The View from Here

I recently attended a retreat called "Root to Rise" up at Clearwater Forest. It was led by Rev. Anna Kendig, Anti-Racism Coordinator for the Presbytery. During the weekend, we were invited to do some digging into the stories of our own families. In particular, we were asked to think about the intersection of both race and connection to the land in our stories. The land part was easy. On both sides of my family are grandparents who grew up on farms in southern Minnesota -- near Spring Valley and Mankato. There were other connections to farming in my grandfathers' stories as well.

The question that arose that I had never thought about before was: why did my grandparents leave the farm? What was the allure of the city? What was the life they imagined they could have? Was there a racial component to these visions? I don't know why they left, but I imagine a white middle class life was at the heart of it. I am now starting to quiz my relatives to see if anyone knows the reason our family left the farm.

Leaving the farm also meant leaving the land. We used to have our hands in the dirt. We were attentive to the needs of plants and animals. We lived in sync with the sun, the rain, and the seasons. We gave all that up for city life. Now I am trying to find ways to reconnect and deepen my connection to the land.  

It is interesting to consider how the choices my grandparents made -- the pressures they felt, the visions and motivations they had and the stories they were told -- affect me. I carry them not only in my bones, but I am living out their hopes and dreams in my daily life. One of the things I appreciate about anti-racism work is how it invites us to delve into our own stories and the intersection of those stories with the larger stories of race, class, and identity. But the invitation goes beyond this. On this retreat, we were invited to recognize the gratitude and grief that comes with these stories as we reconsidered where we belong and how we relate to the Earth today.  

I am grateful for my grandparents: Harry and Sarah, Lois and George.