The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri served as one of the sponsors of the 2023 Racial Equity Summit, held Nov. 9-11 at America's Center Convention Complex in St. Louis.
Five members of our diocesan Dismantling Racism Commission attended the regional conference: The Rev. Meghan Ryan, Alexia Dukes, Lakitsa Hunter, the Rev. Shug Goodlow, and the Rev. Aaron Rogers. Rogers also served on the community advisory committee for the summit.
Additional members from the Diocese also attended the summit, including Leslie and Tony Corey from St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Creve Coeur. (Read their reflection below the pictures on this page.)
"Far too long, churches have only had internal conversations about advancing racial equity, when we are called to be witnesses to the world," Rogers said. "Our faith inspires our reconciling work and we ought to live that faith out loud. My hope is that we not only benefit by showing our commitment to this work publicly, but that we also inspire other communities of faith to join in this work in a real way."
The theme of this year's conference was Together We Rise: The Power of Community. This is the third Racial Equity Conference in St. Louis, with previous summits held in 2019 and 2021. More than 500 advocates for racial equity come together to collaborate, learn and equip each other for this work in our region. The summit has three purposes:
1) Awareness of Inequity: To engage participants in building their awareness of systemic inequities that exist in the regions -- from education to housing to healthcare and beyond.
2) Understanding of Why Inequity Exists: To help participants to gain an understanding of the systemic issues at hand and build a plan for how to address them, perhaps looking at successful tactics in St. Louis or other regions.
3) Transforming Towards Equity: To share ready-made + pressure-tested strategies for taking action. We will look to the leadership of local leaders of color to share actions that can be taken against structural inequities right now.
Following this summit, Rogers says he has several hopes for diocesan involvement in the future:
- That the Dismantling Racism Commission continues to be a partner for the summit.
- That we increase our level of sponsorship and participants (clergy and lay) in the conference.
- That diocesan ministries that overlap with racial justice be vendors and presenters at the next summit.
- That the summit becomes an opportunity for the Diocese of Missouri to showcase its work in dismantling racism.
- That we utilize the summit as a way to retool and support the continuing education of our trainers and ministries that focus on combating racism.
Lessons from the 2023 Racial Equity Summit
by the Rev. Meghan Ryan, Leslie Corey, and Tony Corey
St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, Creve Coeur
Following are perspectives from three of the diocesan attendees from St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Creve Coeur:
Leslie Corey
There were about 500 attendees from throughout the St. Louis area. The keynote speaker was poet Nikki Giovanni. Nikki spoke of the predictable endangerment of African Americans because the environment predicts gun deaths. She spoke of the unspeakable loss of loved ones as a transition, not a death, and looking to faith and family for grounding.
We heard from Dr. Kanika Cunningham, Director of the St Louis County Health Department, about the disparities in health for African Americans and on her focus on phase 1 of the When Shooting Stops campaign. We also heard from Dr. Mati Hiatshuwajo, the Director of the city of St. Louis health department.
Breakout sessions for white folks addressed subjects such as white supremacy and cultivating psychological safety by interrupting white supremacy and the four stages of psychological safety (inclusion, learning, contributing and challenging). We learned that fear of conflict, either or thinking, right to comfort, individualism and urgency are all characteristics of white supremacy. Other breakout sessions included grant making to black owned businesses, educational equity and justice and reparations.
My biggest take-away from the summit was a new understanding of some of the characteristics of white supremacy, including things like black and white thinking, power hoarding, urgency, perfectionism, right to comfort and individualism. Believing that I can always be neutral is a falsehood. I feel more aware of how I present when I am with people of color because of this understanding.
The summit brought people from all over the region together and gave people a chance to meet and mingle and walk away with new connections and action plans.
Tony Corey
This summit offered me valuable new learnings and enriched some familiar concepts at several different levels. The main room speakers offered insightful, high-level perspectives while the workshops dug deeper into specific topics and issues.
The Rev. Bethany Johnson-Javois, President and CEO of Deaciness Foundation, invited us to be in covenant relationships, look to the Holy Spirit and not the will of the people. Critique systems and energize people. The future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed!
The event’s keynote speaker, poet, author, and activist Nikki Giovanni, took us down paths sacred and not so sacred. Here is one: we should have four things in life: a good friend, a hobby, a second drink, and Faith.
Day-one moderator and strategy consultant Rebecca Bennet shared with us a metaphor comparing a prairie fire and racism. If you wish to hear it, invite me for that second beer or coffee. It is worth the time.
A workshop entitled “Empowered Anti-Racist Leadership” offered a three-tier model for building a leadership “eco system” that revolves around:
- Individual Learning: Building antiracist and equitable mindsets and practices.
- Interpersonal actions: Linking arms with people in our community to do the work effectively. Finding a “coalition of the willing”. (Great words.)
- Institutional transformation: Collectively creating new systems and structures that center equity and liberation.
This workshop offered much more depth beyond this framework. I am praying on how to apply this to my own growth, and that of our communities within the Diocese.
Another workshop described the white supremacy culture that Leslie mentioned. This dominant culture lives in the white body and requires intentional actions to modify. The facilitators of this workshop used some exercises from Resmaa Menekem’s book, My Grandmother’s Hands, which is featured in a session of the Episcopal Church’s Sacred Ground program.
I am most grateful to the Diocese for being a sponsor of this event. The facilitator of the white caucus session defined humility as: “I don’t know what I don’t know.” I will not lose sight of that. With God’s help.
The Rev. Meghan Ryan
The St. Louis Racial Equity Summit is a "must attend" event for me from now on. The Summit occurs every other year and gathers those involved in racial equity work in our city/county to talk, collaborate, and learn from one another. Each session I attended had something I had never heard before, something I had not been exposed to.
While the Summit was certainly educational, the most heartening thing was to see the sheer number of people in our community that are committed to the work of racial justice. Our community is full of people that are marching in the light of God, using their gifts and skills in unique ways. It was a glimpse of the Kingdom. Put it on your calendar for 2025!
Learn more about the Diocese of Missouri's Dismantling Racism Commission.