Despite my calm demeanor and jovial attitude, there is a quiet rage inside of me. Today I found out someone murdered my friend. Someone shot him near his home and he died down the street at Duke Hospital. My friend, who has a wife, whose kids I taught in Sunday school. He is dead.
Of course I am grieved. Of course, my heart is broken. Beneath the grief and sadness of my heart, I am filled with rage. A rage which will only be calmed when neglect ends. A bullet brought an end to my friends life but our society killed him long before. This man's family lived in a part of town where property values are low and crime is high. A part of town where people come to help but seldom stay long enough to make a difference. The type of place that many of the kids I teach live. A part of town where politicians always mention but rarely visit. This part of town where people know to avoid at night. Somehow one of the most famous places in Durham is the most forsaken.
Then the whisper, "...when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?.. whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me." This scripture is a command to love others and improve their conditions, especially when these people cannot pay you back. Yet, we consistently make choices as Christians which do the opposite. Our indifference, which is an avoidance of confronting the reality within our cities, maintains the conditions which get my friend murdered. Christians can be indifferent in this country because our focus is on personal holinness. An emphasis on individual piety inevitably leads to community neglect.
Neglect is a pandemic, more lethal than any nuclear weapon, and responsible for the deaths of billions. It is responsible for the death of my friend. We neglect only the tasks and actions which are of minimal importance. However, I believe most of us neglect because we are waiting for a more opportune time. For example, I may set aside paying a bill until I receive my paycheck. When this logic is applied to the principles of justice and sacrificial love, impoverished communities and the vulnerable of our society suffer more poignantly. Their suffering experiences a temporary boon, due to our neglect. Regrettably, our politicians and the general populace have made choices to delay loving our neighbors as ourselves for centuries of domestic policy. Now in 2017, we have discarded our brothers and sisters for so long we do not even interpret our actions as neglect. We use other language to explain away the pangs of guilt which prick our conscious.
Yes, I am angry. I have watched indifference pierce through our communities. I am angry at the choices of my country. I am angry that we have witheld love from so many for so long. As a child I saw adults give reasons for their inaction. I felt the uncertainty of trying to make sense of Christian leaders abdicating responsibility for the suffering of my friends and their families. My feelings as a child have only increased as a man; except now I find myself with the same dilemma as those who have come before me. I have neglected loving my neighbor. I despair at my inadequacy but will not remain in a place of hopelessness. In Christ, I have the knowledge and power to work to spread the divine agenda of justice and sacrifical love to my community.
To my brother, I love you. I will miss you. I am working to eradicate the circumstances of our society which embloden men and women to murder their own. I cannot be angry with your murderer though. I know you would ask me to pray for them. So I will. You have shown me how to love God and love people within the brevity of our friendship. I will see you later F.M.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Monday, November 13, 2017
The Militant?
As I continue to write about black lives and our struggle, I feel a kinship with men and women who would be considered militant: Assata Shakur, Angela Davis, H. Rap Brown, Malcolm X, and Huey Newton. After deeper consideration, I refuse to identify or allow people to label me as militant. The militant label is inextricably tied with the word violent. Militant black people evoke images of armed black men and women marching in rank and file. This image is likely to increase the heartrate of most Americans.
Militancy as a label is inaccurate. To borrow archiac language, militant negroes existed in a time of widespread white extremism. Terrorism perpetrated by white families upon negroes is a common feature of my older relatives memories. What is worse, the police at times engaged in domestic terrorism. The Ku Kulx Klan, and other forms of organized white violence, had members who served in law enforcement. The police attacked and bludgeoned unarmed civilians for exercising their Constitutional rights. This violent behavior, sanctioned and embraced by white Americans, is militant. The modus operandi of black Americans to protect themselves and share their frustration is not a militant action. Their measures were an act of self-preservation, not militancy. White Americans and the United States government demonstrated militancy, by using armed forces to exile Native Americans and subject negroes to slavery. The false narrative of white Americans labeling black leadersas militant is an example of the pot calling the kettle black (pun intended). It is White Americans and the federal government who consistently demonstrated militancy towards every non-white individual.
