A Change is Gonna Come

There've been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time comin', but I know
A change gonna come, oh yes it will 

Lately I've been hearing Sam Cooke's voice in my head. At this difficult time -- when COVID and the struggle against White supremacy felt traumatic enough, and now we are dealing with catastrophic wildfires and choking smoke -- it's helpful to be reminded that change does come. That it will come. And that we can be a part of it.

As a psychotherapist, I have learned that change is a process, not an event. Behaviorally, change may be thrust upon us, as in a pandemic or natural disaster. But a change in outlook or beliefs, a change by choice, or a change that is embraced is ordinarily the culmination of a process. And that process usually begins below our consciousness, before we are even aware that we may be getting ready to consider a change.

So it makes sense that change takes time. And we can draw reassurance from knowing that change may already be on the way even when we cannot yet perceive it.

We've seen unexpected change. The former second in command at the NRA has now called for background checks and red flag laws. White nationalist Derek Black, child of the founder of Stormfront, renounced hate, changing his heart and mind after he came to see the reality of White supremacy. Even the powerful anthem "Amazing Grace" was written by a former slave trader. Examples like these are not uncommon.

Yes, waiting for change can test our patience. Joshua Powell was an NRA executive for more than three years. Derek Black was a prominent White nationalist from childhood into college before exposure to new perspectives caused him to change his mind. Anglican pastor John Newton drew upon slave trading experiences from decades beforehand in writing his powerful hymn, and he still did not speak out against enslavement until 15 years after he introduced the piece to his congregation. And before these transformations, each caused or aided horrific harm.

Yet each did speak out, and from a public platform. Combined with the unexpected nature of their conversions, their efforts to change other hearts and minds took on greater power. We don't know what other startling and vital conversions may now be under way. But history gives us confidence that they are happening even if we do not yet know about them.

Some may be our own.

The late South African writer Nadine Gordimer, winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature, did not start out to write about apartheid. But living and writing as a White in South Africa when the Afrikaner nationalists came to power in 1948 left her with no other choice. As apartheid's walls rose around her, she found it impossible to ignore the politics of racial division.

Gordimer's writing took its themes from the cruelties and injustice of apartheid. Roused to political activism herself, Gordimer said that White folks are born twice: the day we come into this world and the day we become aware of the profound racism around us.

Like Nadine Gordimer and Derek Black, we who are White can be reborn to greater purpose in the struggle against White supremacy. The question now is what we will do next. We can take heart in knowing that change is coming, but we can -- and must -- take action, as well, by being the change we want to see. Individually, of course, but also as part of the many systems in which each of us moves. With persistence, we shall overcome.

Love,
Nancie/Mom/Mimi/Grandma

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