Clementine Lue Clark

I was born to Jamaican parents, a Chinese father and Black mother. I grew up in Jamaica being called “de chinney gal” or “Miss Chin.” Then I moved to the United Kingdom and was treated very much like a West Indian immigrant with all of the stereotypes that entails. Now I’m living in the United States happily married to a White American, learning each day about what it is like to be in an interracial marriage. (I’m learning it’s like any other marriage.) In Boston, where I live surrounded mostly by educated people, being in an interracial marriage is quite normal. I have the privilege of rarely thinking about it.

Another aspect of my identity is being a part of the growing global youth culture. Research states that we’re a group who value the speed of communication. We’re impatient and want fast results. But we also value global volunteerism in a way other generations haven’t in the past. I may share more basic values with my peers from different cultures than my own parents, grandparents or others from my own country.

There are potential shifts here to be explored. The shared values, world perspective and expectations among this international group may mean that the concept of race and nationalism is morphing and changing quite rapidly. Our families are changing. I meet more and more people like me who’ve married someone from a different cultural or religious background.

Even though I started with a long list of how the world views my identity – my race, social class and nationality, all of which I can’t change – what I’m learning is that my spiritual identity is what’s fundamental to understanding all other aspects of who I am. As I prepare for the birth of my first child ¬ I wonder, how will this child view the world? What are the most important things about who I am that I want to impart? Is it my identity as a Chinese-Jamaican, American or educated person? None of that seems as important as teaching him or her about developing a personal relationship with God.

My spiritual identity acts as a prism through which I view the world, uniting all other aspects of my identity into a beautiful rainbow. For me one color might be the fact that I’m Jamaican, another that I’m a young woman, and another that I hold a British passport. Some of these aspects of my identity could have negative connotations, but the use of the spiritual prism allows me to focus on the positive aspects.

Growing up in a very classist Jamaican culture, I knew I was a Chinese-Jamaican with “good hair” and all the privileges that come along with being middle-class. But as I’ve learned to apply a spiritual prism to my identity, my understanding of what it means to be a middle-class Jamaican has changed. My life in the UK and in the US gave me the experience of being the less privileged “other,” and taught me how easy it is to fall in the trap of seeing yourself as better than others. But by putting more emphasis on my spiritual prism I have learned that identity isn’t based on class, race or religion - that in fact all God’s children are created equal. This understanding has it helped me overcome perceptions and have more compassion.

I’m learning that this spiritual prism has to be maintained, cleaned and renewed on a regular basis in order to effectively reflect positive light on my political views, or how I see my ethnic or social standing. I do this by taking moments of quiet each day to contemplate and understand my relationship to God.

One way that I’m trying to connect with my global community is through my
involvement with the Initiatives of Change program “Creators of Peace.” Last year, I was a part of a seven-person team invited to Sudan to host a series of workshops on the Creators of Peace Circles (CoPC). There I noticed that identity seemed to be a focal point for many of the women participating in the workshops. The women were Muslim, Christian, Northerners, Southerners, Darfurian, from different tribes such as the Dinkas or the Furs, and all searching for a way to serve their communities. The wars in Sudan are largely seen as resource-based conflicts, but it is often overlooked that the emphasis on identity groups helps to fuel the ongoing violence. I shared with the women my own story about my personal journey in search for an understanding of my identity. I talked about the concept of God being my father and my mother, and how this helped me to gain peace with my multicultural identity.

I invite you to join me in answering these questions: How are you allowing the prism of your spiritual identity to influence other aspects of your identity and your life, and what is it doing to heal the wounds of the past and promote forgiveness in your local or global community? Most importantly, how are you nourishing your own spiritual identity prism daily?
Clementine Lue Clark serves as the program manager and as an international coordinator for Creators of Peace. She currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts.