by Dr. Sarah Sayeed, Senior Advisor
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Community Affairs Unit
and former ICNY Director of Community Partnerships
A few months ago, I sat listening to a panel discussion on the Black Lives Matter movement that featured a prominent author and journalist as its key speaker. In the Q &A, someone asked about the role of religion in contemporary youth-led movements for racial justice. To my great disappointment, the panelist suggested there was no role, and pointed to the tendency of young people to be skeptical of religion and disconnected from houses of worship. My immediate instinct was that this was an incomplete answer.
My work at The Interfaith Center of New York gave me the opportunity to interact with an amazing diversity of religious leaders, to build common ground over shared concerns including environmental justice, domestic violence, police-community relations, and hunger. Their generosity of spirit, compassion, and pursuit of justice for New York communities has catalyzed a broader re-imagination of the role of religion in the public square. ICNY has labored alongside religious leaders to connect them better to city government and secular non-profits. Strengthening networks of civically engaged faith leaders has paid off because now, religious leaders are seen as indispensable to the work of our City.
Looking outward as I leave ICNY, I see that America and New York face a crucial juncture in many issues, and among them is race-relations. While the young leaders of today’s movements may not be as connected to houses of worship, they come from an array of religious backgrounds, and they carry their faith-based values with them. These religious teachings hold gifts for the movements of today, to help all of us, young or old, stay the long course to actualize a just world. Some of these gems include:
- Jainism- single-minded commitment to non-violence
- Judaism: tikkun olam, the imperative to repair the world.
- Christianity: the commandment to love your enemy
- Buddhism- mindfulness and meditation to transform justified anger into powerful action
- Hinduism-seva, or service to those in need
- Afro Caribbean Indigenous traditions: healing our minds, hearts and bodies with rituals
- Sikhism: chardi kala– eternal optimism in the face of odds
- Islam: awareness and humility of being a small part of a larger Divine plan
ICNY gave me an opportunity to experience these beautiful values up close and to understand how much these faith traditions share in common. I will miss the daily connection I had to righteous leaders and the work of helping good people meet one another. Thank you again to ICNY’s founder, ICNY staff, and all the religious leaders for the gifts of working alongside each of you. Thank you for enriching my life and enlarging my heart.
