Davis, who works for gender and racial justice, was the guest last week on the ‘A Matter of Faith’ podcast
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
Samantha Davis is Associate for Gender, Racial and Intercultural Justice in Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries. (File photo by Rich Copley)
LOUISVILLE — For people and congregations wondering how to get started in their push for justice for people of color, women and the queer community, “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” featured the perfect guest last week: Samantha Davis, the associate for Gender, Racial and Intercultural Justice in the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries.
Each week, Simon Doong and the Rev. Lee Catoe host the podcast. Go here to listen to their conversation with Davis, who appears at the 20:30 mark.
According to Davis, individuals can start by asking themselves this: Who and what am I connected with? Each of us, “regardless of your race, gender or sexual orientation, has our own story, and those stories are powerful and connect us to the larger issue,” Davis said.
Churches seeking a more justice-oriented ministry can also assess themselves to discover “how we have been harmed by the social ills that we see … Make sure you’re doing the work to educate yourself or your congregation,” and then follow the lead of “what are the issues marginalized folk in our communities and our churches are going through, and how can we be an ally to them?”
Most change occurs at the local level because “that’s where relationships are possible,” Davis said. Change occurs “through individual personal relationships … That’s how we can make some progress forward,” when we’re “assessing what’s happening locally and making those connections.”
“Lean into curiosity,” Davis suggested. “Certainly, don’t take … what you read in news outlets and run with it.”
Catoe wondered: How do people of faith living in rural communities start building relationships with people or groups with similar aims?
Remember, Davis replied: You’re already in relationships with people, including longtime friends, family members, associates and acquaintances, colleagues and fellow church members. Who’s “doing the work to deepen that relationship, doing the work to check in on one another,” seeing “how people are and asking questions and actually wanting the answer?” We can ask, “How can I support what’s impacting you?” and “what conversations are happening in this world? Let’s work with each other to unpack and learn and do the work.”
Start with the people who are in arm’s reach, Davis said. “Deepen that relationship with them. Bring them into the conversation, or enter the conversation that they’re having … If there’s an issue that you are interested in and you want to go out and meet new people and learn, I would say, find local organizations and groups in your community and see what they have … That could be a way to show interest, deepen your understanding and deepen those relationships with new people.”
“I appreciate that you’ve challenged us to think about what it means to be curious,” Doong told Davis, “but also to be uncomfortable … The solution is likely not always going to just be, write a check. It can’t be just write a check if you’re trying to build relationships with folks.”
“A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” with the Rev. Lee Catoe and Simon Doong drops each Thursday.
“You can also write a check, though,” Davis said, adding the phrase “productive discomfort” to the conversation. In talk about justice work, “one of the reasons inequities and disparities continue to thrive is because we’ve all been conditioned to think about groups in certain ways. When our ideas are being challenged, it feels like a part of our identity is being challenged, and therefore it causes some discomfort.” But as human beings, “we seek comfort. We seek safety, and sometimes we conflate being uncomfortable with not being safe.”
That’s why Davis likes “to challenge people to push that, to really sit with, is this a safety issue or a comfort issue? … That’s where we grow. That’s where we’re able to identify the differences and the needs … It is those people who you have to be willing to engage in those productive and yet uncomfortable conversations with if we’re going to find a starting place and move towards justice.”
Being “open and honest using your story is a place to create space,” Davis said, “and it’s something that people can start doing immediately.”
Turning to possible financial impacts, Davis said people in justice spaces aren’t looking for payments as charity. “We’re asking for money and other resources as a redistribution of power and resources to marginalized communities,” Davis said. In addition to supporting those communities financially, the question can become, “How am I now going to be in partnership, in relationship, in solidarity with these communities versus writing a check and doing nothing more?” If you do write a check, make it without strings attached, Davis recommended. “Trust the people [in whom] you are investing,” Davis said, “to know that they know what is best for them.”
Churches have traditionally played one of two roles when marginalized communities fight for justice, Davis said. They have either perpetuated “the harm and the hoarding of resources in communities, or they have been places of safety, a safe haven for people” where churches share responsibilities and resources. For faith communities with brick-and- mortar facilities, that sharing can include how the space can be used, and by whom. A clear-eyed assessment includes “looking at how some of your actions and policies are doing the opposite of what you might want to do in terms of supporting the community,” Davis said.
In addition to serving as a resource to mid councils and congregations working to further social justice, Davis said Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries is also “building a network of white allies who are interested in doing this work alongside us.” Learn more here. Davis can be reached here.
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