of the American dream. He exhorted people to “march on the ballot boxes until race-baiters disappear from the political arena;” “march on poverty until no American parent has to skip a meal so their children may eat;” “march on segregated housing until every ghetto or social and economic depression dissolves;” and to “march on segregated schools until every vestige of segregated and inferior education becomes a thing of the past, and Negroes and whites study side-by-side in the sociallyhealing context of the classroom.” If we review this litany of hope 50 years on, it seems that the arc of justice is longer and less intensely curved than we might have hoped. Voting: The Selma March, was first and foremost a demonstration in support of federal legislation to overturn laws that made it virtually impossible for AfricanAmericans to vote in the South. The Supreme Court in 2013 effectively struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 releasing nine states, mostly in the South, to change their election laws without advance federal approval. Another ruling, the 2010 Citizen’s United decision placed campaign contributions into the category of speech, making it more difficult to regulate campaign financing. A recent study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law this month reveals that spending on political campaigns by outside groups of very rich, unidentified contributors doubled in the 2014 Senate elections. Pharmaceutical and healthcare lobbyists also spent more than any other sector to influence legislation and contributed heavily to political campaigns as well. Poverty: A recent Pew Research Center study shows that income inequality is increasing and is the widest on record. America’s upperincome families have a median net worth about 70 times that of the country’s lower-income families. This wealth gap also tracks along racial and ethnic lines. According to Oxfam, in 2014, the richest 1 percent of people in the world owned 48 percent of global wealth. The other 52 percent of wealth was owned by the remaining 99 percent of adults. Even this 52 Continued on page 6 Center for the Healing of Racism May./Aug. 2015 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 4 Let’s Review Acknowledging painful realities leads to healing, author finds By Barbara Hacker It has been a long time since a book has moved me to read from cover to cover in one day, but such was the case with My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me, by Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair, subtitled A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past (New York: The Experiment, 2015). I have always considered the things participants in Dialogue: Racism shared from their life experience to be treasured gifts that can lead the listener to a deeper understanding of the reality experienced by diverse members of our human family. The same can be experienced by reading the stories of those who courageously share their reality in written form. Such is the case with Jennifer Teege in what for her is a memoir. Her co-author is a journalist who artfully interweaves material from her interviews with people in Jennifer's life as well as historical material, all of which lends context to the memoir. The book was originally published in German as Jennifer is of GermanN i g e r i a n ancestry. As a four-week old, she was placed in an orphanage to be cared for by nuns though she continued to see her birth mother and grandmother from time to time. At three, she went to live with a foster family and was adopted by them at age seven. The white German adoptive parents and their two sons provided love and nurturance, but she always felt different and struggled with recurring depression. At 38 and married with children of her own, she found herself standing in the stacks of her public library searching in the psychology section for something to help with her depression, when she looked at a volume called I Have to Love My Father Don't I? On the cover was a photo of her birth mother and her name, Monika Goeth. Inside she finds photos of her grandmother and learns that her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the Commandant of the Plaszow Concentration Camp in Poland. She, like many, remembered him from the movie Schindler's List. Known as "the butcher of Plaszow," he was executed for crimes against humanity in 1946. Little did she know, this discovery would prove to be the key to her depression, even as it initially plunged her deeper into it. A strong and courageous person, she began a journey, which we know to be true—the way to deal with this pain is not to bury it, but to feel it fully, examine and understand it. Reading her account of this v e r y p e r s o n a l j o u r n e y, I recognized her discovery of principles which we have discovered to be key to the healing process. American racism or the racism of Nazi Germany can lead to selfhatred. Jennifer comes to recognize this mechanism of racism and she learns to move past it, saying, "All this hatred leads to nothing." She adds, "Constant self-flagellation and self-damnation will eventually make a person ill—and this kind of suffering over one's identity and family history gets passed on to one's children. There is no such thing as inherited guilt. Everybody has the right to their own life story." The path to healing, she demonstrates, is in knowing the facts, acknowledging the painful reality and moving forward so it will never happen again. Letter to the Center: Seeking approval to set up a Center in New Jersey By Daniel Filipak My name is Daniel. I live in Central