Langston Hughes’ famed poem “Mother to Son” portrays an African-American mother encouraging her son to persevere in the face of life’s difficulties. Born in 1902 in Joplin, Mo., Hughes gives voice to the struggles of black mothers seeking to thrive in a world that is often fraught with obstacles and difficulties.
“Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair,” she tells her son as she describes the difficulties she has overcome, while assuring him he can do the same.
This poem always has resonated with me, but not because I know much about climbing the staircase of life that is covered with tacks and protruding splinter. Most of the tacks and splinters from my staircase are still in the soles of my grandparents’ feet, whose tireless efforts have made my climb a lot more bearable.
But I do know something about the power of a mother encouraging her children to keep going when life gets hard. I grew up with that kind of mother. She always encouraged us and instilled a belief in us that our lives mattered, to stand up for ourselves and speak our truths. And to never, ever, let anyone take us off course.
My forthcoming book published by Chalice Press and the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE), “Ferguson and Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community,” explores some of the roles that St. Louis area clergy and congregations played in the aftermath of Michael Brown Jr.’s death. It challenges us to consider the role of the church today in the quest for racial justice.
In one of my clergy interviews for the book, Rabbi Susan Talve reflects on the movement for racial justice through the lens of her experiences of raising children. She said “We [baby boomers] were the ones that raised our children to believe that they could change the world, and that’s what they’re doing.”
I now wonder, in the midst of this movement for racial justice, if a reversal of sorts is afoot. Instead of the elders telling young people to “keep on keeping on” in the face of life’s difficulties, the young are calling out to the elders to come out and join in the struggle.
It has largely been our twenty-something-year-old daughters and sons who have picked up the torch for justice and held it high for all to see. This is why there are organizations like FTE that cultivate diverse young leaders and encourage intergenerational conversations and action that help build beloved communities. It is through the bold actions of this movement of leaders that we begin to create justice for all God’s people.
Young activists are determined to let us know we cannot go back to business as usual – even in our faith communities. They have beckoned us to a new kind of awakening about their realities that we can no longer pretend we don’t see.
This past Easter, several young activists held silent protests outside of three local churches. The point of these protests was to encourage these congregations to stand with them in the fight for racial justice. They were calling upon their elders to join in their fight for human dignity.
We must encourage our pastors, our reverends, and our elders to go beyond the four walls of the church and actively do God’s work in the real world – a notion that FTE not only supports, but also encapsulates as a major theme in its upcoming Christian Leadership Forum in June.
Our children and young people are calling on us, the elders in our community, to stand with them and speak truth to the powers that be. They are telling us the truths about their experiences of living as young black people in today’s world, and the widespread injustices they suffer beg a response. Many of them already are standing firm in the struggle. Now they are encouraging us to stand up on their behalf, and speak out in all of our areas of influence. Mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, teachers, pastors, and community leaders – all are being called to this task.
Many have heeded the call, but there is plenty of room for more. As a mother of two beautiful black sons, I was far less concerned about being celebrated this Mother’s Day than I was about making sure all of our children have a reason to celebrate.
I am more concerned about carrying on traditions of black mothers and fathers throughout history that were determined to stand up and fight on our behalf so we could all live into a future filled with hope.
I wonder what the history books will say about us.
Leah Gunning Francis, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Christian education at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis.
