Gracias – Gratitude, Hope, and Forgiveness

Principle #9

For Black, Latino, and Indian leaders, gracias (gratitude), hope, and forgiveness are three attributes that transformed oppression and need into an enduring faith in life’s goodness… Faith and spirituality together have been the collective and unifying force sustaining communities of color during centuries of toil and discrimination and continue to provide the strength for leadership and social action.

Bordas, Juana (2012-03-26). Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age (p. 181). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Bordas brings this into the circle of community leadership and contrasts it to the larger American society:

When relationships imply responsibility, spirituality is a moral obligation to ensure others’ well-being and the collective good. The concept of the leader as community steward and guardian of public values grows out of this conviction.

Bordas, Juana (2012-03-26). Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age (p. 182). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

LADONNA HARRIS OBSERVES, “In American society, churches are one place, work is somewhere else, education is over there, and none of them relate to each other. For Indian people, spirituality is the integrating force of their lives and the essence of leadership.” The separation of spirituality from other aspects of life in the U.S. contributes to a moral schism: leaders can act unethically and irresponsibly, yet claim to be religious and churchgoing people.

Bordas, Juana (2012-03-26). Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age (p. 183). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Bordas introduces an African philosophy of “seriti” in contrast to this. The idea that an individual is only an individual in the context of the community. If you do more good for the community, your seriti grows, while it diminishes with bad deeds.

Communities of color have always seen spiritual responsibility as doing good for others. This resonates with seriti and drives a collective and spiritually responsible form of leadership that uplifts the whole community. Through practicing gratitude and forgiveness communities of color have emerged as a spiritual force for healing and reconciliation.

Bordas, Juana (2012-03-26). Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age (p. 185). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

From this point she wraps back to her initial principle, that of Sankofa:

Sankofa—looking at history in the bright light of truth— is easier when the process includes forgiveness and reconciliation . Then the truth really can set us free! We can birth new understandings and new pathways. Jesus identified forgiveness as the crux of Christian living. It is also a wise and magnanimous leadership trait. Reconciling the past, having gratitude for what one has today, and being optimistic for the future all nourish continuity and community integration— the foundation for the circle of leadership. To achieve our vision of multicultural leadership requires nurturing the qualities of gratitude, hope, and forgiveness. These strengthen a leader’s ability to validate people for their contributions as well as to acknowledge their gifts. As reflected in the stories of leaders in communities of color, gracias and hope seed a positive and inspirational tactic, a unifying force, integrating social responsibility with spiritual activism.

Bordas, Juana (2012-03-26). Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age (pp. 190-191). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.