Social Justice Saturdays: Reparations Initiative Recap

Over the past months, we’ve been sharing history statements, facts and questions in our weekly Reparations Initiative section of the bulletin and email. Here are those questions we have shared starting with the earliest.

Nov. 2, 6    The Social Justice Group will be sharing a variety of short statements throughout the year about St. John's history as well as a variety of voices about what "Reparations" can mean, as we continue our own learning/understandings.  A question follows each statement, suggesting further reflection and research.

We begin by remembering that St. John's has had two different locations and buildings, both in Jamaica Plain.  The first was consecrated in 1842, on what is now St. John's Street.  The second is our current home, built in 1882. 

 

Who owned the land before the church did, and how did the parish purchase the land?

  

Nov. 9, 13 In 1619, the first enslaved people arrived in Virginia.  By 1750, near the start of the American Revolution, there were 40,000 enslaved people in the colonies and 4-5,000 enslaved people in Massachusetts. 

Following the Revolution, in 1783, the first Massachusetts State Constitution made slavery illegal.  The State's population in 1790 listed 378,566 people, with 5,369 listed as Free Non-White (1.4%) and 0 enslaved.  Slavery was not ended nationally until after the Civil War.


What was the Episcopal Church position on slavery?  Though St. John's began after slavery officially ended in Massachusetts, how did those now listed as "free, non-white" experience this period?


Nov.16, 20 "When I say we need to reimagine reparations, I don't mean transferring wealth from one group to another, something critics are quick to decry as fundamentally unfair and backward-looking.


I mean repairing American systems to eliminate the built-in racism that perpetuates injustices like the racial wealth gap, and in the process, making those systems work better for all of us."    Kimberly Atkins Stohr, The Emancipator, Boston Globe, April 24, 2022

What do you think of when you hear the term "Reparations?"


Nov. 23, 27 Those interested in establishing an Episcopal church in Jamaica Plain began meeting in 1841 at the home of Charles Beaumont, a mansion called “Lakeville,” presumably near where Lakeville Rd. is now.  Many of the names of familiar streets in JP are reflected in the early members (or family of members) of St. Johns:  Eliot, Goodrich, Green, Amory, Faulkner, Weld, Parley (and Peter Parley), Perkins.

Were any of the founders or early members benefiting economically from slavery?


Nov. 30, Dec. 4  St. John's Chapel included a shed in the back for the horse-drawn carriages members drove to the church.  Finances for supporting the original church included pew rental by members and generous donations by some members.

What financial requirements might limit who becomes a member?  

Dec. 7, 11 "There can be no repair of relationship between the oppressed and oppression's beneficiaries without the truth being told.  Repair requires repentance.  Repentance requires reparation.  Reparation is the process of repairing what has been broken through the oppression and subjugation of human dignity.  This is how to re-member people and people groups with their own divine call and capacity to steward the world. "           Lisa Sharon Harper, in Sojourners, Feb. 2022

What is your reaction to this vision of reparations/repair?


Jan. 4, 8   Daniel Barnard Hagar, St. John's vestry member between 1858-65 was headmaster of the Eliot School in JP, when it served as a primary school for the town.  In 1689, John Eliot had given 75 acres of land to found the school.  He wrote that the proceeds were to be used "for teaching and instructing of the children of that end of town (together with such Negroes or Indians as may or shall come to said school).  

Daniel Hagar, before coming to JP, served as principal at Canajoharie Academy in Canajoharie New York, where Susan B Anthony, advocate for women's right to vote, was headmistress of the “female department.”

 

Were members of St. John's active in the abolitionist or women's rights movements?

 

Feb. 8, 12        "The purpose of reparations is full repair to the lives and future of Descendants of Africans that were Enslaved in the United States (DAEUS).  Real reparations must encompass a holistic approach that goes beyond focusing entirely on cash payouts.  The concept of full repair in discussions of reparations means to address the economic, educational, health, and healing needs" of DAEUS. 

            --National Black Cultural Information Trust.

 

                        Who should receive reparations?  Who, today, are the descendants of Enslaved Africans? 

 

Feb. 15, 19     William Hyslop Sumner (1780-1861) built and lived in the large white and gray home across the street from St. John's Church. He was a generous contributor, served on the vestry and as warden, and left the land for the current church.  His wealth came primarily from financial dealings in local real estate.  He served as Adjutant general of the state Militia, was a Massachusetts State Representative, and was known as General Sumner throughout his life. He is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery. He was the son of Increase Sumner, Governor of Massachusetts. 

                        How did General Sumner acquire his land to begin with? How did his ancestors acquire their wealth?    (A number of those starting and supporting St. John's throughout the life of the church have been wealthy, part of an intersecting community of upper-class families.  As a group, how might they benefitted from slavery?)

Feb. 22, 26     When General Sumner died, he left the land between Revere and Roanoke Streets to St. John's, to be given to the church at the death of his wife, Mary Dickinson Kemble.  She died in 1872, and the church received the land.  This gift became a large property tax burden, and eventually the church sold four house lots at the far end of the parcel to help finance the new building. 

 

                        What was Mary Kemble’s family background?

Mar. 1, 5         "Reparations is not about financial payments to specific people. Reparations is about investment."

                        Black Lives Matter coordinator in Chicago, in a conversation by W. Kanue Bell, during the series United Shades of America,#5, "Reparations," on PBS. 

 

            At this point, how do you define "Reparations?"   What is "Reparations" about?

  

Mar. 8, 12       The “Black Madonna” window above the narthex is a memorial donated by the sons of Sarah Otis Ernst (1809-1882), a “radical” abolitionist. Ernst was active in the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society.  Moving to Cincinnati after her marriage, she organized, financed, and managed the Cincinnati Anti-Slavery Conventions, 1851-1855, and fundraisers for the paper the Anti-Slavery Bugle.  She returned to Boston after her husband died in 1860, and became a member of St. John’s until her death in 1882. The window became part of the new church building in 1888.

 

                        In this window, the woman appears to be dark-skinned, a person of color.  The baby appears to be white.  What thoughts do you have about this?

Mar. 15, 19  Women made up a number of those supporting and active in St. John's parish, though their names were often referred to as "the daughter of..." or "the wife of..." Among those are Amelia Milton, wife of William Hammet Milton and their daughter, Amelia.  The family lived on Milton Hill, West Roxbury, and William owned a dry goods and textile business.  When he died in 1880, the women used financial resources he left to make generous contributions to St. John's.   The windows, altar, pulpit, carpet decorations and murals were given in memory of William.  Daughter Amelia left donations to the church to free the church from debt from various mortgages.  

 

            While slavery officially ended in 1865, the Jim Crow period began in the late 1870's.  In what ways might businesses in dry goods still benefit from the way cotton was produced in the South?

 

Mar. 22, 26   "We are a long way from 'full repair' and there are many thoughts, ideas, opinions, and feelings about what reparations are, who receives them, who decides, and how we decide on what reparations look like in our diocese, but our collective conversation and commitment begin here. "

            Subcommittee on Reparations, Racial Justice Commission, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, November 2021

What might “full repair” look like?

 

 Mar. 29, Apr. 2     

SAVE THE DATES:  

                        The Social Justice Group invites you to two events this Spring:

                        Sunday, April 30, 1 p.m.

                        St. John's hosts Rev. Irene Monroe, who will present a talk about the larger context of our Reparations Initiative, from her perspective as a Black pastor. 

                        Sunday, May 7, 1 p.m.   

                        Sumner Hill Historic Walking Tour, led by Edythe Harkins, from the JP Historical Society, to learn more about how the neighborhood surrounding St. John's developed and was affected by the overall changes in Jamaica Plain.

 

Apr. 5, 9  

                        "The moral and theological answer to the questions about reparations is:  We are Christians called to live the Gospel, called to receive one another as siblings, called to love, called to be menders of the breach, called to repair.  We cannot live the Gospel if we do not face the injustices done to our siblings."

In Reparations 101, Episcopal Diocese "Call to Reparations."

 

                        SAVE THE DATES:  April 30  Presentation by Rev. Irene Monroe

                                                          May 7 Sumner Hill Historic Walking Tour 

Apr. 19, 23

Hold this Date!

You are invited to a special presentation on Sunday, April 30, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm in St. John's Church, Jamaica Plain.

 

We are pleased to offer a talk by the Reverend Irene Monroe, on the context for Reparations and the meaning of Reparations in our community today. This is part of the exploration by St. John's members of Reparations and an examination of the history of our church in Jamaica Plain with a goal of understanding how we have benefitted both intentionally and unintentionally from slavery, the slave trade and its legacy. 

 

The Reverend Irene Monroe, a native of Brooklyn, NY, graduated from Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University and served as a pastor at an African-American church in New Jersey before coming to Harvard Divinity School to do her doctorate. As an African American feminist theologian, she writes columns, makes TV appearances, and participates in the weekly radio show/podcast All Rev'd Up with Reverend Emmett Price III.


The presentation is free, and open to the public. 


Apr. 26, 30

Hold this Date:  May 7  Sumner Hill Walking tour. 


Learn more about St. John's Church, built in 1883, and the community of which it was a part.  We are delighted that Edythe Harkins, a walking tour guide for the Jamaica Plain Historical Society and Boston by Foot, has designed the tour especially for the St. John's parish.  Tour begins at the Loring-Greenough House at 1 pm, and will last approx. 1 hour.  Let us know if you plan to attend, so we have a sense of numbers.  

May 3, 7

At the same time as St. John's new church was established, many new people were moving into the area around the Stony Brook, near Washington Street.  Workers for new industries beginning to develop along the Stony Brook (next to Washington street) were changing the nature of JP. Two parishioners played a large part in that development:  John R. Alley, in 1885,founded the first large brewery, Eblana Brewery on Heath Street. Thomas Plant , in 1890, built a women's shoe manufactory at Centre and Bickford streets, employing 5000 workers. Workers housing was built for the growing workforce, at first mostly German and Irish workers, but quickly adding people from the Caribbean, and the American South.

