Will Be Heard: the voices of mass incarceration

11/11

Mass incarceration panel

“Will be Heard: a performance and public conversation around mass incarceration in the United States” is the latest project of The Open Program of the Workcenterof Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards of Pontedara, Italy developed as part of this fall’s New York City residency. The performance piece emerged from extended conversations with formerly incarcerated people and a wide circle of community andadvicacy groups that relate to this issue.

Performing "Will Be Heard"

More than anything, “Will Be Heard” articulates and amplifies the voices of the people who shared their stories. The stories and commentary are interwoven, in a typical Open Center style, with work songs, spirituals and laments from the African Diaspora tradition. And in this performance piece, that is especially appropriate. What comes through beyond the pain and suffering inflicted on those in the corrections system is the reality of a “prison-industrial complex” through which prisoners lives are commodified. They are used to create commodities and become commodities themselves. In essence, the 13th Amendment allowed for the continuation of salvery by virtue of this clause which abolished slavery: "….except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted…."

The performance was followed by a wide and diverse panel of community persons involved with mass  incarceration from clergy to former Black Panthers to activists  calling for the closing of Riders Island. 

Among the points to emerge from the conversation were these:

• There is a direct connection between gentrification, police violence and mass incarceration
• When we buy products that come from the prison labor system, we are participating in “complicit consumption”
• The system runs on a plea bargain default whereby 90% of those incarcerated never had the opportunity for a  trial (Walter Puryear, Mid Bronx Senior Citizen Council and Andrew Freedman Home)
• Solitary confinement must be understood to be the essence of illegal “cruel and unusual punishment” (Wesley Caines, Bronx Defenders)
• Solitary confinement has been especially used against the 65 “Political prisoners” in the US, i.e., those who have been placed in solitary because of their “dangerous ideas” (BJ , Black Panther Commemoration Committee and Incarcerated Nation)
• There are very special effects of incarceration on young women and re-entry presents a real challenge as prison has been internalized. TabaithaRodriguez, (G.I.R.L.S. Achieving Incorprotion)
• Actors need to remember that they are human beings first and must always honor community (Dilson Hernandez, Urban Art Beat)
• The Stella Adler School of Acting has Rikers as one of its studios and its participants are students whose address is Rikers. We will not say “living” at Rikers.  Engaging in the experience of drama and theatre becomes transformative. (Joanne Edelman, Tom Oppenhgeim, Stella Adler School)
• The American Friends Service Committee, which has been involved in working with incarcerated persons for over 100 years, Wesleyan  University and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music have been working together on a “Hope Lives for Lifers” project.  A performance using the experience of incarceration and Dante’s Inferno is being prepared for December
• Most prisoners at Rikers, mainly black and brown, have never been convicted of a crime and are there primarily because of lack of bail money and/or  adequate legal representation. 
• Pastor (Rev.Dr.)Patricia Sealy’s Mott Haven Reformed Church was a stop on the Underground Railroad helping escaped slaves to freedom.

  

  Myrto, Robert, Mario and Pastor Sealy

  She reports:
• 2.7 million children with at least one parent in prison
• 43% have seen there parent(s) treated violently by th eploice
• 1/9 African American children have a incarcerated parent as opposed to 1/28 Hispanics and 1/59 whites
• In Kenya, the standard greeting is “Are the children well?“ To which our answer must be “no”
• We ‘ve now entered into intergenerational incarceration, a difficult pattern to break

More conversation and a dinner followed. 

While the Open Program has always had a commitment to justice and civic engagement, this is the most explicit engagement of an issue they have done in their New York City residencies. This exploration of the intersection of  beauty and justice and ethics and esthetics is an example of exactly what the Center at West Park has as its vision. It I stood to see new Executive and Artistic Director Zachary Tomlinson keeping that vision alive and continuing collaboration with artists like the Ope Center.

Transfiguration

2/7 

Pastor Bob and the Seed Group singers

Today is Transfiguration Sunday. The Seed Group is back again. They open our service with some songs. Concluding with Jeremy leading us in Light of the Lighthouse by Blind Willie Johnson

We read Psalm 99 and then LUKE 9:28-36 (37-43) . Following the gospel, Jeremy leads  us in the original camp meeting version of Glory, Glory Hallelujah. "Oh! Brothers will you meet me(3X)/On Canaan's happy shore?"^[1] and chorus "There we'll shout and give him glory (3x)/For glory is his own";^[2] this developed into the familiar "Glory, glory, hallelujah" chorus by the 1850s. 

