DETROIT, Mich. — In spite of some initial trepidation, attending the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been an invigorating experience for Phyllis Smith, of Buckingham County, Va .
“I wasn’t sure about coming,” Phyllis ruminated. “But, by the time I got off the plane and saw the group of Presbyterians waiting to meet me, I was rejuvenated. All the energy I thought I didn’t have rushed back into my body.”
Growing up black in a small rural area of Virginia in the years of segregation left Phyllis with a sense of isolation, a sense of being hidden in a cocoon. “We learned to stay in our own small world out of fear. I always thought I would always live in that rural area, just like the rest of my family.”
It was a world that said she was different. After all she didn’t ride the same bus or attend the same school as the white children. “And, there were signs everywhere that reminded me that I was different. My father worked at a white school, and sometimes we would get off the bus and help him at the school – so we knew. We also knew that when you stepped outside the cocoon, it could be dangerous and intimidating. It was better to stay safe in the cocoon that family and church created for us.”
After meeting her husband in college, Phyllis was confronted with the need to move out of that comfort zone as her husband accepted employment in New Jersey. “I never intended to move, and I went to New Jersey under protest even though I loved him and would have followed him anywhere.”
Although trained as a teacher, Phyllis wanted to find employment that would not require her to bring paperwork home with her in the evening. She eventually found employment with the U.S. Postal Service and worked there until her retirement. Her place of employment forced her to come outside of the cocoon, and she was stimulated by the diversity. It was exposure to a world she had never imagined. “I was working there and could see the World Trade Center and then to watch it fall,” she noted.
In this context, Phyllis realized she didn’t have any street smarts yet there was something bred in her that caused her to thrive. “I knew who I was, and I would not compromise my integrity. I had my head screwed on straight.”
As her children arrived, Phyllis wanted them to attend Sunday school. “I grew up Baptist, but when I moved to New Jersey I found myself bored with the local congregations so I would slip in and creep back out.”
In a group of young mothers, she learned of a local Presbyterian church just down the street. “I would take my children to church and wait for them. However, I was impressed by the woman who welcomed us in and registered the children. On one Sunday, I decided to stay for worship.”
Unfortunately, that church closed its doors when the neighborhood changed and there weren’t enough people to keep it open. After its closure, the group of people who remained started to visit other congregations in the area. Finally, the group found one that appealed to most of the remnant.
“They brought in a pastor from Ghana, and with his leadership the church really thrived. We were already trained soldiers for the Lord, and he was our general. He took this small band, and we became an army. He knew a lot of African immigrants and unchurched. He brought them in, and we trained them. It was a process of building a church, and it really enhanced my life.”
In the context of the church, she was amazed at the diversity even among the blacks. “It was like a diaspora with people from all countries. Even those of us with African descent had a great deal of diversity since we came from all over – Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Liberia and Jamaica. We were all black, but that is all we had in common.”
As part of this outreach, Phyllis was asked to serve as a lay speaker. “He recognized a gift in me that I never knew I had. I was scared, but I did it. As a result, I began to grow and thrive.”
After many years of living in this diverse context and the death of her husband, Phyllis made the decision to return to Buckingham County. “After returning, I realized how even now your growth is stunted. It is like going back to a closed world – just like it always was with little change. When I told my family I was coming to Detroit, they told me it would be too challenging. They even scared me, and made me doubt.”
In the context of the rural South, Phyllis encountered attitudes that still make her feel like a second class citizen. “When I go to the local doctors it makes me really uncomfortable. I still find myself wondering if he is looking at me as an ‘N’ word. I never know if I am receiving the best care. I worry with every process that maybe they just don’t care about me,” she lamented. “The attitude still lurks, and you don’t know where it is. And worse still, it’s hidden even now in our churches.”
In speaking about her hopes and dreams for the elimination of racism in the world, Phyllis said she reflects on a book she read when studying young adult literature. “In The Giver, there was no color. Everything was gray from sameness and no babies were born. This was the image of life with no diversity – everything is gray.”
For Phyllis the need for everything to be the same is beyond her understanding. “Even small things like food need to be the same. There is no sense of adventure.”
In the reading of the overtures to her committee, they mentioned the story of when Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, and it sparked the urge for Phyllis to preach: “There was Lazarus, all wrapped up in clothes, still bound up. Jesus said, ‘unbind him and let him go free.’ That’s how I see the issue of racism, we are all bound up. We need to be set free. It’s a constant process, and it’s not comfortable, but we need to challenge ourselves. Getting to where God wants you to be is not easy. You constantly need to submit yourself and walk with Christ.”
In Phyllis’ mind, the United States should not be a melting pot. Instead, she sets forth the image of the stew pot. “The stew pot is loaded with vegetables and meat that all retain their own identity, but each of them adds a flavor that makes the stew much richer in flavor.”
1 Comment. Leave new
Just wish to say your article is as astonishing.
The clarity in your post is just nice and i could assume you are an expert
on this subject. Well with your permission let
me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post.
Thanks a million and please continue the rewarding work.