As I reflect on 2020, it is hard not to acknowledge the turmoil of people who are marginalized in the United States. The hurt of Black bodies from a history of racism in the country to the inhumane treatment of immigrants at the southern border and their children—a true tragedy. Being the director of diversity, inclusion and spiritual formation, the pain feels even more concentrated as I learn new strategies for inclusion, new terminology to teach on anti-racism and new ways how to converse about these topics. Without even realizing it, my hope and faith had become a dried-up well.

In Robert Chao Romero’s book Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latino/a Social Justice, Theology, and Identity, he writes of the history of colonization of Latin America. He describes the seizure and control of land and resources from the indigenous and the creation of racist and inequitable political structures for over 500 years to ensure the Spanish conquerors’ wealth and prosperity. After many years of complicity, in 1968, some Roman Catholic bishops said “¡Ya, Basta! God takes the side of the poor, and so do we” (p. 160). ¡Ya, Basta! That is what gave me life, and hope. It means enough is enough. Like so many of us we try at first to be on the side of political neutrality, but even Jesus came to understand that failure to act for the oppressed was ignoring the suffering of the marginalized. 

“Enough is enough!” is what God said as he saw his people in Egypt, and he sent Moses to liberate and free them. Christ, who sat with the marginalized and the oppressed, acted at the synagogue and flipped tables to protest the unjust treatment of the poor. Christ charged us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to do the same. Today we as a community of people of Christ we say “¡Ya, Basta! Enough is enough!” Throughout 2020, we saw people across cultures, religions and socio-economic classes gather, mobilize and march for the lives that have been oppressed and marginalized.

Today, people of Christ demand leaders in power be held accountable for their acts of oppression. Leaders are fighting voter suppression, voting on behalf of the immigrant, widow and orphan. In my position at FPU, I am honored to continue to learn, teach, advocate and pray for my community and with my community.