So Much Potential for Reparation
A Review of
Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities
Brenda Salter McNeil
Hardcover: Brazos, 2024
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Reviewed by William Kincaid
Brenda McNeil says that the Christian reconciliation movement has lost its power to mobilize for change. She recognizes that younger generations among us do not have confidence in established models for change, nor do they want to engage in the painstakingly slow process of those models when the time for addressing violence and injustice is now.
Drawing on insights and roughly parallel circumstances described in the book of Nehemiah, McNeil attempts to connect how Nehemiah approached the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem with circumstances and challenges we face in the United States today. Of particular significance, she is reading Nehemiah through her own Black experience and perspective, an approach that she says lends consolation and patience. To read scripture from the bottom up instead of the top down, as she puts it, sets up the community organizing principles that follow.
Each chapter offers a predictable principle, like asking the right questions, identifying with the plight of people, pursuing proximity to the problem, and organizing a diverse coalition (chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively). The fact that these are standard principles does not take away from the spirit of the book.
Chapter 9, entitled “Leverage Access to Resources,” makes the strongest case for its principle. It is also the chapter that most clearly returns to the theme of supporting younger generations and calling them to commitment and action.
The book is widely and enthusiastically endorsed by several highly recognized names, including Willie James Jennings. Its many and often lengthy quotes are inspiring. I find any of Cole Arthur Riley’s writings to name timely situations and challenging issues with probing poetry, so I was delighted to hear Riley’s voice in this volume. McNeil also engages the work of Heather McGhee, author of The Sum of Us, which fits nicely with the change-making focus of the book.
In addition, McNeil shares numerous personal stories, just as one would expect from her interpretative approach. Some of those stories form lengthy introductions to relatively brief chapters.
I enjoyed the book. It’s hopeful and uplifting. I can only imagine how energizing it must be to know and work alongside McNeil in person. That said, these three things, I believe, would help the content land and resonate more quickly with the audience she has in mind. I mention them not because I think McNeil is unaware. To the contrary, I name them because they don’t come through in the book with as much clarity as and force as I know McNeil must possess and demonstrate.
First, a better developed statement about what she means by reconciliation and the reconciliation movement, as well as articulating it earlier, would help the reader see the intent and impact of the nine principles she describes. Clearly, race and racially socialized systems are at the heart of her concern, as well as of paramount concern for those for whom she is offering this guidance, but unlike the work of Heather McGhee, for instance, the reader would benefit from a more precise and sustained picture of the work which she is encouraging and attempting.
Second, and very similar to the comment above, I would have gained much by understanding more about the people with whom she desires to connect and empower. For example, she references from time to time “this generation of young adults,” (18) but the broadness of that category makes it difficult to know whether she is talking about college-age persons or those in their early thirties who likely have a different set of circumstances, concerns and networks. And whichever group it is, is it so monolithic that these stories and principles fit everyone?
It’s a powerful and refreshing statement to say, “We recognize that God is moving in your generation in ways we did not see or anticipate.” (20) Just as three or four pages devoted to how she understands reconciliation would have prepared us for the rest of the book, the same can be said for more sharply identifying the group she has in mind. In turn, that specificity would have helped the rest of us think about the differences we may need to take into account as we seek to empower other groups.
Finally, a reconciliation movement that is at least to some degree grounded in community organizing principles depends on identifying a singular challenge with unusually keen specificity. For example, McNeil provides a long list of systemic ills in chapter 6 (103). She is right to name these and could have listed a dozen more without much trouble.
To draw on the sub-title, though, we don’t “mend broken systems and heal our communities” with vagueness. I found myself wanting, even needing, a thorough case study at several points in the book. A chapter that would have addressed one of these challenges with the principles she outlines would have given clearer understanding and more specific strategies for the kind of mending and healing she is encouraging. In the absence of a case study elucidating a challenge’s context, history and implications, the principles do not register to the same degree.
Empowered to Repair calls individuals and communities into solidarity of prayer, discernment and direct action. Inspiration for that long, system-changing work can be found on every page. The concerns that I raise can be addressed through other works, if people are so inclined to pursue them. Even with these concerns, this book will inspire activism, get activists started toward change, and assure them that they are not alone in their mending and healing.
William Kincaid
William Kincaid is Herald B. Monroe Professor of Leadership and Ministry Studies and Co-Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. He is also author of several books, including most recently: Come Again to the Circle: 40 Leaders Imagine the Church beyond COVID.
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