Happy Monday, everyone! To start the week, here’s a passage I like from a Bay Windows article by Rev. Irene Monroe, one of the officiants at the wedding of Cambridge, Mass. Mayor E. Denise Simmons and Ms. Mattie Hayes. Mayor Simmons is also the mother of four and is raising her three grandchildren. She and Hayes wed August 30 at St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Cambridge, making it possibly the first mainstream African American church to hold a same-sex wedding.
Monroe writes:
Historically, as African Americans, we have always focused on spiritual content of family and not physical composition of it. . . .
These multiple family structures, which we have had to devise as models of resistance and liberation, have always, by example, shown the rest of society what really constitutes family. A family where a grandmother raises her grandchild or a lesbian couple raises their children. Just like in the Simmons-Hayes household. A household that is now legal by the state and blessed by the church.”
Great quote, Dana. Nice way to wake up on a Monday morning.
Rev. Irene Monroe put that beautifully. I have the “family is people in your heart” philosophy when explaining things to the kids in my life. Extended families can extend beyond biology (and nonbio original ties) and legal ties. The typical family is not “traditional” at all… you know who your family is, and it is nice when that is recognized by others as well.