 And then Jenna does a reading from Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Were Watching God where the town celebrates the arrival of the first street lamp in a colored (sic) town.

(https://books.google.com/books?id=_0GCRtuk63EC&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=zora+neale+Hurston+Jesus+the+Light+of+the+world&source=bl&ots=BAhUVQ6Fnm&sig=534t5oGlMSBI83awBlOCGm2V0CI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2gpO-1vbKAhVC2T4KHWrwDmkQ6AEIMTAD#v=onepage&q=zora%20neale%20Hurston%20Jesus%20the%20Light%20of%20the%20world&f=false) 

and we all sing Jesus the Light of the World…

And then time for reflection

TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY is one of those  “gateway” Sundays…like Christ the King (Advent), Ascension (Pentecost) It marks the culmination of a season, a time, before a new one begins…

This marks the end of the season of light…began with epiphany…the star, the aha! moment…the moment of getting it… the narrative since Christmas has followed Jesus’ journey of self-discovery, and in parallel, our  journey of discovery of our own calls…so we pause here…before a time of self-reflection, self-examination that will come with Lent..

And the topic is transfiguration, which defined is ….

a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state.

Well, alright then…

Transfiguration…words like

Shining   and Glory (from the latin Gloria ) that word alone has seven meanings…from high praise to God to magnificent beauty…

What is in the story?

Jesus on a mountaintop with Moses and Elijah…the law and the prophets…also Moses “shines” …Elijah is carried up into the heavens …(Elijah still has the capacity to come around…at brises…and Passover , we save a seat for him..and well, any time…)

How do the friends respond? Peter, always impulsive, wants to make the moment last…build three booths, so the guys can hang out…stay on the mountaintop…but they have to go back to work and immediately, Jesus has to deal with a demon…

When March madness ends in April with the national basketball championship, the song they always play with the tournaments’ video highlights is…one shining moment..

SO what?

1.     We all have those moments of glory. At least I hope we do…we don’t want to let go…the last night of Antigona, I almost cried as I watched each moment for the last time..wanting to hold on…I’ve had services here where I just wanted it  to end there…some recent Christmases., eg…but the next day, there;s work to be done,…you have to go back and start again…whoever wins the Suoer Bowl, next July will have to start all over again.

As I watch the videos of my first grand child, I remembered the birth of his father, that Is my first child…I want to tell him hold onto these moments, they’re gone  so fast… for just a moment, think clearly  in your head of your moment…what did that feel like?

2.     This story is in 3 of the gospels…but only Luke speaks of the apostles weighed down with sleep….why? These guys are not tired, they are exhausted..physically, mentally, emotionally….and Jesus keeps trying to tell them the worst is still ahead…

Luke is saying what it’s like…you solve one problem another one comes up..you fix one part of this old building, another issue appears..just when you think a moment of financial  peace Is here, something always happens….you come back for a great family trip  to Dublin,with two full week s of  August left to get ahead …and you fall and break five ribs…your day is carefully planned and one thing after another  goes wrong…you just want to sleep..or stay in bed…I almost feel Luke is thinking about depression…

But because they manage to stay awake, they catch this moment of glory…

When you feel like you can't go on…,.open your eyes wider…see what you see…

3.     Glory and transfiguration

Glory, glory halleliujah!...Jeremy gave us the ur source. of that familiar song.and I can tell you no one knows more about that sing than Jeremy…I still remember his play…all the variations, and the deviled eggs…but that’s another story….

Julia Ward Howe used this song fpr the battle hymn….I raised eyebrows the first time I used it on this Sunday….it was this verse..

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free*,^[14]
While God is marching on.

We’ve moved away from it’s militarism, no longer in our hymnbooks…but…for her the apocalyptic moment was apotheosis of the abolition movement and her sense of an apocalyptic moment in the struggle for human freedom…

Did you know Lincoln suffered from depression? What they called melancholia? Only when he saw a cause beyond himself, when slavery moved from a political issue to a sense of  call  could move beyond his depression….

Once we have seen or experienced those transfiguring  moments, they are always  there…their memory keep us going…and that going becomes more than going, which can only leave us exhausted, if we have a vision to move to …our personal dream or a cause beyond ourselves…

So …preparation for Lent…this week, before Ash Wednesday, write down your shining moment…see it clearly…have your  own mardi gras, or celebrate with others…and then on ash Wednesday, make list of the things that weigh you down, exhaust you, make you want to stay in bed…. And pray about them or meditate on them for 40 days…and then I’ll tell you what happens next….

