Arriving

After the long flight from London, we arrived at the Cape Town, South Africa, airport at 6:30 this morning (Thursday). What a pleasant place to begin this pilgrimage! There is almost a small town feel: no crowds, just a wave to get through customs, and friendly faces everywhere.

First impressions are always subject to revision, but Cape Town has the look and feel of a multi-cultural city that is both confident and relaxed in that identity. I heard many languages from many cultures as we walked to lunch and saw every shade from white to the darkest brown.

But I was drawn to the faces, silently asking whether I would see myself among these people. Asking whether the heritage that I embody would be welcome. Will this be a homecoming, or will I be a stranger in a strange land. I think I will be asking those questions in all the places we will visit. But the easy "good morning's" I exchanged with those I passed could have taken place at a Sinkford family reunion as easily as in Cape Town.

This afternoon we had a long lunch with Rev. Roux Malan of the Cape Town Unitarian Church. The congregation was called together by Rev. David Faure, a Dutch Reformed minister who rejected the strong Calvinism (predestination and human sinfulness) of that tradition. He was promptly excommunicated and formed what is now the Cape Town Unitarian Church in the late 19th century. In the 20th century, the Dutch Reformed Church was a primary supporter of apartheid. In recent years, that church has issued a public apology for that support.

Tomorrow we attend a mass led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the St. George Cathedral. He has invited us to have coffee with him after the service.

The trip is off to a good start.

The journey has begun

The pilgrims are now in London as we await the continuation of our fight to Cape Town, South Africa. We're filled with anticipation and great hope for the opportunities before us. Over dinner, before departure, we talked about how much we have to learn from leaders in various social justice causes: from Truth and Reconciliation leaders, from HIV-AIDS activists, from LGBT leaders and many others. We reflected on the gratitude we feel for the chance to develop closer relationships with our Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist colleagues here. And, we began to explore the complex thoughts and feelings that are present for each of us at the prospect of visiting Goree Island. Our hearts are full, and our excitement is great

The flight out of Boston was somewhat delayed, which meant we had the good fortune to hear some very early election results before we boarded the plane. The outcome was still far from certain, however, until the pilot announced that Barack Obama had been elected our next President just before we touched down in London. The passengers offered a round of applause at the news.

After arrival, I saw the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki , on television offering his poignant congratulations saying, "We the Kenyan people are immensely proud of your Kenyan roots. Your victory is not only an inspiration to millions of people all over the world, but it has special resonance with us here in Kenya." I'm sure that the results of the US election will add a special quality to our visits during this journey, especially those in Kenya.

So, its on to Cape Town shortly. We'll post more to the blog after we've arrived. Please continue to hold us in your warm thoughts and prayers.

Preparing for the Pilgrimage to Africa

When President Sinkford invited me to join his pilgrimage to Africa, I accepted without hesitation. The goals and itinerary for the journey are exciting and full of possibility. I am eager for the opportunity to help build new bridges in our global community and to support people who are working to strengthen communities in Africa. It will be an honor to meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu and to hear him speak of “Truth and Reconciliation.”

In January Rev. Rosemary Bray-McNatt shared a DVD with me about the growth of UU congregations in African countries, as she prepared for her visit to Kenya. What synchronicity! Now as I prepare to leave on our journey I hope to get answers to questions such as these:

· What is universal in Unitarian Universalism?
· How is UU theology expressed in other cultural settings?
· Does having chosen to be part of a UU spiritual community give one a shared identity? How will it feel to recognize each other this way?
· What about my dual cultural identities, African & American? How will these parts of myself meet each other in Africa? How will these dual identities meet African people in their homelands?

I have traveled to Africa three times with my husband and our scuba diving club. On each trip, I found a part of myself that I did not know was missing. In Morocco (1988, 1989), a country with incredible contrasts between the pristine Saharan Desert and lush Mediterranean valleys, the ancient medinas and bustling modern cities, I found a sense of place that I did not know was missing. It came from this: we were often asked what tribe we were from. We’d reply, "the United States." Then the Moroccans would say, "Yes, but what tribe are you from?" They recognized that we shared a connection to people and families on the African continent, but we could not answer the question.

