Brush Harbor

“Uncalled, unrobed, unanointed, she let her great heart beat in their presence. When warm weather came, Baby Suggs, holy, followed by every black man, woman and child who could make it through, took her great heart to the Clearing… ‘Here,’ she said, ‘in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard.’” – Toni Morrison’s Beloved

In an article entitled “Where Are Our Brush Harbors Today??” Alphonso Saville writes, “In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, when Sethe, the novel’s main character, determines that ‘it was time to lay it all down,’ she heads to the woods to find the Clearing. It is there, she recalls, that Baby Suggs, the unchurched preacher, exhorted her community to love themselves, their bodies, and one another. The Clearing […] is a literary depiction of a brush harbor…”

After 14 months of Covid-19 in the midst of white supremacy and all of its evil manifestations in the world, it was time to “lay it all down.”

To address the needs of clergy of color during this particular time, the Illinois conference Thriving Pastors in Revitalizing Congregations Program (TPIRC) hosted a Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) “Brush Harbor” Retreat in late May. This sacred time to pray, to write, and renew was organized by Project Director, the Rev. Michelle Hughes and facilitated by Eyvette Jones-Johnson, founder of Urban Possibilities in Los Angeles, CA.

Healing happened through connection, release through the shared Word. Here is a piece pulled from mi alma, unedited:

The drums are calling

Las maracas bailando una danza de bienvenida

Shakers stirring up spirit in rhythm with the movement of the ancestors

The tambourine sings in joyful delight

El güiro siente la pasión y emoción del pueblo

The clave in sync with my heart

Rhythm, ecstasy, worship, adoration, baile, connection, reverence, orgullo, amor, community, power, culture – bajo el sol, covered by the Son.

Prayer
Thank you for brush harbors, O God. And for the women who co-create them. Bless and prosper the work of their hearts and hands as they tend for our bodies and souls. Amen.

About the Author
Marilyn Pagán-Banks (she/her/ella) is a queer womanist freedom fighter gratefully (though not always gracefully) serving as executive director of A Just Harvest, Senior Pastor at San Lucas UCC, and adjunct professor at McCormick Theological Seminary. She is a joyful contributor to The Words of Her Mouth.