Faith Action 25th Anniversary Reflection:
“Energy I Could Feel Down to my Bones!”
by Christy MacPherson, immediate past FA Executive Director
As I look back on the last 25 years of Faith Action for Community Equity’s existence, I can certainly say that we have gone through our powerful and not-so-powerful periods. Such is the ebb and flow nature of grassroots organizations like ours.
But one thing that always grounds an “organization of organizations” like Faith Action is our roots, our history. Whenever we struggle to find purpose or meaning in the work we are doing as people of faith fighting for social justice, we need only look to our beginnings- our formation and development, our first issue, our first leaders, our first action, our first victory! There are jewels in that. I distinctly recall our Founding Convention in October of 1998 when we gathered 1,000 people at Farrington High School auditorium. It was a culmination of all of the countless one-on-ones and hard work we had done in the previous two years, including organizing the residents of Kalihi Valley Homes. I got chicken skin from the energy I could feel down to my bones! We got our gubernatorial candidates Cayetano and Lingle to commit to renovations of KVH and it was then that we knew we really held power.
As we continue in our life together, let us take time to reflect at every crossroad and incorporate the wisdom gained from our experiences. May we keep moving forward by building and cultivating our relationships, calling each other and our leaders into accountability, and making OUR community what we want!
