Union with God: RIP Ibrahim Farajajé: Queer theologian, AIDS activist, interfaith scholar, spiritual leader

I did not personally know the person I have discovered so many simply knew as Baba. I did however, certainly know of him, and what I know of him is all majikal in the absolute best way this word might be used as a descriptor for another human being. Baba died on February 9, 2016. This was a Tuesday. The very next day was Ash Wednesday. I had previously made the decision to observe Ash Wednesday in the most observant way I had in decades. Among other things I decided to severely limit my internet time. I also made the decision to take a holiday from all social media completely during the entire Lenten season. On Ash Wednesday I unfortunately found that I needed to spend a hopefully, very limited amount of time both on the internet and on social media to send out some emails that were time sensitive and to also attend to some other matters that could not be put off. While engaged in this process, when on a certain social media outlet whose name begins with an F, I began to notice friends and friends of friends, from literally all over the planet were discussing and posting about the great loss they felt due the the joining the ancestors of someone who was essentially being described as a spiritual giant. The more I read about Baba, the more I found I wanted to read, and discover, and know. And there certainly was enough information on the internet about him to last me a very long time. And I also knew there was a very special place in the heart of my friend Mushim, in Oakland for Baba. In fact, Mushim had been on my mind since I had received the news of Baba's transition.

I continued to absorb as much information as I could.

Eventually I came upon the memorial post for Baba in my friend Kittredge Cherry's blog, Jesus in Love, in which she spoke of how Baba had impacted her life. Her words touched a deep place in my soul. Even though Baba had very recently joined the ancestors, Kitt's beautifully painted words brought him completely and vibrantly alive for me. And I was so moved my her words and was able to feel so clearly, through her writing, the unique beauty of this man, that I asked her if I might have her permission to share her words on this blog. Thankfully she agreed

Here is that post. Here are Kitt's words and tribute to Baba from Jesus in Love blog:
These are Kitt's words. Essentially, from this point forward, this is a guest post by Kittredge Cherry of Jesus in Love!

I light a memorial candle for Dr. Ibrahim Abdurrahman Farajajé (formerly Elias Farajajé-Jones), queer theologian, HIV/AIDS activist, professor, artist, activist and spiritual leader.

He died last night (a few minutes after midnight on Feb. 9) surrounded by family and friends at Alta Bates Medical Center in Oakland. He had been hospitalized since mid-January after a massive heart attack. He was 63.

He spent 21 years as professor of cultural studies at the Starr King School for the Ministry, a Unitarian Universalist/Multireligious member school of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. He was planning to retire at the end of the 2016-17 academic year.

I knew him as Elias, and I remember him as a great thinker who embodied fluidity of sexuality, race, religion, language and much more.

His eclectic and seemingly endless scholarly interests included heteronormativity, multireligiosity, transphobia, ‘earthodoxy’-religion and care for the Earth, immigration policies, hasidic/sufi overlaps, death penalty abolition, colonisation, gynephobia, and Buddhist/Muslim intersections. He knew 16 languages. He considered himself to be a “scholartivist” -- scholar, artist, activist and spiritual leader.

Elias made a big impression on me personally when I first heard him speak at a Metropolitan Community Church conference in the 1990s.

I took the initiative and invited him to submit a liturgy for “Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies and Celebrations.” As co-editor of the book, I worked to ensure that his unique voice was included in the book.

In his bio for the book, he described himself as “a queer-identified bisexual / two-spirit person” of African and Cherokee ancestry.

As I remember it, Elias was the last of about 30 contributors to submit his manuscript. I was thrilled when it came by fax in a large typeface, using up the entire roll of fax paper!

It was titled “Invocation of Remembrance, Healing and Empowerment in a Time of AIDS.” His opening words then are strikingly appropriate as we celebrate the life of the theologian who wrote them:

To the living and the dead, we bear witness. We gather in an act of remembrance of all of our ancestors and in a particular way of all those LGBT people of color who have died in the struggle with AIDS, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer, but also of those who were denied adequate health care and were target of racism, sexism, poverty, violence, homohatred, and other evils. Ours is a remembrance rooted in a spirit of solidarity and a spirit of resistance -- a resistance that strengthens and empowers us to live and act boldly….

His voice lives on in a video interview and in the hearts of those who knew him.