Threads of Black Advocacy: Faith, Wisdom, and Community

Every February, we take space to center the historically silenced and erased stories and experiences of Black Americans. We learn from marginalized perspectives to broaden our understanding of humanity and reframe how society approaches difference and identity. We insist on the right to speech, which is therefore a right to claim the world — to change and influence the world. We believe in this as the key to community, unity, and prosperity.

City Voices hosted Black History Month Community Circle: Stories of Being Black in America with speakers Evelyn, Renee, Denise, Carmela, and Paul, moderated by Nathalie and me. From this conversation, here is what we can learn:

1) Spirituality

The message of religiosity and spirituality was a strong motif throughout the entire conversation. The Black American community — also a largely Christian community — is shaped by its historical reliance on faith traditions as sources of resistance, communal identity, political mobilization, and personal survival in the face of systemic oppression.

Equally important is the environment from which this faith arises. A common thread in our panelists’ stories was turning to religion for comfort and strength, born out of the absence of any other form of support from the people and communities they hoped would provide it. This is not uncommon in the Black community as a whole. Black Americans have endured generational cycles of exclusion from community. Religion therefore provided a foundation and a means to ground oneself when there was seemingly nothing else to hold on to.

What is important to take away is not simply the presence of faith, but the act of finding something larger than oneself to anchor meaning and create a sense of purpose beyond immediate hardship—a reminder of how to keep going during the worst of times.

2) Teaching

With many fundamental rights and opportunities withheld from them, Black Americans continue to cultivate a practice and belief in giving. Experiences of collective lack have intensified the need for mutual care. Hearing marginalized stories highlights the lines forged in society to divide us and to distill labels of normal and abnormal — labels that are unfounded and unjust. Difference is the core of humanity.

Teaching, in this sense, is a tool for advocacy. It reminds us that each human being on this earth is part of a whole. Each identity is a thread in the fabric of our shared humanity, creating a tapestry made beautiful by the threads that hold it together.

3) Community

We need to believe that community is a necessity — that our collective well-being depends on it. Another aspect of spirituality is the role of churches, which serve as community centers for gathering and resources. Community is also essential for organizing. We the people hold immeasurable power when we are able to come together.