“On the heels of our victory over a year ago, there were some who suggested that somehow we had entered into a post-racial America. All those problems would be solved. There were those who argued that because I had spoke of a need for unity in this country that our nation was somehow entering into a period of post-partisanship. That didn’t work out… so well… “ --President Barack Obama
Add comment January 18th, 2010
Add comment January 18th, 2010
The African-American Christian experience is one sown in unique historical fields, as the faith grew in America among slaves despite its support for (or at the very least its failure to oppose) the institution of slavery. The principles argued to free the colonies of her British oppressor argued convincingly at the same time against slavery. At the start of the Revolution, slaves issued a series of petitions for freedom, this one penned by someone who – while not permitted a formal education – eloquently states the airtight case that tragically took centuries to prevail (the misspellings poetically adding weight and truth to the heart the plea):
“Cannot but express their Astonishment that It has Never Bin Considered that Every Principle from which Amarica has Acted in the Cours of their unhappy Deficultes with Great Briton Pleads Stronger than A thousand arguments in favour of your petioners . . . [who] ask” to be “restored to the enjoyments of that which is the Naturel Right If all men. . . . so may the Inhabitance of these Stats No longer chargeable with the inconstancy of acting themselves the part which thay condem and oppose in others. Be prospered in their present Glorious struggle for Liberty and have those Blessing to them…”
The tragic position they labored to worship in impacted the growth of a unique style of worship, still in evidence today in many churches, with worship becoming an emotional catharsis on a beautiful roller coaster ride of rhythm and crescendo. From Canaan Land, A Religious Histories of African Americans:
Once or twice a year the master of the plantation allowed a slave preacher from the neighboring plantation to preach to his slaves. The preacher, following an old tradition, would always bring the sermon to its climax by dramatizing the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. He would dwell on the agony of Jesus hanging on the cross…by this time the preacher was exhausted but his congregation felt uplifted and restored to face the following week. When the preacher had finished his sermon, he would pause, and stare into every face. Then he would tell them as forcefully as he could: ‘Remember, you are not slaves! You are children of God!”
(Photo credit.)
Add comment July 12th, 2009
This afternoon, Village Square intern Luke, an FSU Political Science major, attended a prayer service with me at the Al-Ansar Mosque. This was part of our preparation for the July 14 program “A Rabbi, A Priest, A Pastor and An Imam.” We were warmly welcomed and they were kind and generous about answering our questions. I asked Luke to write about the experience (and being a good intern he did, below…) I will follow this with another blog post about our visit this weekend.
There is a solemn silence in the mosque; the only noise coming from the water running in the background. The speaker stands up and sings a beautiful chant, a hymn. The Imam begins speaking on the importance of prayer, and the role it plays in their lives. Praise Allah, for all is from him.
The commitment to faith the men and women of the Islamic world share is unrivaled. The commitment goes beyond the five prayers they say a day. It is not enough for them to simply have faith, but they must act on that faith. Theirs is a commitment centered on a personal connection to God and his wonders. “An apple growing on a tree is just as much a miracle as chocolate growing on a tree” he says, “for Allah is responsible for both.”
I am a Christian, and this was still an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. There was no judging, no bad looks or whispers. They came to do one thing, pray. They didn’t scream or threaten the country they’ve come to love. They finished and went on with their lives.
We are a lot alike you and I. We both worship the same God, the same prophets and biblical leaders. Why then are you so misunderstood? In a world that is so ugly and hateful, the beautiful song of praise the Muslims sing resonates even louder. Theirs is a religion of peace and love. Sound familiar? Praise Allah, for all is from him.
1 comment June 26th, 2009
41 years ago last night.
Add comment April 4th, 2009
Add comment January 19th, 2009
Subsequent to the 1967 urban riots, President Lyndon Johnson created a commission to assess the causes. His instruction to them: “Let your search be free, as best you can, find the truth and express it in your report.”
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the landmark and controversial Kerner Report. The commission was chaired by Democratic Illinois Governor Otto Kerner with Republican New York City Mayor John Lindsay as Vice Chair.
“What white Americans have never fully understood – but what the Negro can never forget – is that the white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it. White institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.”
The Report’s memorable conclusion: “Our nation is moving toward two societies – one white, one black – separate and unequal.”
The Kerner Report was heavily criticized among conservatives for blaming, as Richard Nixon stated, “everybody but the rioters themselves.”
This week, the Eisenhower Foundation has issued a preliminary anniversary report on race: “What Together We Can Do: A Forty Year Update of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders.”
“America has, for the most part, failed to meet the Kerner Commission’s goals of less poverty, inequality, racial injustice and crime.”
