This has made it difficult to connect with the amount of kids and parents we once did, forcing us to ask difficult questions of our work. Like urban communities across the country and throughout the city of Durham, Walltown is undergoing a process of gentrification that is making it unaffordable for many black working class families to continue living here. I write you today, on the verge of our 15th year of summer camp, excited to announce that such a leadership transition will happen by the end of 2018! However, it is a challenging announcement to make knowing that this summer will be the last year of the Urban Hope Summer Camp. The vision was to make Urban Hope not just a ministry run for Walltown, but a ministry run by Walltown. Five years ago, I joined the ministry, as director, with the goal of building a pathway to organizational leadership for young adults from the neighborhood. As they drop deeper and deeper into the abyss, slowly their eyes begin to pick up the luminous quality of the darkness what was fear is relaxed and they move into the lower region with confidence and peculiar vision.ġ5 years ago, Urban Hope was launched to bear witness to God’s beloved community in Walltown by cultivating economic, educational and spiritual resources among youth and their families. The divers’ immediate reaction is apt to be one of fear and sometimes a sudden spasm of panic that soon passes. From this area they move to a depth of water that cannot be penetrated by light above the surface. As they begin their journey the divers first pass through the ‘belt of fishes.’ This is a wide band of light reflected from the surface of the sea. Thurman educated and continues to educate minds everywhere with his philosophies on creating community in a sometimes-divided world.Becoming God’s beloved community is like being a crew of deep sea divers seeking a great treasure in the depths of the ocean.

With books like Jesus and the Disinherited (1949), Meditations of the Heart (1953), and The Inward Journey (1961), Dr.

Howard Thurman inspired the minds of many with his words and wisdom. King’s do not develop in a vacuum they grow and flourish with an abundance of knowledge, years of education, and extensive mentorship.

The luminous darkness howard thurman