There is great danger in the militant designation. Those whom are deemed as such become enemies to peace, trouble-makers, agitators, or threats. In this country, we eliminate threats. It is acceptable to kill militant people. Militant people are a threat to security and order. By labeling black leaders as militant, it allows the establishment to murder them. There is a reason why most of the black leaders I initially listed did not live to see old age, or live abroad. Few militant leaders, or revolutionaries, live to see their dreams come true in this nation. Instead of the establishment working to understand and address their legitimate grievances, the forces of white supremacy judge and execute them without due process. The amount of mystery and intrigue which shrouds several of the most prominent assasinations in the 1960s is both cause for concern, with regard to our criminal justice system, and a warning to all men and women who dare to reject injustice and bring about restoration for wrongs.
Here we are in 2017 and I almost fell for it! I almost embraced the militant label. This simple label is used to remove the legitimacy of an opinion. Militant people have subjective opinions, and in turn cannot be trusted. In a society which overvalues empiricism, and and thus objectivity, the militant or subjective individual cannot and will not be trusted. The militant label stole the influence from some of our greatest leaders, and for others it stole their life. In a brilliant and wicked move the oppressor casts their label onto the oppressed, further discrediting their cause. The duplicity and efficacy of this tactic, makes my stomach sick and also makes me want to applaud my enemy for their strategic brilliance. I am not militant, I am honest. I pray we would all have the courage to be honest, otherwise it will be difficult to address and remedy the evils of our past.
Militancy as a label is inaccurate. To borrow archiac language, militant negroes existed in a time of widespread white extremism. Terrorism perpetrated by white families upon negroes is a common feature of my older relatives memories. What is worse, the police at times engaged in domestic terrorism. The Ku Kulx Klan, and other forms of organized white violence, had members who served in law enforcement. The police attacked and bludgeoned unarmed civilians for exercising their Constitutional rights. This violent behavior, sanctioned and embraced by white Americans, is militant. The modus operandi of black Americans to protect themselves and share their frustration is not a militant action. Their measures were an act of self-preservation, not militancy. White Americans and the United States government demonstrated militancy, by using armed forces to exile Native Americans and subject negroes to slavery. The false narrative of white Americans labeling black leadersas militant is an example of the pot calling the kettle black (pun intended). It is White Americans and the federal government who consistently demonstrated militancy towards every non-white individual.
There is great danger in the militant designation. Those whom are deemed as such become enemies to peace, trouble-makers, agitators, or threats. In this country, we eliminate threats. It is acceptable to kill militant people. Militant people are a threat to security and order. By labeling black leaders as militant, it allows the establishment to murder them. There is a reason why most of the black leaders I initially listed did not live to see old age, or live abroad. Few militant leaders, or revolutionaries, live to see their dreams come true in this nation. Instead of the establishment working to understand and address their legitimate grievances, the forces of white supremacy judge and execute them without due process. The amount of mystery and intrigue which shrouds several of the most prominent assasinations in the 1960s is both cause for concern, with regard to our criminal justice system, and a warning to all men and women who dare to reject injustice and bring about restoration for wrongs.
Here we are in 2017 and I almost fell for it! I almost embraced the militant label. This simple label is used to remove the legitimacy of an opinion. Militant people have subjective opinions, and in turn cannot be trusted. In a society which overvalues empiricism, and and thus objectivity, the militant or subjective individual cannot and will not be trusted. The militant label stole the influence from some of our greatest leaders, and for others it stole their life. In a brilliant and wicked move the oppressor casts their label onto the oppressed, further discrediting their cause. The duplicity and efficacy of this tactic, makes my stomach sick and also makes me want to applaud my enemy for their strategic brilliance. I am not militant, I am honest. I pray we would all have the courage to be honest, otherwise it will be difficult to address and remedy the evils of our past.
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Different Rules
Growing up I went through a lot of jackets. From ages 6 to 13, I lost almost every jacket my parents bought me. It was not until a few years ago when someone corrected my narrative. They informed me I left a jacket behind and then someone stole my jacket. Theft...Larceny. All of these years I had experienced petty forms of criminal activity, aided by my forgetfulness. Until a few years ago, I did not view my disappearing outerwear as a crime but an unfortunate example of opportunism. I did not have a proper perspective of right and wrong.
For my fellow Americans who live in poverty, the rules are different. The absence of economic justice and lack of safety began to warp the minds of those condemened to these zipcodes. The mind has a fascinating way of normalizing sustained suffering. The ubiquitous stress debilitates internal resiliency, which results in the mind accepting the violent and dangerous circumstances as normal. To maintain sanity in this type of environment, morality must be reunderstood. Traditional values as they are traditonally understood can result in harm. For example, there is an idea that anyone can achieve their dreams through hardwork. Usually, this is a sound piece of wisdom. However, in a world full of stray bullets, dreams are stolen daily. Hardwork does not matter when someone can shoot you, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our American values only function in a system that assumes safety. When individuals must work to ensure their survival, instead of it being a given, the value system breaks down. Much like chemical reactions, pressure alters the normal functioning of American ethics.
