I can&8217;t dance.

Just ask my wife. She will tell you.

Or ask the children that were rolling with laughter on the sidewalk Saturday night as they watched me learn how to do the Electric Slide at the Art & Soul festival.

But if dancing in the streets might be a step in the right direction toward racial reconciliation in Natchez, then watch out on the dance floor.

A little more than a week ago, Mission Mississippi, an organization formed by a group of Jackson business and church leaders in 1992, brought its message of racial unity in Christ to Natchez.

Its leader, Dolphus Weary, stood in front of the group of Natchez ministers and said &8220;Racism has flourished too long and has divided the Body of Christ.&8221;

Recognizing that the church is one of the last areas of racial segregation in the South, Weary told the ministers that true answers to the state&8217;s racial problems could be found in the church.

Later that day, Mayor Phillip West proclaimed October as racial reconciliation month in Natchez.

In the proclamation, West recognized Mission Mississippi and its efforts in &8220;promoting reconciliation and breaking down traditional barriers.&8221;

It was a day filled with words about the overwhelming needs of the community to begin the healing process.

But as Weary and West know all too well, saying the words is far easier than doing the hard work that is reconciliation.

And this, I am afraid, is where all too often we as a community begin to falter.

Across the country, other communites are grappling with the issue. From Greensboro, N.C., to Pittsburgh, Pa., to Seattle, Wash, communities are working to repair the brokenness that they see in their community.

And as Weary told the group of ministers, reconciliation begins with building relationships first.

Far too often people like to tackle the issues first, Weary said. But that often leads to failure.

&8220;We need to build relationships. We need to practice loving neighbors who are different from ourselves.&8221;

That is why I was heartened by the scene at Art & Soul festival this weekend in downtown Natchez.

Local artists from the both the black community and white community set up booths to sell their artwork to passers by this weekend.

As the artists took down their booths and packed them away for another arts festival in another town, the music cranked up at the intersection of Main and Commerce streets.

What started out as just a group of small children dancing in the intersection, soon transformed into an enthusiastic crowd of adults, both black and white, line dancing to the music of Lawanna Grennell and the band, Grooveline.

Then Maggie Brown came up on stage to sing a string of old time R&B hits with Grennell that had the whole crowd dancing together.

And although some of the younger crowd were pointing their fingers and laughing at the old timers trying to learn the dance moves, it was clear that every one was enjoying the moment.

Over the past six years of photographing for The Democrat, I have seen few events where both the black and white community have seemed as comfortable together as they were Saturday night.

Of course, reconciliation is much harder than a Saturday night dance on Main Street.

It doesn&8217;t happen all at once, especially within a community. It takes time. There has to be a process of individual steps.

And there are much harder things to tackle ahead than learning the Electric Slide.

But if, as Weary says, building relationships is part of the first steps toward healing, then a little dancing in the streets might be a few steps in the right direction.

I just need to take a few dancing lessons.

Ben Hillyer

is the visual editor for The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at

ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com

.