Following the reflection, we share Eucharist together. And the service concludes with another selection of songs by our group, it's good to feel them moving closer to us.  And then time for a benediction and Amen.

                           ****

FIRST READING EXODUS 34:29-35

²⁹Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.³⁰When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. ³²Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; ³⁴but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

GOSPEL LUKE 9:28-36 (37-43)

²⁸Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³⁰Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. ³¹They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" — not knowing what he said. ³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. ³⁵Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" ³⁶When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

³⁷On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸Just then a man from the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. ³⁹Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. ⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." ⁴¹Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." ⁴²While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

Last Sunday with the Work center and Open Choir: Of Kingdoms and Kindoms

11/22

Work Center and Open Choir

^{Today is the last day of the residency of our Work Center friends at West-Park.  And today they will be joining us in worship once more. They are joining us for the Sunday that has traditionally been the last Sunday of the church year, Christ the King Sunday, or Reign of Christ Sunday. As well as the Sunday before Thanksgiving.}

^{Before the service, Felicita stops by to see me. She had not been able to be part of our shared vision conversation. She’s aware that changes are taking place at West-Park. That the building  is greatly improved. And improving. And that financial needs are great. One thing you must never lose, she says, this can never just become a rental space.  You cannot lose the spirit that has been here. This place is holy. Every time before we perform here, we sweep and mop the floors. We clean the pews, the cushions. It connects us with the space, like our home. It upsets me when I see people who just rent. Who come in, use, pay their money and leave. I can’t imagine this in a church in Italy. (I say something about government support…) She says, No, that is not what I mean. I am an ex-Catholic, I don’t know what I believe but I know the holiness of this space. What if all your renters, long term I mean, would take turns cleaning different spaces? Would that change how they feel? What if you gathered for a once a month meal, after working together? Is that too crazy? To care for the house you live in together and to share together. Like a community?  OK, those are my thoughts…}

^{Mario knows that I am opening the service with these words from Revelation:}

4bGrace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.

⁸"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

And has chosen their songs accordingly, songs from the American South, African-American work songs,field songs, call and response, spiritual, early gospel.  Weaving their bodies in a circling motion as they sing. 

The singing begins

When its my turn, I ask everyone to sing Come Ye Thankful People Come, and We Gather Together, traditional American Thanksgiving songs.

Then we reads the gospel, JOHN 18:33-37 and shared this reflection:

^{Do you know what a Caliphate is?  The group we know as ISIS calls the territory they already control the caliphate, a geographic territory.  Under their control in which Islamic law in its most extreme form. There are maps on the internet that show a territory that runs from Spain  and Portugal all the way across the Balkans, North Africa, the Middle East and into China. All the territory the Muslims once controlled reunited.  After that the Mahdi will arrive and the Messianic age will be ushered in with Jesus’ help.  That is the dream. Bear with me. This is not another anti-Muslim}   rant.

Next we get Greater Israel…all the land promised to Israel by God. The first, found in Genesis 15:18–21, seems to define the land that was given to all of the children of Abraham, including Ishmael, Zimran, Jokshan, Midian, etc. It describes a large territory, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates, comprising all of modern-day Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon,Syria, Jordan, and Iraq, as well as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Oman, Yemen, most of Turkey, and all the land east of the Nile river. Seems crazy. Obviously in direct conflict with the ISIS vision. But…for now, all of mandate Palestine seems to enough of a first step.

We’ll take a brief detour for the crusaders’ campaign to recapture all the territory that had once been Christian. They actually did create the empire of Jerusalem ruling over 350,000 Jews, Muslims and Eastern Christians…

And how can we forget the Holy Roman Empire? That lasted almost 1000 years and ran from the Baltic and North Seas to the Mediterranean? Prague, Rome, Budapest? The last remaining gasps of the original Roman Empire now under the sign of the cross? The emperor elected but needing the sign off of the pope to be official.

Or the Treaty of Tordesillas where the pope divided up the world between Portugal and Spain? The Spanish arriving with la cruz y la espada…the cross and the sword….it’s not a far leap from that Philippians passage….. ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And before I stop, let’s throw in the plan supported by US and Australian fundamentalist Christians  to blow up the dome of the rock in Jerusalem so that the Third Temple can be built.

Empires. Kingdoms.  How can we even talk about Christ the King in 2015? Years ago, I wanted to explore this from a feminist perspective which is how Katherine Kurs came here to work with us for 10 years. Now it’s the kingdom part that worries me.

