Well...GA is over. I'm actually kinda sad about that. anyway.....
Situation #1- After the Service of the Living Tradition on Thursday night, while talking to a friend, a woman comes up to me and says, "I just loved what you said during the Chalice Lighting." If you watched the SLT, you will know that I didn't do the Chalice Lighting; Elizabeth Terry did. The only thing that remotely is alike between Elizabeth and me is that we were both wearing black hats at the SLT. And we are both Black women.
Situation #2- Some time after plenary on Friday, a woman comes up to me while I'm on my way into the Exhibit Hall and says, "You have such a wonderful singing voice." Now, I do sing. But I don't sing at GA because I'm too busy doing other things. I didn't have a chance to correct the woman as she went on about her way, but I couldn't figure out what, or who, she was really talking about. I found out later this woman was thinking that I was Amanda Thomas, the wonderful music director at Second Unitarian-Chicago and a fabulous singer. The only thing remotely similar between Amanda and me is our height. And we are both Black women.
Those are just the incidents that happened to me. I know for sure that people mistakenly thought that Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt preached the SLT. (she didn't; that was Rev. Cheryl M. Walker) Other UU women of color have reported similar stories.
There are a number of beautiful Black women in the UU-universe. (If I looked one-tenth as good as these women, I would be doing alright.) GA is not a meeting of the National Baptist Convention or the AMEs, it is a meeting of Unitarian Universalists; so while there are more UUs of color in one place than most UUs are used to seeing, there is no reason that any of us should be confused with each other. [the exception being Janice Marie and Hope Johnson]
What does this mean?
I don't really know. It does make me wonder how much progress we will make as long as all the UU women of color are interchangeable in the minds of most white UUs.
No, Virginia...all Black people don't look alike.
