Living the Questions: A Civil Rights Elder on Exhaustion and Rest, Spiritual Practice, and the Necessity of Loving Community

On Being with Krista Tippett

On Being Studios

Society, Spirituality, Society & Culture, Sociology, Culture, Science, Religion & Spirituality, Krista Tippett, Social Sciences, On Being, Arts

4.7 • 10.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2021

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Our colleague Lucas Johnson catches up with one of his mentors, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons. Now a member of the National Council of Elders, she was a teenager when she joined the Mississippi Freedom Summer. She shares what she has learned about exhaustion and self-care, spiritual practice and community, while engaging in civil rights organizing and deep social healing. Dr. Simmons was raised Christian and later converted to the Sufi tradition of Islam.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, good morning, Zohara.
0:02.0	Good morning, Lucas.
0:04.0	It's good to be in conversation with you.
0:06.0	Thank you for being willing to do this.
0:08.0	Well, thank you for inviting me.
0:11.0	You know, I did jump up being the partial academic
0:17.0	and started reviewing some of my papers that I didn't know on this topic.
0:22.0	Can't help myself, right?
0:24.0	Yeah, you're right.
0:25.0	Okay.
0:26.0	I understand.
0:27.0	I understand.
0:28.0	Well, I, you know, first, let me say, you know, I think I've told you before
0:32.0	that I always, even though I, we're friends and I know you allow me to call you Zohara,
0:38.0	but as my elder, I always like attempted to say like, mother Simmons or, you know, some,
0:44.0	or Stadth Simmons or something, some sort of honorific for you.
0:49.0	So if I, if I end up slipping into that, then you'll have to forgive me, especially in a conversation like this,
0:56.0	when you're teaching me, you know.
0:59.0	Okay.
1:00.0	And I, you know, I'm so used to that.
1:02.0	So it won't be a problem.
1:04.0	Okay.
	...

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