Ancestar Altar
Honoring our Black UU Women Who Have Died & Guide Us from Beyond
If you'd like, this meditation music by Chantress Seba can be played while you visit the altar. Feel free to speak their names out loud, followed by a blessing, like "Ashe" or "Watch Over Us", as you are comfortble.
Thank you. May their life and legacy continue to bless us.
Lifespan Reflections
Honor and Homage by Director Crystal
It is vital that Black communities, especially young people, understand the importance of honoring our elders and ancestors. We have immense and persistent generational gaps, yet the light is lost within those gaps. The thought that there will be zero gaps is perhaps a misplaced goal. Our life experiences create a mosaic of hindrances and opportunities alike. We just need to let the light in, so it can dance around the blooming flowers and new babbling streams, right? But too much light and we will have wilted buds and widespread drought. What happened? Generational patterns were repeated, habits passed down like heirlooms, patterns of toxicity, predispositions to unhelpful ways of being... There is absolutely such a thing as too much light. This represents the scenario where there is absolutely no difference from one generation to the next. No innovation. No cycles broken. Co-dependency is the norm. Etc., etc.
To envision a world with zero gaps between generations, take one hand and make a circle with your fingers. Squeeze it closed into a fist. There is zero light inside. Now, if you take that same fist and allow it to widen into a circle, you have your very own mini telescope. Add two hands and you have homemade binoculars. Now, there is vision and, best of all, there will be light! Let there be light! We do not have to strive for a closed fist with no light, nor should we think that we will be able to use a flat hand to gain vision. A flat hand has zero directionality. The best of the two worlds is a little gap, where the light can shine through, a lot of hope, and a lot of respect. We can close those gaps between us by taking our time to ask questions and to truly strive for understanding. To be seen and heard is the greatest gift.
"Elders are just young ancestors, and they deserve the same type of honor."
-- Rev. Crystal, Director
What is Elderhood? by Emeritus Elder Director Qiyamah
In the Black community elders are revered for having accomplished seniority and survived life’s adversities in the face of societal oppression. They are treated as persons of worth. Elders are honored as repositories of wisdom and resourceful contributors to the community as well as recipients of care. The Black community operates from a sense of “peoplehood” and an appreciation of shared history, shared culture, and shared challenges. Elders are valued as important bearers of the history and culture, and as meaningful participants in the community, and as the go-to for care and the receivers of care. A healthy community cultivates cross-generational relations as the context for this to happen, reclaiming a communal ethic wherein all generations are seen as connected parts of a kinship circle. Elders carry and retain informative stories, and concrete examples of overcoming adversity and concrete suggestions, and questions for reflection, and how to “keep on keeping on” through the good times and the challenging times.
Elders are the wisdom keepers and the culture bearers. Their wisdom enables them to illuminate the path and approach opportunities and threats. They can offer insights in ways to think about and look at life for the possibilities of exploring alternatives. Many elders have contemplated their own mortality and therefore can rationally help others come to grips with the fact that we are always moving toward death with each breath as each day passes.
Given the immense importance and presence of elders they ultimately have the power and ability to regulate relationships in a community. However, this can only occur when elders are bestowed recognition, respect and power.
How might we, as Black Unitarian Universalist women and girls, sanction and promote the beauty and respect of our elders in our congregations and in the larger UU community?