Seeing a child's conscience devolve into a fragmented psyche is a haunting feature of our inner citties. They are disciples of Nietzche in the purest sense. They have never read him but they live by his axiom "the will to power." They are godless because their world has abandoned them. To survive, strength is valued more than cooperation and power is worth killing for. Other people are viewed as potential threats instead of potential allies. Paranoia takes the place of compassion and life is valued only as much as one can profit from it. It is the epitome of social darwinism, and it is killing our country. Those who are strong enough to survive these conditions exit poverty and become a feel-good rags to riches story to entertain suburban America. Or these people survive and remain in poverty reproducing the values which kept them alive to the next generation. Both are examples of social darwinism unfolding just a few blocks down.
Applying our normal standards of morality ignore the truth, their reality is fundamentally different therefore we must adjust our beliefs accordingly. When we condemn people who live in unsafe places for behaving like they are at war, our pride uncovers how little we really know about their circumstances, and how little we care to understand them. If we want behaviors to change, we must end the addage of "making the most out of a bad situation." How do you make the most out of a constant fear of death, unyielding hunger, and fluctuating access to electricity? Truly, How? Think about it... It is only by the grace of God that anyone makes it out of urban poverty; why leave it up to grace, when we can alter these conditions with a steady conserted effort? If Christians carry the Spirit of the living God in them, why do we settle for a stagnant love, which tolerates evil and avoids the truth? We cannot continue leveling judgement without understanding. Different rules require different mindsets, it is imperative that we learn both. Only then can we work with the collaboration necessary to build every American. Anything less continues a legacy of violence against the impoverished and it is their right to have better than what we have given.
For my fellow Americans who live in poverty, the rules are different. The absence of economic justice and lack of safety began to warp the minds of those condemened to these zipcodes. The mind has a fascinating way of normalizing sustained suffering. The ubiquitous stress debilitates internal resiliency, which results in the mind accepting the violent and dangerous circumstances as normal. To maintain sanity in this type of environment, morality must be reunderstood. Traditional values as they are traditonally understood can result in harm. For example, there is an idea that anyone can achieve their dreams through hardwork. Usually, this is a sound piece of wisdom. However, in a world full of stray bullets, dreams are stolen daily. Hardwork does not matter when someone can shoot you, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our American values only function in a system that assumes safety. When individuals must work to ensure their survival, instead of it being a given, the value system breaks down. Much like chemical reactions, pressure alters the normal functioning of American ethics.
Seeing a child's conscience devolve into a fragmented psyche is a haunting feature of our inner citties. They are disciples of Nietzche in the purest sense. They have never read him but they live by his axiom "the will to power." They are godless because their world has abandoned them. To survive, strength is valued more than cooperation and power is worth killing for. Other people are viewed as potential threats instead of potential allies. Paranoia takes the place of compassion and life is valued only as much as one can profit from it. It is the epitome of social darwinism, and it is killing our country. Those who are strong enough to survive these conditions exit poverty and become a feel-good rags to riches story to entertain suburban America. Or these people survive and remain in poverty reproducing the values which kept them alive to the next generation. Both are examples of social darwinism unfolding just a few blocks down.
Applying our normal standards of morality ignore the truth, their reality is fundamentally different therefore we must adjust our beliefs accordingly. When we condemn people who live in unsafe places for behaving like they are at war, our pride uncovers how little we really know about their circumstances, and how little we care to understand them. If we want behaviors to change, we must end the addage of "making the most out of a bad situation." How do you make the most out of a constant fear of death, unyielding hunger, and fluctuating access to electricity? Truly, How? Think about it... It is only by the grace of God that anyone makes it out of urban poverty; why leave it up to grace, when we can alter these conditions with a steady conserted effort? If Christians carry the Spirit of the living God in them, why do we settle for a stagnant love, which tolerates evil and avoids the truth? We cannot continue leveling judgement without understanding. Different rules require different mindsets, it is imperative that we learn both. Only then can we work with the collaboration necessary to build every American. Anything less continues a legacy of violence against the impoverished and it is their right to have better than what we have given.
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