Bridge Builder

BY OGECHI AKALEGBERE

someone from AIM shared about what would be the Maryland DREAM Act. Throughout his presentation, I learned that my peers, immigrants like me, were disproportionately affected by the cost of college tuition simply because of their immigration status. Once again, the world as it was did not match the world as it should be.

I remember being angry and disappointed in myself that I had done all this service but never understood the plight of people with whom I walked the halls, people who shared my same immigrant identity. That anger and fire eventually pointed me toward organizing in college. Years after college, I went to my first AIM meeting, and the rest is history. The common thread in all of this was my parish, which gave me the ability to put my faith into practice and allowed me to provide a sense of power, hope, and accountability to and for my community.

Now, many years later, I am honored to organize alongside parents, teens, and community leaders. Although we might have different faiths, I believe my encounters with these leaders have been nothing short of sacramental. In deep relational encounters, the Holy Spirit is present.

One encounter I hold dear is a meeting with Judy Walser. Judy and I come from different backgrounds. Her parish is less diverse and significantly wealthier than mine. She has nothing to gain physically from organizing, but I have seen the light of Christ in her love of solidarity and care for others. Over the years, I have cherished our intergenerational friendship. I consider her a fellow bridge builder and co-conspirator for justice. As any true justice worker does, Judy acknowledges who is missing and loves to use her known privilege to enhance our organizing efforts.

As Sr. Thea Bowman stated, “I think when we love one another, when we become friends, then we can walk hand in hand into the house of the Lord and celebrate. But to me, to pray together when our hearts are not one, when we’re not at least trying to bridge the gaps, is sacrilege.”

As organizers, our work is most effective if we are bridge builders. We build bridges between the inequitable world as it is to a more justice-focused reality where those who are ignored in the margins are leaders and have neighbors who are willing to walk in solidarity with them.