            

May 10, 14

The Episcopal City Mission, with support from Rev.Shearman at St. John's and Bishop Phillips Brooks, established St. Peter's mission near the Boylston Street train station. to serve the many immigrants coming into JP.  In 5 years, St. Peter's congregation had grown to 200 active members, hired a minister and built a granite church. (note)   Wealthier St. John's members were attracted to the big city churches. Younger parishioners were attracted to the energy and social activities of St. Peter's.  By the 1950's St. Peters was a much smaller church and  in 1960 the diocese closed the church, recommending that the small number of members attend St. John's.  Of those that came were several black families.

           

May 24/28     and also  May 31, June 4

 

We had great participation for the talk by Irene Monroe, and the Walking Tour of Sumner Hill.  Thanks to all!  Today is the final "Reparation Statement" for St. John's program year.   We leave you with a quote from one of the strongest advocates for addressing repair and reparations:

 

"American prosperity was built on two and a half centuries of slavery, a deep wound that has never been healed or fully atoned for - and that has been deepened by years of discrimination, segregation, and racist housing policies that persist to this day.  Until America reckons with the moral debt it has accrued - and the practical damage it has done- to generations of black Americans, it will fail to live up to its own ideals."

  --Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The Case For Reparations" Atlantic, June 2014, Vol. 313 Issue 5, p54-71.

Social Justice Saturday: Two Strong Cases For Reparations

"American prosperity was built on two and a half centuries of slavery, a deep wound that has never been healed or fully atoned for - and that has been deepened by years of discrimination, segregation, and racist housing policies that persist to this day.  Until America reckons with the moral debt it has accrued - and the practical damage it has done- to generations of black Americans, it will fail to live up to its own ideals."

  --Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The Case For Reparations"  Atlantic, June 2014, Vol. 313 Issue 5, p54-71.

"The moral and theological answer to the questions about reparations is:  We are Christians called to live the Gospel, called to receive one another as siblings, called to love, called to be menders of the breach, called to repair.  We cannot live the Gospel if we do not face the injustices done to our siblings."

In Reparations 101, “A Toolkit for Reparations in Community,” Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, 2021.

Social Justice Saturday: A Prayer

A Prayer: 

 

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

 The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,

it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction

of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete,…

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted,

knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

 We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. 

This enables us to do something,

and to do it very well.  It may be incomplete,

but it is a beginning, a step along the way,

an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

 We may never see the end results, but that is the difference

between the master builder and the worker.

 We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

 Amen.

 A prayer written by Oscar Romero, the former and assassinated archbishop of El Salvador

Social Justice Saturday: Could We Make Earth Day be Every Day?

Today is Earth Day, one day a year when we celebrate and care for the Earth. Many people will work in their years, planting flowers, raking and “waking up the Earth.” Others will clean up neglected areas, especially streams or polluted lands. Hopefully these activities create more awareness of the vital reality that we humans are part of the Earth, not separate from it. Caring for the Earth is caring for ourselves, friends, and communities. Everyone, Everywhere.

The photo is the magnificent maple tree in our backyard, reminding us of the gifts of trees, as they care for us. Inhaling carbon, exhaling oxygen, providing shade, beauty, renewal. It reminds me of a quote by the poet Rainer Marie Rilke: “If we surrendered to the Earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees.”

Social Justice Saturday: A Christian Response To Reparations

"The moral and theological answer to the questions about reparations is:  We are Christians called to live the Gospel, called to receive one another as siblings, called to love, called to be menders of the breach, called to repair.  We cannot live the Gospel if we do not face the injustices done to our siblings."

Episcopal Diocese "Call to Reparations." Reparations 101.

 

                       

                                                          

Social Justice Saturday: Teach Your Children

Teach your children

what we have taught our children--

that the earth is our mother.

Whatever befalls the earth

befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.

If men spit upon the ground,

they spit upon themselves.

 

This we know.

The earth does not belong to us,

we belong to the earth.

This we know.

All things are connected

like the blood which unites one family.

All things are connected.

 

Whatever befalls the earth

befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.

We did not weave the web of life,

We are merely a strand in it.

Whatever we do to the web,

we do to ourselves.

 

                                     --Chief Seattle

 

EARTH PRAYERS From Around the World

365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations for

Honoring the Earth.  Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, Ed.

1991, HarperCollins.

Social Justice Saturday: Purpose of Reparations

 "The purpose of reparations is full repair to the lives and future of Descendants of Africans that were Enslaved in the United States (DAEUS).  Real reparations must encompass a holistic approach that goes beyond focusing entirely on cash payouts.  The concept of full repair in discussions of reparations means to address the economic, educational, health, and healing needs" of DAEUS.

            --National Black Cultural Information Trust.

 

                        Who should receive reparations?  Who, today, are the descendants of Enslaved Africans?

 

Social Justice Saturday: Resources for Understanding Structural Racism

Looking for a good book to read this winter that will give you new ideas to consider about personal and structural racism? Here are three the Social Justice Group recommends:

How to Be AnAntiracist, Ibram S. Kendi, 2019

The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, Heather McGhee, 2021

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein, 2017