by UrbanFaith Staff | Nov 25, 2014 | Headline News |
c. 2014 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS (RNS) Like so many others Monday (Nov. 24) night, the congregants at West Side Missionary Baptist Church were glued to televisions as a grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case was announced.
One woman sobbed in her chair as she learned that police Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the fatal shooting.
Then, with the press conference far from over, the church’s television went dark. And the congregants at the church turned instead to prayer and preaching.
Within seconds, the Rev. Starsky Wilson was at the pulpit, calling for “contrary folk.”
“Thank God for people who go against the teachings of the church,” Wilson said, while referencing those who had told the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that he was moving too fast on civil rights issues. “Thank God for contrary young people.
“To be contrary is to say we’ve had enough.”
Wilson was named by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon as a co-chair of the 16-member Ferguson Commission to look for a way forward after Brown’s death.
On Monday evening, he said that despite the failure of the system to indict Wilson, the road ahead was not impossible. “God through faith turns curses into blessings,” Wilson said. “Ordinary people with extraordinary faith can change the world.”
The Rev. C. Jessel Strong, president of the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition, also took the pulpit. “We’re here because we’re sick and tired,” Strong said. “Why does it seem all of our children are shot by the police?”
At the same hour, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson gathered for prayer at Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Roman Catholic Church in Ferguson. Later, he issued a statement calling for calm:
“I implore each of you: Choose peace! Reject any false and empty hope that violence will solve problems,” the archbishop wrote. “Violence only creates more violence. Let’s work for a better, stronger, more holy community — one founded upon respect for each other, respect for life, and our shared responsibility for the common good.”
On Monday afternoon, Interfaith Partnership, which represents 24 faith traditions in the St. Louis region, issued a statement calling for peace and understanding. “As we seek meaningful change and healing, we pray for understanding of the pain of others,” read the statement, signed by Carlson and Strong, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
A clergy member holds hands with protestors as they shut down a street in St. Louis., on November 23, 2014. (Photo Credit: Justin L. Stewart)
In recent days, numerous clergy members have said they will open their worship spaces to serve as safe houses and sanctuaries.
As the grand jury announcement approached Monday night, worshippers at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral downtown sat quietly. There was no broadcast of the press conference. Those listening on their smartphones were asked to use headphones.
When the Rev. Mike Kinman announced the decision, one person at the back of the cathedral shouted a mournful cry and was escorted out by friends. Others in the congregation, including social worker therapist Celeste Smith, covered their faces as if in grief. Smith, who is white, listened to the announcement with Claudine Allen, also a counselor, who is black.
As planned, all fell silent then for 4½ minutes. Kinman read a prayer of forgiveness written by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and all sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” considered the African-American national anthem.
Then began a 24-hour vigil of prayer and song that would continue all night and day at the cathedral.
Kinman had sent out a notice to the community in advance announcing that people could gather at the cathedral for group prayer, song and silent prayer. He wrote: “Be not afraid. Be prayerful. Be bold. Be together.”
(Lilly Fowler writes for The Post-Dispatch in St. Louis. Margaret Gillerman of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.)
Copyright 2014 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be reproduced without written permission.
by UrbanFaith Staff | Nov 24, 2014 | Headline News |
This article was originally published as a guest submission on A Sista’s Journey.
In an intimate conversation between Jesus and his disciples, just before Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times, Jesus asks Peter, “Will you lay down your life for me?” As Jesus’ crucifixion approaches, his question to Peter becomes reality, and the people who know of Jesus or his movement must make a choice—to suffer and die with Jesus, or to slip away in fear and passivity—to welcome Christ, or to reject Christ.
Peter is certainly not the only one to face this decision. Judas must choose to betray Christ or not; the high priests must choose between power and mercy; Pilate must choose the approval of the people or trust his own conscience. These individuals, however, do not stand alone in their decision-making, but amongst one of the strongest but often overlooked characters in Scripture—the crowd. As Jesus stands before Pilate, it is not Pilate who truly holds power—it is the raging crowd before him that demands for the freedom of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus.
