Saturday June 20 was our gala concert in celebration of ten years of anti-racism work. Mayor James Langfelder was on hand to present us with a proclamation recognizing our efforts. He declared “Springfield Dominican Anti-Racism Team Awareness Day” at the close of the concert, which featured choral music and other performances by representatives of seven local faith communities, Catholic, Baptist, nondenominational, and Baha’i.
The proclamation acknowledges that “SDART has embodied a valuable and worthwhile mission and through their work has hosted numerous presentations; attended various trainings; and explored ways to connect their anti-racism teachings to other sisters, their congregation and members of the community” and “in the past four years the team has donated 1,600 hours of volunteer time to help achieve their goal of becoming an anti-racism congregation while the Dominican Sisters have volunteered over 1,400 hours of their time to the mission.”
The entire proclamation is available here.
“Our efforts have born more fruit than we could have ever anticipated when we began this journey a decade ago,” said Sister Marcelline Koch, OP, who along with Mr. Leroy Jordan co-chairs SDART. “Recent events in our nation are evidence that there is plenty more work to be done. Our anniversary is a good time to recommit ourselves to this work into the future.”
The assembled choirs, sisters, and guests observed a moment of silence at the start of the concert in memory of the nine women and men who were killed at Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, on June 17.
“Our celebration was a witness to what we dream for our city and our country,” said SDART co-chair Leroy Jordan. “As we stood together in silence, I realized that this gathering of people of diverse faith traditions, races, and ethnic backgrounds was the best response we could make to those who want to tear us apart with violence and hate.”
Be part of the solution!
To join in the efforts to dismantle racism in the broader community of Springfield, contact one of these members of the Springfield Coalition on Dismantling Racism (SCoDR).
Sr. Marcelline Koch|smkoch@spdom.org
John Record|record29@gmail.com
Kenley Wade|krwadesr@aol.com
