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Here's up, this episode contains some spicy language.

Hey everyone, you're listening to CodeSwitch, I'm B.A. Parker.

Now folks, we live in an age where being a good person can sometimes feel like reposting

a link online or virtue signaling from the comfort of our own homes, I've done it, I've

seen my friends and family and colleagues do it, I know you all listening do it too.

But what would it look like to try to do more?

Not too long ago I came across a book that was asking those questions, what could being

of service look like and what could be a person of color and the position to be of service

look like, especially when you're trying to help people who look like you?

And this book sort of shook my ideas of faith and ministry and trying to be in community.

The book is called Rivermouth, a chronicle of language, faith, and migration.

In it, author Alejandra Oliva talks about her experiences as a translator, interpreter,

and advocate for asylum seekers.

It's work she's done in New York and Chicago where she currently lives and at the U.S.-Mexico

border.

She writes that sometimes the work feels meaningful.

But then there's the larger question of whether or not I am ultimately catering to anyone's

needs but my own.

...