We traveled to Egypt (1992) because the Red Sea is a world class dive destination. I took 22 rolls of film and a hardback journal. Knowing this was a significant journey, I had everyone in our group make an entry in the book and I wrote every day. Even with that, I was not prepared for what would happen. The Egyptian experience freed me psychologically by giving me first hand exposure to pre-colonial history and African countries as leaders on the world stage. I moved from a limited westernized version of history to a global inclusive one. I returned to the states angry and thinking more critically about who is telling the story and how we in the US are educated not to know the history of Africa and the many contributions that Africa and Africans have made to the world.

Sixteen years have passed since then. I have changed a lot. This journey will be very different. There’s a different purpose: a UU invitation. There are different countries: South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria. There are different travelers: President Rev. Bill Sinkford and his wife Maria, Rev. Eric Cherry and me as a lay leader. I hope to get to know my fellow travelers and to be a guest as well as a global citizen. This pilgrimage will be a life-changing experience.

Thoughts on getting ready for our trip

It is Sunday, November 2, 2008 and I am just suddenly realizing in a very physical way that we are going to be leaving for Africa in two days. The many, many immunizations didn’t make it real. Picking out the clothes to pack didn’t make it real. But reading some of the writings Eric Cherry, who has coordinated all the planning for the trip, has provided for us has finally gotten through to me, in particular the writings by the Rev. Brian Kiely for his blogposts during his trip to Nairobi, Kenya for the ICUU Africa Leadership Conference.

Brian eloquently describes his impressions, conversations, and, most importantly for me, his fears and his inadequacies. He admits that his knowledge of Kenyan history and politics is not deep. It is an understatement to say that my knowledge of the history and politics of the six countries we will visit is inadequate. I can only hope that I can bring to this trip the eyes of a mother and a social worker. My hope is that I will be able to remain open to all the new sights and experiences I will encounter.

My past experiences of meeting Africans from many countries have come from attending gatherings of Religions for Peace. The most recent was the G-8 Summit for religious leaders in Sapporo, Japan in July. The language used at Religions for Peace meetings is that these are gatherings of brothers and sisters meeting together to promote peace and greater understanding in the world. I am very fond of that language. I feel that it speaks to the effort to promote our commonalities, not our differences. I hope to be able to see these commonalities during our travels and be able to relate them to those who read our blogposts.

One last thing. I didn’t get a chance to go with Bill and our daughter, Danielle, when they went to India and Chad, so I am especially grateful to be included on this trip. As hard as it will be for me to go to Île de Gorée as a white person, I think it will be even harder for Bill when he sees where his ancestors experienced the horror of their enslavement. I want to be there to support him as he has that experience. And finally, I want to thank all of you for the support and encouragment you have given me about this trip.

Getting Ready

I'm writing on Sunday morning, November 2, in the final stages of preparation for the trip. The vaccinations are complete, visa's received, meetings and appointments confirmed, air and ground travel arrangements made. I've read some history and some current events. All that remains is to pack the clothes and, physically, I'll be ready to begin the pilgrimage.

The spiritual preparation continues. In South Africa we'll be meeting with leaders of the Truth and Reconciliation process, not only hoping to understand that process more deeply, but also hoping to learn what these leaders can help us see about the need for both truth and reconciliation in our own country. The visits with Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist groups in both east and west Africa will bring us into contact with our co-religionists who live and worship in very different cultural and economic circumstances. Our social service partners will, I hope, deepen our understanding of the impact of the HIV/Aids pandemic. And the pilgrimage to Goree Island takes us to the harbor where some of my relatives may have left Africa for the Middle Passage.

Each part of the journey will require openness to the experience as it unfolds. My spiritual preparation has centered on that openness, on quieting my preconceptions. I have to have faith, to trust, that I will learn what I am supposed to learn on this journey, even if those learnings don't fit perfectly with my hopes.

As an African American, the continent of Africa has a special power for me. Although on neither side of my family tree can I trace my ancestry far back into the days of slavery, I know that I stand on the shoulders of my African ancestors who survived so much. This pilgrimage will bring me into contact with my personal history. I am both excited and anxious as I prepare for this encounter.