When looking back on the crowd’s decision, it is easy to see how wrong it was until we begin to ask where we stand amongst the crowd in our time. In the case of Ferguson and the grand jury’s decision on Darren Wilson, most of us stand in the crowd, waiting to see what the grand jury and the state may do while we decide what we must do. All eyes are on the jury, yet many of us who are watching realize that the real power does not reside in Governor Nixon or the grand jury, but in us. Just as it is the crowd who sways Pilate to crucify Jesus, so it is we who can determine whether or not justice comes in Ferguson and everywhere where racism exists. As bell hooks writes, “Whether or not any of us become racists is a choice we make. And we are called to choose again and again where we stand on the issue of racism in different moments of our lives.” Today, we have another choice. The grand jury is under the spotlight, but we are all responsible.
While Darren Wilson has seemingly disappeared from public sight, many Americans have chosen to support him. The State has directly supported Wilson, giving him paid leave, and some have raised up to 500,000 dollars for him. Families of Law Enforcement and others have started various pages, claiming solidarity with Wilson and garnering nearly 82,000 likes. Many others, spurred by the courageous actions of black leaders, have chosen to speak out concerning the state’s violence against blacks. Rappers like Common have shown solidarity with the Brown family, religious leaders like Cornel West, Jim Wallis, and Lisa Sharon Harper have been arrested, and protests have been planned in a hundred cities all over the U.S. Others, of course, have remained silent, which in itself is a vote of confidence in the current judicial system.
Some folks may wager that there is not enough evidence for this case, or that one really needs a video to determine what actually happened. But this case is not truly about what happened in that particular night, and the evidence will not be found in knowing what exactly Darren Wilson was thinking when he shot Michael Brown. This case is putting America on trial; the evidence for Darren Wilson’s guilt is not in what happened that night, but in America’s founding in racism and hundreds of years of slavery. The evidence is in the continuing dominance of whites in our political system and the reality that the structure that runs this nation is still rooted in white thought and culture. The evidence is in the number of black folks killed, in the lives of Trayvon Martin and the countless others who have suffered at the hands of police brutality. The evidence is in the fact that while politicians were asking protestors to be peaceful, Governor Nixon was calling forth the National Guard, and that America has been militarizing its local police forces for years. Darren Wilson is merely a branch of the system that victimizes blacks like Michael Brown, and it is not just Wilson, but ultimately white supremacy, that is guilty.
This is where the story of Pilate, Jesus, Barabbas and the crowd becomes so important. Just as this trial is not about the sin of Darren Wilson but of the state, so Jesus’ trial was not about the sin of Barabbas but of the state. Like Jesus, Michael Brown was an innocent man, sentenced only for his guilt of presence and walking in the street. As the scene before Pilate reveals, when the crowd chose Barabbas over Jesus, they were also choosing the violent judicial system of the state over the Kingdom of God. When Pilate asks the people whether they would choose Jesus or Barabbas, the high priests reply, “We have no King but Caesar.” To make Barabbas innocent not only makes the state innocent, but it justifies and empowers the state to crucify Christ. In the same way, to defend Darren Wilson’s actions is to defend American militarism within our own borders, and to stand in the crowd cheering on the death and crucifixion of another young and innocent black man.
Michael Brown, like many others, has been crucified on the cross of the American state. No matter the decision of the grand jury, where do you stand in the crowd?
Join the Conversation and Follow @Evangelicals4J on Twitter.
Drew Elizarde-Miller is a member of Evangelicals for Justice and a Quaker minister from Portland, Oregon, where he struts his small town ethos and gets lost a lot. He is notorious for his furrowed brow, and has previously written for Sojourners, Nayler, and The Friend. You can follow him on Twitter @newbergdrew.
by UrbanFaith Staff | Nov 6, 2014 | Headline News |
(RNS) While the world’s attention is firmly fixed on the Islamic State’s continued rein of terror, applause for Malala Yousafzai — for taking home the Nobel Peace Prize — has taken on a quieter tone. Yet, her message — that girls can turn the tide against religious radicalism and repression — risks being lost.
