Connections & Intersections

I’ve recently become a little obsessed with the New York Times games app. You can do a mini crossword, play Wordle (remember when everyone was obsessed with Wordle?), or try to make as many words as possible out of a set of random letters. But one of my favorites is a game called “Connections.” You get a set of 16 tiles which each contain a particular phrase, and you have to create four groups of four words. There is something that “connects” each of the four words, and it’s not immediately obvious what they are. Today, for example, the challenge included the words: “Mobile,” “Shirt,” “Pain” and “Rex”. I sat staring at them for a while before I realized what connected them all. Can you guess? They’re all words that can come after the letter “T”: T-Mobile, T-Shirt, T-Pain, T-Rex. Things are connected, if you just know how to look.

Connections are doubly important when it comes to understanding systemic injustice in our society, and the ways in which Christians and churches can address it. Thinking about the brokenness of American policies can be overwhelming, but we need to understand the connections between them in order to fully diagnose where we’ve gone wrong. I’ll give an example. 

Since earlier this year, I’ve been part of a community organization called Second Chance Justice, part of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network. We advocate for criminal justice reform, especially for returning citizens who are exiting incarceration. We find in our research that one of the key indicators of returning citizens’ flourishing is their access to housing and employment. But because of the Massachusetts CORI system (criminal offender record information - a criminal record that may even include cases that were dismissed or where the defendant was found not guilty), many returning citizens, even after completing their time in prison, struggle to gain employment and housing because they are turned away by renters and businesses. This increases recidivism rates and makes it harder for them to flourish back in society. (For more information on reforming criminal records to help returning citizens, see The Clean Slate Initiative).

If we diagnosed this issue only as a “criminal justice” problem, or a “housing” problem, then we wouldn’t see how those various systems are working together to disadvantage people, especially those from poor and marginalized backgrounds. But recognizing that "criminal justice” work is also housing, healthcare, employment and immigration work, might help great organizations doing amazing work to make the necessary connections that will help the communities with whom they work. 

Another place where connections are key is in bridging the gap between current crises and historical developments that have led to our contemporary situation. As a Divinity School student, I study histories of enslavement, violence and colonialism, and how free and enslaved Black Christian communities grappled with oppression. Sometimes, when I’m looking through archival materials or reading dense critical theory, it can feel like my academic research is far removed from things happening now. But, every now and again, I come across something that resonates deeply with our current moment, and reminds me that the present is intimately connected with the legacy of the past. 

For example, the US’ mass incarceration system is deeply connected to its history of slavery, with African Americans disproportionately represented in prison populations and subject to systemic racism in court systems (see Prison Policy Initiative for more on mass incarceration in America). Our justice focus this year is housing justice, and it doesn't take much digging to find out how 20th-century “redlining,” which cordoned off certain areas of cities for African Americans, and pursued a targeted campaign of disinvestment and segregation in those areas, created regions that are impacted by unemployment, environmental pollution and lack of funding for schools. (See this book for more information on redlining and other segregation policies).

Placing current issues in historical context reminds us of how both inaction and deliberate policy decisions can lead to injustice. And while at first the diagnosis may be depressing, that diagnosis is necessary for formulating effective plans to address these inequities. In response to this, perhaps the biggest “connection” that has materialized for me over the last few years is the connection between my faith and justice. In fact, they are not separate entities that we have to artificially tie together, they are one and the same. My faith in a just God calls me to a prophetic imagination and informed action directed towards bringing about a glimpse of the just kingdom of God here on earth. 

So, the next time I’m tapping away at my phone, trying to beat my high score on the New York Times games app, I’ll try and remember the more important connections that demand my love, time and active attention.