Gentlebeings,
I started this newsletter, as many activists/theologians/creatives have before me, out of a deep ache. A deep knowing that everything wasn’t quite right. I am old enough to remember (sigh) the fervor of the 2020 anti-racism resurgence. I witnessed the black squares of solidarity on Instagram (which nobody asked for), anti-racist book sales skyrocket, guilt-ridden donations to Black and BIPOC individuals/organizations, and performative activism in abundance. It troubled me because I knew that the backlash and apathy would eventually come.
We are in those days now.
Non-profits are closing their doors (enfleshed included). The “listening and learning” has come to an end as people treat anti-racism like a school activity that they have grown beyond. White nationalism, especially of the Christian variety, is blatant and loud from the highest governmental offices in the land. People are unsafe and unwell. The reversal of even performative acts of kindness and anti-bigotry have left so many of us tired. Exhausted. Discouraged.
“What is it you wanted me to reconcile myself to? I was born here, almost 60 years ago. I’m not going to live another 60 years. You always told me ‘It takes time.’ It’s taken my father’s time, my mother’s time, my uncle’s time, my brothers’ and my sisters’ time. How much time do you want for your progress?” James Baldwin
And. I return to my ancestors. I return to the Fannie Lou Hamers and the Marsha P. Johnsons and…to the spirit of this newsletter, to the Martin Luther King Jr.s. The very ones who taught me what it would take to have a tough mind and a tender heart in a world bent towards cruelty. I turn towards ones like many of you who willingly chose to sign up for a newsletter that would ask you to take anti-racism and adopt it as a an ethical praxis. Although this will be my last time curating this place for you all, please know that you encourage me. You really do. I still believe that we are better together than apart. Perhaps I am naive for that. I’ll be that. I really do believe that love has the final say and that the endurance that is required of us is communal and is healing. I want this last installment of Tough Mind and Tender Heart to be a quilt, a tapestry of images, wisdom sayings, and inspiration to fuel us all in the days ahead.
-Robert M. co-director enfleshed
Robert Monson
co-director
Robert (he/him) is a runner, musician, and a Black theologian committed to softness, contemplation, and liberation for all. As a recent seminary graduate (with distinction) and a current PhD student, Robert studied in-depth the intersection of Black Liberation Theology and womanist theology. Weaving together these two strands of liberation have been important work as well as other liberation based theologies. “How can we help facilitate community and provide answers to a hurting world that is reeling?” remains an important question in his work. While in school, Robert’s scholarly work was recognized and presented at various national conferences/outlets. Podcasting (two shows) and writing remain important aspects of his daily life as well as marathoning the latest Star Trek show(s).