New Jersey. I completed my undergraduate studies in Jazz upright bass two years ago from William Paterson University. I came across information about the Center for the Healing of Racism from Mr. Davis's website and I will forever be grateful to him for doing this work and having this information up on his website. Since coming across the Institute I have purchased and read Racial Healing by Nathan Rutstein and Reggie Newkirk, Healing Racism in America: A Prescription for the Disease by Nathan Rutstein, Uprooting Racism by Paul Kivel, White Like Me by Tim Wise, and an array of other influential books by the great writers such as Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Martin Luther King, Jr., Maya Angelou, and many others. I grew into this mission from my jazz studies. Studying jazz was like the seed that grew to teach me about racism in America. I started to think about how even the word "jazz" has been a term used to discredit this intelligent and beautiful art form created by African Americans. Being a white male and having jazz teachers who lived through some very difficult experiences made me wonder how I could help this problem rather than perpetuating it through inaction. I discovered a new calling in my life outside of my love of jazz to help heal myself of my own racism as well as to guide others in their own healing. Thanks to you and the authors of those books, I have an understanding of how to go about this work. Before I learned of the Institute, I had absolutely no idea how to help so I felt very helpless. For this trans- formation, I am very grateful and would like to start an Institute here in New Jersey. I am writing this letter to ask for your approval to set up a Center here, as well as any additional information I may need in order to do so. I can do this work and make it free to all attendees or I can set up a nonprofit here in your name in an effort to raise money for the Institute. I also know that I still have a great deal of work to accomplish to become a good facilitator, which is why I am trying to do as much reading as I can. Center for the Healing of Racism Preserving history By Catherine Roberts The more than 19 year struggle to stop the erasure of Black history in Houston is still ongoing. Thousands of volunteer hours and dollars have helped to preserve a small part of this rare site listed on the National Register, the Historic District of Freedmen's Town. Diversity in Houston has not been a rosy picture as portrayed by some sociologists. This small part of Houston, Texas has experienced and documented horrible injustices that must be remembered. Yet city and state agencies continue to circumvent the Federal National Historic Preservation Act in an effort to destroy homes, displace hundreds of families, and erase their African heritage and the cultural resources of this nineteenthcentury settlement. F r e e d m e n ' s To w n Preservation Coalition has tried begging for preservation at City Council sessions and members have laid our bodies on the historic brick streets to stop their removal. With the help of donors and pro-bono services of Ben Hall, they won at the court hearings. Now they are faced with the greater expense of legal fees to respond to appeals and possible trial. This struggle for the last 19 years has been emotionally stressful and placed a financial hardship on this community. Private citizens should not be expected to raise funds to protect vulnerable families from elected and appointed, so-called, “public servants.” There is an institutionalized racism in many cities where the happy buzz-words are “urban development." I fear for the future of many. Sometimes social activists, sometimes called "dogooders," can get in over their heads trying to help others. May./Aug. 2015 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 5 My summer internship Together we can eliminate racism and create a better future By Maryam Zayon The Center reaches out to individuals who want to learn more about racism and to explore their racial conditioning. Although we have overcome many discriminatory boundaries, racism still exists. When Cherry Steinwender invited me to be part of her team, I did not expect to learn so much about the behaviors of human beings. Personally, I have never been asked questions about my thoughts or feelings about a controversial topic like my race or racism. It felt good expressing my views about the way my people have been betrayed. It hurts to see my people denied certain privileges that people in the dominant group receive. Professionally, I have learned that presenting in front of a live audience is not as nerve wracking when I’m fully prepared and know the topic. Presenting in front of people is a fear that is real for many of us. I have learned that people cannot always tell when a speaker is nervous. I’ve realized that I can get over my fear by telling myself that no one knows what I’m about to present except me, so I can go for it. This piece of advice helped me co-present in two workshops with Cherry Steinwender. The Center was invited to present on the topic of cooperation at a workshop for young people at The Peace Camp, a program that has been conducted for 15 years. Cherry took me with her to the workshop, and to my surprise, asked me to present to the youth and children what cooperation meant to me personally. It meant a lot to me that she had trusted in me presenting what little I knew about cooperation. Her confidence alone gave me enough courage to stand up and introduce my definition of cooperation. I told them that cooperation means working together for a common