&Beliefs
Traditions
A Publication of the Center for the Study of Religion and Spirituality in the History of Africa and the Diaspora (RASHAD) Volume 11, Issue 1, Special Report for the 2016-2017 Academic Year
On Common Ground in the DMV Reflections on a Year of Teaching and Learning in the Mid-Atlantic
Douglass
Barry
Congratulations to Toni Berry (below), winner of the 2017 RASHAD Scholarship Award! To read her bio, please turn to page 4.
Obama
Brown
Regennia N. Williams, PhD Executive Director
Contents Introduction Art & Advocacy Program Partners Statistics for 2016 - 2017 Recommended Reading Contact Us
Williams
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One of my favorite classroom discussion-starters for this special “academic year” (March 2016 – March 2017) involved a PowerPoint presentation titled “From Barry to Barry and Beyond.” On the first slide, I included the heading “On Common Ground” and images of five individuals whose life stories and work-related activities were the subjects of Washington Post news articles and other web-based stories. There were no detailed captions beneath the photos, and I began by asking, “What do all of these people have in common?” The responses were interesting – both because of what people said and what they did not say. Among the most popular responses were: “They are all African Americans.” and “They are all members of the Black community.” Interestingly enough, few discussants mentioned that all were American citizens, and no one mentioned that, although none were native Washingtonians, each had made a conscious decision to work, worship, or live part of their adult lives in the District. My students were often pleasantly surprised to learn that, as a voluntary migrant to this region, I had something special in common with Maryland native Frederick Douglass, Marion Barry (DC’s Mississippi-born “Mayor for Life”), President Barack “Barry” Hussein Obama (a native of Hawaii), and the Honorable Anthony Brown – a former New Yorker and the current Congressman for Maryland’s 4th District, my home since March 2016. To my mind, DC is the epicenter of an incredibly diverse community of teachers and learners, and some of life’s most valuable lessons are available in the DC-Maryland-Virginia Metropolitan Area (the DMV), where museums and libraries double as classrooms. Like life’s lessons, however, the challenges here are numerous, with gentrification being a top concern for many low-income housing advocates. However, because I have also discovered welcoming communities of social justice, performing arts, and humanities advocates, I am optimistic about the possibility of bringing about positive change at the grassroots level. I, therefore, have no reservations about singing, in the spirit of jazz legend and native Washingtonian Shirley Horn, “‘Here’s to Life’ in the DMV!”