"Milka Tewolde, a Wake Forest student and Eritrea native said, “I was
raised the same way that she was and seeing her perspective of
African-American or just African changed my views. Because I come from a
family that describes themselves as African and not African-American,
seeing her view on that changed my perception and now I see black activism
completely different.”
http://www.wschronicle.com/2016/02/activist-theologian-urges-public-work-community/
Activist theologian urges public to work in community
Posted On 11 Feb 2016 <
http://www.wschronicle.com/2016/02/11/>
By : WS Chronicle
Rahiel Tesfamariam speaks at Wake Forest University on Feb. 4.
*BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY *
*FOR THE CHRONICLE*
Rahiel Tesfamariam has taken the torch from the African-American leaders of
the past and looks to continue with the fight for justice and equality for
all.
Tesfamariam is an activist, writer and theologian. She delivered a powerful
message on the struggle of the black community Thursday, Feb. 4, on the
campus of Wake Forest University. She touched on a myriad of topics such as
white privilege and the recent killings of young black men, as well as
religion, to name a few. Tesfamariam is the founder and publisher of Urban
Cusp online magazine and former columnist for the Washington Post. She has
degrees from Stanford University and Yale divinity school. She is a native
of the war-torn nation of Eritrea in East Africa and was raised in the
District of Columbia.
Demi Day, a hip-hop/spoken word artist and student at Wake Forest School of
Divinity, preceded Tesfamariam with an insightful original song and spoken
word poem that encouraged individuals to step outside the realm of social
media to bring light to a cause and actually go out into the community and
participate hands on. When asked how someone gets more involved in the
community, Tesfamariam said, “Definitely turn locally and inward. Focus on
the fact that you should start every revolution internally and knowing
there is always a need locally. Find that church, school, or nonprofit
that is in need and see where that journey takes you. Don’t assume that you
are called for national work; most work is done at home.”
Tesfamariam said she had a vision as a young child to be able to use the
power of the spoken word to invoke change, and with the manifestation of
her dream now becoming a reality, she is humbled, thankful, and will never
take it for granted. She says it was critical for her to frame her message
of race, equality, sexism, justice, and class in a theological framework.
Milka Tewolde, a Wake Forest student and Eritrea native said, “I was raised
the same way that she was and seeing her perspective of African-American or
just African changed my views. Because I come from a family that describes
themselves as African and not African-American, seeing her view on that
changed my perception and now I see black activism completely different.”
Selina Tesfai, also of Wake Forest and Eritrea said, “I’ve never been able
to see a person of faith include social, economical, and political aspects
into a message and I was able to get a good understanding of how each
impacted racial problems today in America. It was very interesting.”
“One of the main things I try to instill in people is the possibility of
transformation within self being a catalyst to everything around you
changing. If you can transform your ways of looking at the world, transform
the people around you and your immediate environment, you begin to operate
as the change you want to see in the world. So that question of who you
have to be to create the world you live in, I really want people to wrestle
with that question because I think that’s the catalyst to greatness,” said
Tesfamariam when asked what she hoped individuals took from her message.
Tesfamariam closed by saying she is always inspired by people’s dreams,
vision, and capacity for sacrifice and that is humanity at its absolute
best, and everything else beautiful about life and existence flows out of
that.
Received on Thu Feb 11 2016 - 12:47:12 EST