Dispatches from the DOWN HOME DIVAS

#6 –  Can The Circle Be Unbroken?

           The Berea Family Reunion
Berea College Pinnacle, April 4, 2012
NOTE - For those who are not part of the immediate Berea community, this column was written in response to a misguided comment concerning LGBTQ people made by the assistant director of the Berea College Black Music Ensemble (BME) during the group's 2012 spring convocation performance. The Down Home Divas do NOT intend to insult or hurt the BME or its members in any way. But we gotta call it as we see it, children. For those interested in knowing, Dr. Kathy Bullock, director of the BME and David Wallace, the assistant director who made the comment in question have both issued sincere apologies reassuring Berea that the BME is a group that welcomes all.

The Down Home Divas would just like to address the fact that the human race is damn lucky we have not flown mad and given up . . . just yet.  We continue to be astounded that so many of God’s children still act ugly and hate one another, failing to realize that we are all in this little boat together and this boat is TIPPING!  The Lord knows that we Divas fall short ever’ day and we ain’t a bit scared to admit that we can be a little aggressive and sometimes we are part of the problem.  Strong as we are, the incidents that have almost divided our campus in the past year have tempted us daily to just run away, or as Megan Rebecckiah Jones says, “go back in the hills and be old granny women and cast spells on people.” 

But we ain’t going.  We love each and every one of you’uns and we believe in Berea.  We won’t “fly away” until you all “come and go with us to that land.”

You all, we cannot afford to break this circle here at Berea.  The rest of the world is still looking to this place as a model of diversity and equality, and “if it wasn’t for the lighthouse, where would the other ships be?” Now, let’s just talk about it straight and let’s not be hateful.  Let’s begin our discussion by saying that we have been moved to tears MANY TIMES by the Black Music Ensemble and that Dr. Kathy Bullock is a matriarch beyond all comparison.  The BME’s union of their musical and spiritual traditions and their commitment to welcoming all people into their ranks is truly inspirational.  We know that Dr. Bullock has been singing praises and building community since Moses was a choir boy and we would like to name her the first inductee into the Down Home Diva Hall of Fame.  We can’t go any longer and not say it, so here it is . . . We love David Wallace too and we want him to know that.  That feller can tear up a piano and sing out the rafters and we’ve been proud to sit and listen to him many times.  Mr. Wallace is welcome to redeem his Hug-A-Diva gift certificate whenever he chooses. 

But we have a few things to say.  We in the gay community have been beat down and made silent so many times through the years, and that is why the comments made at the BME convocation hit us in a tender spot.  We acknowledge that we are hurting and that the words that hurt us were not intended to make us feel this way.  We got pretty damn mad, but what truly hurts is that we see our campus is on the brink of division and we are determined to keep that from happening.  The Divas’ recommendation . . . let’s all get together on this one big front porch and fix some sweet tea and talk to each other like decent people. 

What this campus has been through in the past year or so has opened the screen door to that porch of togetherness . . . and that door moves both ways, honey.  We know people on this campus that feel like they have to defend themselves before they can love their neighbor and THAT IS A PROBLEM.  A. BIG. PROBLEM.  We the Divas do solemnly swear that from this point on, we are ready to listen to all sides, and if these two ol’ dogs are learning that trick, we expect everyone else to as well.  This stay on the togetherness porch ain’t no fly-by-howdy-do, it’s a whole big family reunion.  Make some room on the porchswing, fix yourself a plate, scratch the back next to you and  . . . does anyone need a refill of that tea while you’re up?  Maybe afterwhile, after we’ve all talked ourselves tired, we’ll take out some songbooks and do a little singing.  All together now!

“I was singing with my sisters,
I was singing with my friends,
And we all can sing together,
‘Cause the circle never ends.”
-from “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” traditional.

The Divas’ Gospel Family Reunion . . .

The Soundtrack . . .
(The Divas recommend that you play these songs as you read this week’s Dispatch)

Bernice Johnson Reagon / Will The Circle Be Unbroken?
Vestal Goodman / The Lighthouse
Sweet Honey In The Rock / Come and Go With Me To That Land
Joan Baez / We Shall Overcome
Dolly Parton / Keep On The Firing Line
Ralph Stanley / Uncloudy Day
Michael Jackson / We Are The World
The Carter Family / God Gave Noah The Rainbow Sign
The Cox Family / I Am Weary, Let Me Rest
Caroline Herring / True Colors
Patti LaBelle / The ABC’s
Buffy Sainte-Marie / Up Where We Belong
Loretta Lynn / The Old Rugged Cross