Tag Archives: racial justice

Repairer of the Breach

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Our thanks to the Reverend Dr. Martha Tucker for this meditation which first appeared in this column in 2023.

kintsukuroiIf you remove the yoke from among you, the accusing finger, and malicious speech;
If you lavish your food on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted;
Then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall become like midday….
“Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you,
“Restorer of ruined dwellings.”

—Isaiah 58:9–10, 12

So many prophets radically and poetically call us to participate in a sacred restoration of wholeness, to be “restorers of the breach”. I believe that this is a valuable lens through which to gain perspective on the concept of reparations.

It is not about money, at least not principally so. It is about becoming part of a movement of restoration to a sacred wholeness in which all will be One, in which divisions will cease, in which mountains are leveled and valleys raised up, while lions and lambs live in peace.

The above are prophetic images and metaphors for some ultimate harmony in the realm toward which we are progressing, toward which God invites us. And…that realm, that “kingdom”, is here and yet to come, within and without. To jump to a discussion of reparations without the context of the goal of holy wholeness might tempt one to seek quick material fixes and similarly transactional responses. If I write a check, then I can discharge my duty.

The problem is that all that misses the opportunity, the opportunity, to make reparations a mission and ministry, to allow it to change our hearts. It seems to me to begin with a genuine acknowledgement that we are broken and have also been part of the breaking, albeit in some cases unknowingly and unwillingly, is to begin the process of gathering the fragments.

Deep bias and hegemonic power can masquerade as harmless when in fact they are crushing souls and discriminating mightily. Love in all its holy manifestations is what will mend and repair. I wonder whether the focus might be on gathering the fragments in the wake of centuries of oppression and becoming repairers of the breach.

Taking a cue from the Japanese art of kintsukuroi, wherein broken pottery is reassembled with a beautiful golden glue filament so that the seams and brokenness become renewed and even more beautiful and certainly unique, might be the prompt.

Imagine taking this image to God’s creation, where the binding gluey glittering materialis kindness, mercy, justice and humility. Imagine each of us pouring our gluey stuff into and onto the brokenness of the world, especially pouring it into the seam of the racial divide.

Specifically, I feel invited to turn toward the shards of systemic oppression and to offer compassion. I hope to be surprised by the beauty and magnificence of a renewing wholeness of humanity. I hope to become a repairer of the breach.

–Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin

The Green Book Tour: Some Highlights

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Fern Cunningham’s sculpture Step on Board shows aboltionist Harriet Ross Tubman with a Bible under her arm.

On June 20th, 2026, I joined The Green Book Tour led by Byron Rushing and the Rev. June Cooper.  The Negro Motorist Green Book, published between 1936 and 1966 as a guidebook for African American roadtrippers, became known as simply The Green Book..

On this sunny but windy day we all met outside of the Union United Methodist Church (originally a Congregational Church) on Columbus Avenue in Boston. There were about a dozen of us in addition to the leaders of the tour. Both Byron and June have a depth of knowledge about the South End of Boston and the history of the businesses which were advertised in The Green Book. These businesses, including hotels, were either Black-owned or served Negroes. Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe on Columbus Ave. is still operating. It was originally owned by a Greek family and was advertised in The Green Book.

The Harriet Tubman House on Holyoke Street offered rooms to Black women who were either in school or working in Boston and would not have been able to rent in the area otherwise. Very near to this location we visited the Harriet Tubman Park with its two sculptures, one of which honors Harriet Tubman herself. The other sculpture sported a traffic cone on its top; evidence of a visit by the Tartan Army, which had visited Boston from Glasgow for the World Cup.

This area attracted many jazz musicians during the height of the Jazz Age. Of the many clubs once open there were two that were Black-owned establishments: Wally’s Café (originally Wally’s Paradise located across the street from its present location) and Estelle’s,  which is now a condominium building at 888 Columbus Ave.. The Hi-Hat at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Columbus Ave., which burned down after the Second World War, was replaced by a settlement house. It is now modern housing (apartments and/or condominiums). The Columbus Avenue African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church on the corner of Columbus Avenue and Northampton Street was originally a synagogue. Where one would usually see a rose window, it has a Mogen David or Jewish Star.

Our tour ended at Slade’s, where we had lunch and chatted amongst ourselves. It was a beautiful day for a long walk in Boston.

–Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin

St. Cyprian’s Hosts Junteenth Celebration

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Let us celebrate our collective liberation and hear how the struggle for justice and freedom continues. –from the Introduction to the service bulletin, St. Cyprian’s Church, June 19, 2026

The Juneteenth liturgy this year drew upon a variety of sources: the Book of Prayer of the Anglican Church of Kenya, the American Book of Common Prayer, and Prayers of the People by Bishop Carol J. Gallagher (2023),

The Rev. Canon Dr. Canon Jean-Baptiste Ntagengwa, the Rev. Kevin Vetiac, and Rev. James Hairston, designed the service. Lift Every Voice and Sing provided most of the hymns. The singing was alternately rousing, joyous, reflective, and heart-felt, as in the rendition of “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” (sung by Rev. Vetiac).

A stirring sermon was given by The Rev. Canon Jordan F. Casson, a Philadelphia colleague and friend of Canon Jean Baptiste. Canon Casson’s years of advocacy and support for social justice were reflected in his choice of stories, anecdotes, and experiences in that journey. In his preaching, he blended emotional intensity, humor, and meditation. Emmanuelites who attended found inspiration in his words and a mindfulness that the struggle for justice continues.

St. Cyprian’s welcoming parishioners, who had laid out the altar’s kente cloths,  provided lunch and conversation. Many parishes were represented, which made for a lively time, good cheer, and thoughtful conversations.  All in all, it was a blessed Juneteenth.

–Compiled from the comments of attendees Mary Beth Clack, Joel Anderle, Bill Comer, Liz Levin, Mike Scanlon, and the Rev. Pamela Werntz.

Who is America at 250?

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On view at the Boston Athenaeum until May 16, 2026, is the traveling exhibition,
“Who Is America at 250? Artists’ Books on the State of Democracy”.

Organized by the San Francisco Center for the Book and presenting works related to immigration, social injustice, racial inequity, and wage inequality, the exhibit prompts questions about the challenges and prospects of democracy. Its curators see the artists’ book as a meaningful conduit for open contemplation of democracy. Continue reading →

“What is your hand in this?”

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Commemorative concerts for America’s 250th anniversary will be dotting the musical landscape in 2026. An inventive program that may prove to be one of the most challenging for audiences has been launched by Davóne Tines and Ruckus, “a shapeshifting, collaborative, baroque ensemble with a visceral and playful approach to early music.” Sanders Theater hosted them on January 31, 2026, as part of their ten-cities tour.

Created by bass-baritone Davóne Tines, bassist Douglas Adam August Balliett, and Clay Zeller-Townson, founder of Ruckus, the program called “What is your hand in this?” recasts “Colonial and Revolutionary-era hymns, ballads, and Baroque compositions, on a musical journey that weaves through the pre-Civil War period, the Civil Rights era, and into the present day.” (Everyone 250 Continue reading →

The Fierce Urgency of Now

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On Monday, January 19th, 2026, the 56th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast will be held in Boston.

The MLK Breakfast Memorial Committee is comprised of representatives from St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church and Union United Methodist Church. The event is the longest-running celebration of its kind in the U.S.; scholarships are provided each year to students from nine Boston public high schools.

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An Artist’s Sketchbook of the South End

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Church of St. Augustine & St. Martin on Lenox St. in Boston’s South End by AR Crite

For a respite from the bustle of the holidays, a visit to the Gardner Museum was in order. There, in the exhibit Allan Rohan Crite: Urban Glory, we learned of the project that Crite completed as an artist in residence at the Museum of African American History on Beacon Hill. Continue reading →

Work of Allan Rohan Crite on View in Boston

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Cover of A.R.C. Neighborhood Liturgy (Princeton U. Press, 2025) 

The Gardner Museum and the Boston Athenaeum are hosting exhibitions of the work of Allan Rohan Crite, artist and chronicler of life in Boston’s Lower Roxbury and South End neighborhoods. Both shows opened on October 23, 2025.  Allan Rohan Crite: Urban Glory and Allan Rohan Crite: Griot of Boston are creating a resurgence of interest in the work of Crite (1910-2007), who was known as a civic leader, storyteller, and community activist. Influenced by his lifelong devotion to his faith and to local Episcopal churches he supported and loved, his work is again in our midst.

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Virginia Theological Institute’s Reparations

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Our Racial Justice Working Group follows the news of ongoing reparations processes as they unfold in institutions of The Episcopal Church. One of TEC’s oldest seminaries, the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), recently announced the next phase of its historical research and monetary reparations: “VTS breaks ground on reparations memorial honoring at least 557 African American laborers.” —Episcopal News Service, September 26, 2025 Continue reading →

#DouglassWeek

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Fall has arrived and we are back to learning about and attending programs related to racial justice. As we write, Boston and other Massachusetts cities are hosting the annual celebration of #DouglassWeek.

Launched in 2021, the collaborative event series highlights Frederick Douglass’s time in Ireland in 1845. He spent about four months there in self-imposed exile after the publication of the first edition of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

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