My cell took a field trip this week, and it got me thinking about identity. Vicki is a 5th grade teacher at Grover Cleveland Elementary School at 19th & Erie Ave, and she helped organize a celebration of Black History Month called “Identity: Who Are You?”.
It was pretty amazing, full of great moments in kids performing songs, dances, readings, and skits. There were lots of meaningful readings mixed in, even a singing of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing (not quite as good as this Kim Weston version)-which was quite moving for me to hear children singing out “We have come over a way that with tears have been watered/We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered”…man. It gives me goosebumps thinking about it. We have a long way to go, but we sure have been on the journey a while.
The question was repeated several times in different contexts- “who are you?” I’m grateful for the students and teachers of Cleveland Elementary to be so boldly asking and the students for offering such brilliant responses.
Who are you? Who do you identify with? What do you identify as? Is it your occupation? Your role in your family? Your relationship status? Your ethnic group? The brand of clothes you wear? The sports that you’re good at? In some comparison to others?
I don’t always know how to answer that question well. Even as I’m sorting through who I am, I find peace Jesus’ words in John 15. I want to find who I am not just living in Christ, but Christ living in me. I want to find who I am through us living in Christ, and Christ living in us.
Through lifting our hearts,
Through lifting our songs we learn
A new way to hear
A lot of us were asking that question yesterday at the Afropunk viewing. There are a lot of issues with race and racial identity that Afropunk brings up. It’s not always easy and clear-cut. But I was hopefully encouraged this morning at the Cell leader training when I was reminded about Christian unity in Jesus. He’s living in us, and we’re following him. Very good.