land acknowledgement
Our office is on the unceded traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Munsee Lenape. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present.
To learn more about the Indigenous peoples of the land that is now called Brooklyn, you can read On Native Land and Native Americans in Brooklyn. To discover whose ancestral and contemporary land you occupy, please explore Native Land.
Land acknowledgments are only a starting point. I encourage you to read A Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgement as a call to action to support Indigenous peoples living now to bring justice today.
the ground on which i stand:
my personal acknowledgements
In order to carry through on my commitment to contribute to the creation of a more just, equitable, and inclusive society, I will use my privilege and the power it affords me for people who do not have the advantages that I have inherited. As a mentor told a group of similarly positioned colleagues and myself:
“You are all powerful people. You have power, influence and authority. Power is not inherently bad; it’s what you decide to do with it in the places you are called to serve.”
I have been inspired by one of my mentors, Paul Robinson, who characterized core values as chosen freely, from among alternatives, after consideration of consequences, prized and cherished, publicly affirmed, acted upon and part of a definite pattern of action. A single act alone does not constitute a core value; wishing and acting are not the same. Paul’s reminder stays with me:
“It is a lifelong pursuit to arrive at clarity in alignment with your values. If you stand up for your values, they will stand up for you.”
core values
When contemplating values, I often reflect on the Jewish prayer, Unetaneh Tokef, which recites a litany of seemingly deterministic statements–”On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed. And on Yom Kippur it is sealed. How many shall pass away and how many shall be born. Who shall live and who shall die…” On and on it goes. Just when I believe that I am completely powerless and consigned by destiny to a future I cannot control, the prayer ends as follows:
U-te-shu-vah’ u-te-fi-lah’ u-tze-da-kah
Repentance, prayer and charity avert this severe decree.
Throughout the year, I remember my power to repair the world–tikkun olam–as well as this ancient Jewish teaching:
“You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.”
