Leading By Faith | Rosetta Thurman

Today is a Good Day to Love Out Loud

September 11, 2010 by rosettathurman · 1 Comment

Today is the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.

Today there are people grieving for loved ones that perished in the attack.

Today an entire country remembers something that we can never forget.

Today we honor the victims of September 11 with a moment of silence.

But it is also important to SPEAK UP against all the fear and hate we have now.

It is also important to think about what we can do for all who still LIVE.

We can do much more than talk about what we were doing when the towers fell.

We can begin to rebuild our country one conversation, one mind at a time.

Today there are people using September 11 as an excuse to hate Muslims.

Today there are people using September 11 as a platform for political gain.

Today there are people who believe we have to choose between safety and justice.

There are powerful people who believe that it’s US against THEM.

But the rest of us know the truth.

And I hope you will spread it.

That Muslims are NOT terrorists.

That Islam is not what attacked us.

That our country’s safety does not depend on restricting other people’s rights simply because of their religion.

That all of us can coexist no matter our race or religion.

That we can begin to find common ground without retreating to that familiar place of fear.

Today is a good day to begin a new ideology…

To be more radical with our commitment to love and trust and justice for all.

Not just a select few.

Not just for those who look like us.

Today is a good day to honor the victims of September 11 not just with our tears, but with our courage.

Today is a good day to honor America with the kind of leadership that knows that justice is what love looks like.

Today, like any other day, is a good day to choose love over fear.

Today is a good day to love out LOUD.

Filed Under: Leadership, Leading by Faith · Tagged With: Leadership, September 11, Social justice

A Cultural Approach to Social Justice

September 11, 2010 by rosettathurman · 3 Comments

I’m in Atlanta once again. Although it’s fall in DC, it’s still warm here in the south with the sun beaming down on the city. It’s the perfect space for the cultural opening at the Southern Partners Fund 2010 Regional Grantee Gathering, designed to provide a safe space for the foundation’s grantees to find strength and assurance in one another as grassroots organizations committed to social change in the south. We’re at the Lodge at Simpsonwood in a big room with a piano in the corner and as usual, there is a song. The grantees are here to explore the threads that bring them together in their work, using music as one obvious commonality to kick off a weekend of listening and learning. There are all races and cultures represented here – African American, Native American, Hispanic, white – and the idea is to honor that diversity. As one grantee points out:

“Beyond the song or the dance is a story. The music might be different but the words are the same. We don’t all have to sing the same note, but there can still be harmony.”

Indeed, this gathering weekend is about harmony. It’s also about revival and renewal and being able to go back to do their work better.

Please be patient with me,
God is not through with me yet.
Please be patient with me,
God is not through with me yet.

When God gets through with me,
when God gets through with me,
I shall come forth,
I shall come forth like pure gold.

There are nonprofit leaders here from Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, and Georgia. Several are from Mexico, Peru, or Lagos originally but are in the U.S. to help their communities get more information and education about their rights. As each grantee introduced themselves, the leaders shared stories about their background, their faith, or their commitment to their community that brought them to this work. This first evening gathering was not just about introductions, however, but a first step to figuring out the common thread: social justice.

I just can’t give up now
I’ve come too far from where I started
Nobody told me the road would be easy
And I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me

Full disclosure: Southern Partners Fund paid me to provide blogging services for this event to leverage the power of social media to share their stories with the wider philanthropic community. The views expressed here are solely my own, however, and I stand by my commitment to authentic coverage of these issues.

Filed Under: Leading by Faith, Philanthropy · Tagged With: Social justice, Social justice philanthropy, Southern Partners Fund

No Greater Gift

February 19, 2010 by rosettathurman · 1 Comment

“There is no greater gift to future generations than that we do the work God has asked us to do: love one another, that the world might be made right.” – Marianne Williamson

Posted via web from homeplace

Filed Under: Inspiration, Leading by Faith · Tagged With: Inspiration, Marianne Williamson, Quotes

28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

February 1, 2010 by rosettathurman · 3 Comments

Everyone knows that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement. What many people don’t know is that he was also a nonprofit CEO and board member.

From the King Center:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a vital figure of the modern era. His lectures and dialogues stirred the concern and sparked the conscience of a generation. The movements and marches he led brought significant changes in the fabric of American life through his courage and selfless devotion. This devotion gave direction to thirteen years of civil rights activities. His charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and old, in this nation and around the world.

Dr. King’s concept of “somebodiness,” which symbolized the celebration of human worth and the conquest of subjugation, gave black and poor people hope and a sense of dignity. His philosophy of nonviolent direct action, and his strategies for rational and non-destructive social change, galvanized the conscience of this nation and reordered its priorities. His wisdom, his words, his actions, his commitment, and his dream for a new way of life are intertwined with the American experience.

Dr. King was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He was elected President of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization that was responsible for the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956 (381 days). He was arrested thirty times for his participation in civil rights activities. He was a founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1957 to 1968. He was also Vice President of the National Sunday School and Baptist Teaching Union Congress of the National Baptist Convention. He was a member of several national and local boards of directors and served on the boards of trustees of numerous institutions and agencies. Dr. King was elected to membership in several learned societies including the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Image credit: Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Filed Under: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African Americans, Leaders of Color, Leading by Faith · Tagged With: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African American nonprofit leaders, African Americans, Black History, black history month, Leaders of Color, Martin Luther King Jr, Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Does Anybody Know That You’re a Christian? (Or, How Come Generation Y Doesn’t Talk About Religion?)

December 17, 2009 by rosettathurman · 23 Comments

Or a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Jew or Hindu, etc.? This question was posed on Twitter last night and it really struck a chord with me. My fellow Clevelander @MissLissa08 sparked a conversation with me and @MlleMitchell by sharing this video that challenges the disconnect between what many young people say they believe and how they actually play out those values in their lives. Although the video poses the question to Christians, it really applies to every other religion, so you can fill in the blank here. The issues are largely the same.

This video freaked me out for several reasons. I’ve said before that talking about spiritual beliefs is something that makes Generation Y really uncomfortable. But in thinking about this more deeply last night, it hit me that among my closest peers in the nonprofit world, I only know the spiritual beliefs of about 2 of them. This really disturbs me. It drove home the point that very few young leaders are sharing their religious values with each other or talking about how those beliefs guide or inspire their work. I couldn’t help but try to speculate as to why this is the case. How come young people don’t talk about their religious beliefs? Here’s what we said on Twitter.

Religion Gets a Bad Rap

We’re Afraid to Broach the Subject

We Don’t Try Hard Enough to Understand Other People’s Beliefs

While driving around DC in my car yesterday, I heard someone say something on the radio that just blew me away. The radio host was doing an on-location interview with a male counselor at a nonprofit in the DC area. The host asked the counselor why he worked so hard to help people through the organization. The counselor replied, very simply, “because of my love for Jesus Christ.”

What do you think? How come Generation Y doesn’t talk about our spiritual or religious beliefs? Should we?

Filed Under: Leading by Faith, Next Generation Leadership · Tagged With: Authenticity, Generation Y, religion, spirituality