At a time when we are mid-conversation about words spoken by Trinity United Church of Christ’s pastor Jeremiah Wright that have shocked many Americans, in the wake of Barack Obama’s powerful speech A More Perfect Union, as we wrap up our first season discussing economic segregation in Tallahassee, perhaps it’s time for some really honest talk.
Stay tuned.
Add comment March 29th, 2008
This week brought us a typical brain-dead political discussion about who did what in the civil rights movement. King! Johnson! King! Johnson!
Politics played to our lizard brains, replayed endlessly in incomplete soundbites on the 24-hour cable news do-loop station of your choice, repeatedly asks us to pick “either/or”.
But reality is nearly always about “and.”
As a tribute to the Reverend Martin Luther King today, I want to share Bill Moyers nailing that concept.
As this day ends, the day we set aside to honor Dr. King, if I don’t miss my bet, he would have been all about sharing credit with President Johnson… possibly with one or two others…
Here’s to what real leadership is all about.
Moyers on the signing of the 1965 Civil Right Act:
Martin Luther King had marched and preached and witnessed for this day. Countless ordinary people had put their bodies on the line for it; been berated, bullied and beaten, only to rise and organize and struggle on against the dogs, the guns, the bias and burning crosses. Take nothing from them. Their courage is their legacy.
But take nothing from the President who once had seen the light, but dimly, as through a dark glass and now did the right thing. Lyndon Johnson threw the full weight of his office on the side of justice.
Of course the movement had come first, watered by the blood of so many championed bravely now by the preacher-turned-prophet who would himself soon be martyred. But there is no inevitability to history. Someone has to seize and turn it. With these words, at the right moment – “We shall overcome” – Lyndon Johnson transcended race and color – and history too – reminding us that a president matters.
And so do we.
1 comment January 21st, 2008
The course of democracy seldom runs smoothly. Any veteran of middle school history class knows that, as does anyone who has ever attended a school-rezoning meeting.
If you were snoozing during 7th grade and need a refresher, you might want to join Leon County Schools at the rezoning meeting for the new middle school tonight at 6PM at Roberts Elementary. At stake? Where my child will attend middle school, along with many of yours. I won’t be there, though, as The Village Square will be discussing our first Local Roundtable topic, economic segregation.
The Village Square came from the sense that politics, while it won’t ever be “beanbag”, has taken a notable turn southward of late. Missing? We think it’s the local conversation between people who share little league teams and drive carpools together, but don’t agree with each other politically. Instead, well-paid partisan talking heads turn our neighbors into an evil “they” who have “special” interests, and probably hate America too.
The Village Square thinks we can defy that trend right here in Tallahassee, by – go figure – talking with each other instead of about each other. From those conversations come common sense and a measure of common purpose.
Of course, few things will test this civility concept quite like rezoning.
My very own civility may be at risk, as my child is involved. We live in a pocket of Killearn currently zoned for Raa Middle School that may be rezoned to the new school. While for me the commute is only marginally shorter, rezoning would correct a poor feeder pattern that requires our kids to leave most of their elementary school friends to join a middle school full of strangers (middle schools are scary enough without strangers), only to return in high school to their former grade school peer group, which – uh – no longer includes them. In other words, they’ve been living in the plot of a high school cheerleader movie.
Left with the short straw of the rezoning is Raa Middle School, which will lose a substantial number of its gifted and higher socioeconomic students. From what The Village Square has learned so far in our conversation about economic segregation, that matters.
Critically important to this conversation is the concept of a tipping point, which seems to exist both in school systems and in neighborhoods. Apparently schools absorb a certain amount of economic diversity successfully, maintaining a high quality of education for all students while providing additional benefits that seem to help students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds achieve their potential. The many parents whose children have thrived in diverse schools like Raa Middle School and Leon High School know this first hand.
But when the percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch exceeds somewhere between 30 and 40%, the school risks tipping. Those families who have the resources to move to a new school zone, attend private school or provide transportation for a child with a tuition voucher, may leave the school. What’s left behind is a more challenged school that has tipped, in it the students who don’t have options.
Also left behind is a higher education bill for the taxpayer. We pay over $9,000 annually to support a student in the recently tipped and under-enrolled Nims Middle School, compared to about $5,400 per student at Swift Creek Middle School.
Whatever the decision, it won’t make everyone happy. Nevertheless, it’s worth aspiring to have an informed conversation that remembers, as neighbors, we are all partners in the ultimate long-term outcome.
We’ll do world peace next week.
- Liz Joyner
Add comment November 8th, 2007
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