purpose or benefit. The purpose of the exercise we organized that day was to express to the youth and children that working together can bring them higher benefits than competition. For example, with the help of individuals from all around the world, who come from different backgrounds, we can eliminate discrimination against one another and accept one another’s cultures and beliefs. Cherry had the group of children color a picture together. A group of six young adults and children would have to work together to color one picture. It was wonderful to see them working together in a calm manner, splitting each part they wanted to color. This experience taught me a lot about how easy it can be for individuals to work together to create something beautiful by just listening to one another. The Peace Camp’s second lesson was on the Beloved Community, a term coined by Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. I did the research so I could present it to the children. I asked them what they felt a Beloved Community would look like and then I asked them to draw it. It was wonderful to see the reactions of the children and youths’ faces as we spoke about the importance of respecting others and treating everyone with kindness. I must say the wisdom in the room at such early ages gave me hope for the future of humanity. I encourage you to come and visit The Center for the Healing of Racism and learn about the many ways you can get involved in your community. Together we can eliminate racism completely and create a better environment for the future. Center celebrates Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month By Chhaya P. Phatarpekar In celebration of this month, the Center screened the documentary, Waking in Oak Creek. The screening was graced by members from the Houston Community. We were fortunate to have the presence of several members of the Sikh Community for the screening. D r. H a r d a m A z a d a n d Attorney Manpreet Singh briefly explained Sikhism to the audience. In the discussion after the screening, Baljit Katial and Dr. Azad shared their experiences of the bias and racism in the United States. However, Mr. Katial went on to say that no community is perfect and that he is proud to be an American. He INTERNALIZE ONENESS Send us your email address! To eliminate mailing costs, the newsletter is no longer routinely printed and mailed. Send email addresses to [email protected] or to [email protected] said the United States is the only country that treats people with compassion. The audience also had a chance to process the documentary. Center for the Healing of Racism DIALOGUE:RACISM SERIES The Dialogue: Racism series is held in a supportive and honest setting. Information is provided at each session, followed by an opportunity for voluntary sharing. Facilitators say participants leave with a new understanding of racism, what they can do about it, and a sense of community with others of different backgrounds and life experiences. 6 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Martin Luther King Day, 2015 SUBMISSIONS Newsletter submissions are due the first week of the month before publication. Articles are accepted via email and may be edited for brevity or clarity. Send submissions to the Center's e-mail address. May./Aug. 2015 Continued from page 3 percent of wealth owned by the bottom 99 percent of adults is disproportionately distributed: only 5.5 percent of global wealth is shared by 80 percent of people in the world. Food Access: Food insecurity has increased since the Great Recession and held steady since then. American children and parents, especially poor, African American and Latino children are going hungry. A staggering 21% of people in Arkansas were rated as food insecure by the USDA from 2011-2013. Housing: Nor are our neighborhoods equally safe and prosperous. Comparing life expectancy between neighborhoods is a particularly stark way of realizing how far we CENTER FOR THE HEALING OF RACISM P.O. Box 27327 Houston, Texas 77227 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED are from King’s vision. Life expectancy for a baby born in the New Orleans French Quarter, for example, is about 25 years longer than for a baby born just a few miles away. Eradication of Jim Crow laws in the South improved premature mortality rates for black Americans in the South, but did not abolish them. Black Americans continue to have a two-fold higher risk of premature death than do white Americans. Education: Educational opportunity is far from Dr. King’s socially-healing vision. Indeed, a report from the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights reveals racial inequality in the nation’s educational system in many aspects of school life: in school discipline, early learning, college readiness and teacher equity. Before the Selma to Montgomery March, the organizers put out a call to people of all races and faiths to join the protest. People flocked to Selma from all over the nation to join the march and the movement. In his address at the end of the march, Martin Luther King, Jr. promised that it would be “not long” before the inequities of his day were abolished. But it has been too long and it is clear that it is time once again to draw inspiration from Selma’s legacy and link arms and march forward in every way we can, through research, clinical care, advocacy and political action to help bend the arc of history toward justice. It won’t happen without us. INTERNALIZE ONENESS NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID WEB SITE: WWW.CENTERHEALINGRACISM.ORG HOUSTON, TX PERMIT NO. 9170