In another part of the world, reports continue to trickle in of the failed negotiations between the Nigerian government and Boko Haram — negotiations that were supposed to include provisions for release of the more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who remain firmly within Boko Haram’s grip. In fact, there are new reports that another 20 to 70 women and girls have become the latest victims of Boko Haram’s terror, threatening the cease-fire that was to bring the original schoolgirls home. Moreover, much of the world is now eerily silent on the subject — calling into question the commitment to the return of the girls and undermining the separate campaign to improve the education of girls worldwide.
Malala Yousafzai
Is this Malala’s world? One where the value of female lives is an open question, and where the kidnapping of girls and women by terrorists goes unanswered? It certainly seems that way. The #bringbackourgirls campaign championed by first lady Michelle Obama and countless Hollywood stars is now a stagnant memory.
Compare this reality to the global push to educate the girls, an understood foundation for economic development and prosperity, with the paradox of the wholesale abandonment of the abducted girls, whose only crime was receiving this exact education.
Despite the U.S.-led coalition’s ongoing military campaign against the Islamic State, its fight for gender rights and the education of girls will take more than F-18s and good intentions. The education of girls cannot be dropped from the sky, and it cannot be a drive-by celebrity cause. It will take protracted American engagement, the kind that brings pressure on Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and the kind that shifts global interests toward the long-term game of security, of gender rights and education, that makes development possible.
Boko Haram is as much a threat to the women and girls of Nigeria as the Islamic State is to these same people in Iraq and Syria. And neither the U.S. nor the world can afford to allow one terrorist group to go unchecked while (essentially) waging war on another.
Nigeria has become the economic epicenter and largest populace of West Africa, and indeed of the whole sub-Saharan region. The time for the U.S. to act together with the world to rescue the Nigerian schoolgirls (and those recently abducted) is now, when the world is watching, and when its commitment not only to combating terror, but to the rights of girls, and their futures, hangs in the balance.
A renewed, coordinated effort by world leaders will signal their continued commitment as much to the release and return of the Nigerian girls as to the value of girls everywhere. It will speak loudly to the 51 percent of the world’s population that their futures are not risked by the latest global crisis — whether that crisis is Ebola in West Africa or terrorist attacks at home. Failure in this area will have a long-term and catastrophic impact on the trust of girls worldwide in promises made.
With much of the world riveted on the atrocities occurring almost daily in the Middle East, we must not forget that intertwined in our efforts to rid the world of radical terrorists are people — in particular those most vulnerable to their activities and atrocities. We must remember what we are fighting radical terror for. The fate of that fight, and of the Chibok schoolgirls, may yet prove one and the same.
(Christy Vines is executive director of the Center for Women, Faith & Leadership at the Institute for Global Engagement.)
Copyright 2014 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be reproduced without written permission.
by UrbanFaith Staff | Oct 31, 2014 | Headline News |
Remember Ted Williams, the homeless man with the golden voice? Here’s an update on how he’s doing.
A black woman is top in the running for the next attorney general, meet Loretta Lynch.
Our dreams for a black superhero are coming true through Chadwick Boseman. Find out what superhero he will play.
Tonight is Halloween but many in the Christian tradition will be celebrating All Saints and All Souls over the next two days. Find out the key differences between these holy days.
There are only a few days before election day but churches can play a big role in the results, check out these tips and statistics on the role of the black church in elections.
Have a great weekend!
by UrbanFaith Staff | Oct 24, 2014 | Headline News |
Hungry for a snack? So was black woman behind the new Lays Potato chip flavor. Find out her she was favored for her new flavor…creation.
Did you know that one of primetime television’s newest shows is written by a black man?
Gather your tissues: a school holds a graduation for a student who only has four months to live.
Mo’ne Davis is still burning up the turf and inspiring us, this time through the “Throw Like a Girl” commercial by Spike Lee:
Watch Dr. Calvin Butts talks about the best preacher he’s ever heard.
