Resurrection - Week Three
LIBERATION LECTIONARY
Resurrecting Space
“As we push forward together we must be mindful of the past and strategic about the future.” - Where are the Black Designers? Team
Scripture: Psalm 68
Key Verses Psalm 68:3-10
The righteous are glad; They rejoice before God and celebrate with joy! Sing to God! Sing praises to the Lord. Exalt the one who rides on the clouds. Rejoice before the Holy one, whose name is Yahweh. Our God, who dwells in holiness, Leaves no one an orphan, Champions the widows, Settles the unsettled in a home, Leads out the prisoners to prosperity, While the rebellious live in a scorched land. God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the desert, The earth trembled and the skies poured down rain Before God, the God of Sinai, Before God, the God of the people. You, God, showered abundant rain; You revived Your inheritance when it languished. Your people settled in it; God, You provided for the poor by Your goodness.
MEDITATION MUSIC: When God is in the Building
Listen to this song and let it remind you of where you are, where God is, and how you sense the Spirit both holding and sharing space. What does it mean for God to move by their power? What does it mean for you to have access to God’s grace? When you take time to feel The Spirit, how does that change your relationship to the space you are in?
Experience the song on YouTube Here :: When God is in the Building, The Pace Sisters
Lawal Mayowa
Lesson: Good Space is Godspace: Innovation, Design
“We exist to heal, support, amplify, and make space for the entire spectrum of Black creativity while also decolonizing design through education and wellness resources, events, partnerships, and collaborations. Additionally, by connecting designers, educators, and creative leaders, we host a dialogue about change, both in and out of the design industry through our annual conference.” from Where Are the Black Designers? Website
In Heather McGhee’s book, The Sum of Us, she tells the story of The Fairgrounds Park public pool in St. Louis: "When a new city administration changed the parks policy in 1949 to allow Black swimmers, the first integrated swim ended in bloodshed. On June 21, 200 white residents surrounded the pool with 'bats, clubs, bricks, and knives" to menace the first 30 or so Black swimmers. Over the course of the day, a white mob that grew to 5,000 attacked every Black person in sight around Fairground Park." The pool closed for good a few years later.
McGhee writes; “Designers who care about issues of justice and equity have an opportunity to create the conditions where they're the clients and the initiators of projects that aim to design environments that can empower communities of color.”
In an interview, linked below, she expands on this idea and challenges local governments to “Spend on social infrastructure to create the kinds of public goods that are about space for people to meet and about socioeconomic and racial diversity and integration, whether that's libraries or pools or other public spaces of recreation and citizenship. There's inequality around tree cover and shade and, in urban places that are heat traps or rural areas where air conditioning is prohibitively expensive, it's actually going to be more and more important to rebuild the public pool.”
In the Bible’s accounts called the Gospels, Jesus visits a public pool in an urban area called Bethsaida. Many people who are not feeling well are brought there to spend the day. He makes his way around the pool area, meeting new people, teaching, and having fellowship with them.
What if the futures we deserve have some link dignifying our awareness of the past, as well as boldly challenging the structures that our ancestors warned us to flee from?
Picture the places we long to live in. What designs are there? What is calling to us from our visions of new life in places where life has seemed not worth the plans to make things new. God’s plans are always in place, always available. Will we connect as a people, share our designs, and make this resurrection power life happen?
SOURCES
Architects and designers can improve the public good, from infrastructure to housing. ARTICLE
14 Black Architects You Should Know - ARTICLE
Where Are the Black Designers? https://www.watbd.org/