We’ve Come This Far By Faith

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This is the picture that inspired this teaching. I think of these heroes who never made the news and never sought fame or leadership. They did what they were called to do without assumption. I work on race issues, so the selfless giving of these people is seeking to gain dignity in a world that does not accept Black people. 

SO the Black woman says to the white woman "when you look in the mirror what do you see?" and the white woman says "i see a woman". The Black woman says "You see, that's the problem for me because when I look in the mirror in the morning I see a Black woman. To me, race is visible. But to you, race is invisible. You don't see it. " And then she said something really startling. She said "that’s how privilege works. privilege is invisible to those who have it.”

Michael Kimmel

I use white reference points when I speak. When I say 'we" it often means "white people." I try to include the adjective white when I mean white people but sometimes I forget. I want to thank Sito for maintaining a Black presence in our thoughts using the Listserv during the month dedicated to Black history.

LORD what is Worship? What are its Rhythms, its Tones and Pitches, and what is it to You? 

My Children, WORSHIP is the awareness that I exist, and that I AM someone to be Acknowledged and Revered; it is a Request for Me to come among You. Worship is drawing close to Me, and giving up SELF to do so. You there on Earth Sing Your Worship, and clamor musically on instruments meant to give voice to Your idea of Worship; and yes, if You read My WORD a certain way, this holds some truth, making a joy filled noise gets My Attention. But to give Me true WORSHIP, one must add to this a HEART that is Opened to Me, a Heart that will not lie, a Heart that will forgive the wicked, feed the hungry and give refuge to the poor; for you see My Children, the PUREST WORSHIP is what You DO, not what you SING. Every act of Mercy is a Song; every act of Compassion, is a Musical Note to Me, and every act of LOVE is a Symphony greater than anything produced by Beethoven or Mozart. My Son SANG the greatest Worship ever played out on Earth, and NEVER Voiced ONE musical note; never even spoke of it, because He was DOING IT with Every act of Kindness, Every Healing, Every Sermon and Every time He touched the untouchables and corrected the priests. Worship My Children, is to be DONE, and I will then Hear the Music of the Deeds and pour out Blessing on You; I will SURELY come among You then; Your WORSHIP will compel Me to do so! AMEN and AMEN!!!

Avon Bellamy 

When I think of Black people doing things I think of the many blessings they have given to uplift the oppressed and use the gifts God gave them.  I would like to play a song I love called Blessings on Blessings as we celebrate the lives of our Black heros!

Blessings on Blessings - Anthony Brown & Group therAPy

I want to bring wholeness to our community. Wholeness in awareness. Wholeness in sensitivity to others not like us. I want to imbue respect for value systems that may clash with our individual or community value systems. I want to bring understanding and faithfulness. I reach out to you Yahweh for nurture as I seek to abide your will within my spirit. I want to abide in your wholeness.

I want to say the names of Black heroes celebrated overtime. Not just the entertainers, poets and athletes. We white people are often aware of the comfortable stories with athletes excelling in a world opened by Black pioneers. I want to hear about those who actively wrote about the struggle and participated in the change.   MLK was one part of a larger picture.  There was a vast movement around him. White people always preferred MLK as a counterpoint to someone like Malcolm X. The movement was underway before MLK and continued afterwards.

“SAY THEIR NAMES”

These are Black thinkers and activists. They took extra action for the greater good.  These voices represent a part of the descendants of Abraham spoken about in Romans 4.  Each individual had to step out in faith to be the first in their area of expertise, or to raise their voice as a black person in the minority.  The road was not easy and in some cases led to their death.  While I do not know the faiths that each individual , I practiced, I’m certain that God used them to speak truth to the world.

It’s easy to hear the people who speak of diversity and idea of everybody getting along. The challenge is dealing with the anti-racism trainers, the writers of straight talk like Malcolm X and James Baldwin. We have to learn the language of the movement and recognize when it applies. I’ve pointed out when I see tone-policing and other white supremacy in action in real time. That’s a skill that takes a lot of effort to build. We all have our gifts to give to the movement for Black lives. <We also have to fill the roles that are most needed>. Fighting racism requires special skills and knowledge and racism changes constantly. Lifting up Black lives lifts us all up. Lifting up Black lives LIFTS US ALL UP.

When I think of this list I realize

Every one of them was likely called nigger. That would not be surprising. Everyone had family who were American enslaved Africans. Police were violent to their communities and threatened their lives. They were denied the privilege of full citizenship. They had to fight internalized white supremacy. Their families had a legacy of being kidnapped and brought to the America against their will. In an important way they were not immigrants and shared that status of not being immigrants with Native people. Immigration is a choice. Enslaved Africans were given no choice. Even after obtaining legal status as free in 1864 there was no official status for their 3/5 existence in America. There was no protection afforded them in freedom. In fact, they were likely more vulnerable in “freedom” than they were in slavery because of lack of economic opportunities and basic protection. What they did gain could quickly be stolen by authorities. Not only was there no economic opportunity, but they were vulnerable in court, in employment, in housing, in education. Every one of them overcame the impediments of being human, of being American AND being identified as being Black on top and beyond it all the other problems in human suffering. Not only did they rise to the occasion, but they excelled beyond existence to be a primal force for human dignity of all people. 

They rose each day with the same handicaps we all face, the same issues we all deal with. They were susceptible to human suffering, classism, sexism, money problems, education issues, mental illness, drug addiction, health, sexual violence, work problems. But on top of that they suffered the Black tax. Being second guessed, having to work twice as hard to be respected half as much, police violence, KKK, white supremacy, poorer opportunities. 

The people on my list weren’t satisfied with just surviving and helping their families and communities. They chose to thrive and make the world a better place for all of us, to make a nation that God told Abraham about millennia ago. Because they loved their neighbor. They created turmoil and division in their families because their success was an immediate burden on those around them. MLK himself had rifles at home as a final protection from the violence because he couldn’t count on police. But all of these heroes and more unnamed heroes persevered. They persevered and they thrived. And the world was all the better for it.

NOTE: 

Charles Yates book project

Create an audiobook version of: American Slavery As It Is, by written by the American abolitionist Theodore Dwight Weld, his wife Angelina Grimké, and her sister Sarah Grimké, published in 1839.

White people are racist sounds bad until you realize that