Those who have been in our Bible Study know that Wes Howard-Brook in his Come Out my People….says that there are two religions in the Bible…not Judaism and Christianity but that of Creation and Covenant and that of Empire. They are in constant tension from beginning Genesis to Revelation’s end.

And that’s the conflict we look at today in the storyof Jesus’ conversation with Pilot. The emperor asks of Jesus,  "Are you the King of the Jews?" ³⁴Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" ³⁵Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"³⁶Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." ³⁷Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

Bottom line…Jesus says his kingdom  is not of this world…if it were armed rebels would be in the house…

So what does he mean? More and more, I’m thinking he’s asking us not to sign up for rebel armies..but to create communities of resistance….what does that mean? Like the African- American communities that created the music our friends sing, communities of liberated space where the kingdom, no kindom, already exists. A community in, but not of the world…

What would that look like? Feel like? I’m not completely sure but I know that anyone walking in would immediately feel so that’s what this place is… How would we build that? Create that? It would begin by believing it was possible and by beginning to act as if it already existed..

So how then would we relate to the kingdom of this world, this empire? I’m not exactly sure…..to black lives  matter and refugees and migrants and income inequality?

Still working on that…I suppose if we got the first part going, the second part would follow…and I know this…it means not allowing any other power or authority to command our ultimate  allegiance.. it’s a way of life, not assent to a theological proposition…knowing you don’t get to the empty cross of resurrection without the embodied cross of the crucifixion.. it is ultimately that act of solidarity that welcomes in  new reality, it is humility, not triumph…

AMEN

The Work Center Open Choir leads us in more songs, singing, weaving, …

and as I watch Jenna, I understand that at it’s highest level, several of the choir members are creating and embodying characters, that character allowing for a deeper level of experience than even the singing and dancing. Having them with us again has been as always a moving experience. In more ways than one.

Felicita, Bob, Mario, Jeremy and Myrto

We stand together in a circle. Make our blessings and sing Amen. Until the next time….

Mario, Rachel and John

Creative Communities and Active Culture: At the Crossroads of Performative Competence and Social Change (part 1). A public conversation

2/19

In song and motion

Lee checking in about her rehearsals.  Marc has questions. Jeremy and friends getting set up for tonight’s event with the Open Center.

I’m off for a planning meeting of our Palestine film series.

I’ve actually managed to come up with a flier for tonight, based on who will be here:

Are you an artist?

Is your art an expression of your spirit?

Do beauty and justice go together?

Does your art affirm life?

Are art and community holy in some way?

Let's do it!

We are interested in finding a circle of artists who would be interested in coming together to explore in a lab setting what could be new experiences of  ritual/liturgy/shared performance in the context of a building with a deep and rich spiritual and social history. Open to the deep roots and flights of fancy, free to move where the spirit leads…

If you are interested, please leave us your information:

Name__________________________________  E-mail____________________

Discipline __________________________

The Center at West-Park:  Dream. Real. Hard.

West-Park Church:  Just. Love

When I arrive, the program is already in full swing. The deep and low songs of the African diaspora American south filling the front of the sanctuary the singers moving back and forth and towards one another  in an ever changing yet coherent circle. I’m happy to see all my Dzieci friends have joined in as well.The singing and movement goes on for nearly an hour and a half. Mesmerizing. Stirring.

Jeremy, Lloyd and I do brief introductions. Mine includes the socio-religious- artistic history of the church. Including my interest in the intersection of beauty and justice, ethics and aesthetics.

Then we broke for food and conversation.

What a series of conversations I had. These included:

* A young Mexican accordionist with a grant to develop theatre on the border and his dramatic dancer partner

* A young Ukrainian who is part of a choir who also collaborates with a Georgian choir that sings ancient church music who is interested in fundraising for displaced persons in the Ukraine. And who also was a volunteer with Bread & Puppet

* A couple working with Native Americans in choral and theatrical work, finding a group of Lenni Lanape, the original people of Long Island.

* A woman from Chile, doctoral student at Columbia working with indigenous people in the rain forest of Ecuador.

*Several dancers and choreographers

* Several clowns and puppeteers

* An accountant

* People from Italy, Brazil, Germany, Latin  America, eastern Europe…

ALL seeking a community in which to pursue spirit led ritual, community, spiritual and social transformation...And to my flier, I received 14 responses from the 50-60 gathered. I feel it was an important and good night.

Obviously what is needed is good follow up, but this illustrates that there is a market for the church and center we could become. All were here for the first time and all came as a result of word of mouth or social media. If done right, a revived church and center can come into being.

Kind of night that brings hope.