snapshots
In this Teenie Harris photo from 1952, we see a Black woman making pancakes at a downtown Pittsburgh grocery store in the image of Aunt Jemima. You see another Black woman sitting at the counter next to a White man. This was the image of “equality” in the 1950s.
In 1969, we find a snapshot of Black Youth protesting in Pittsburgh – “Down with tokenism; equal job opportunities for all now!” The hope was for a new sense of “equality” that wasn’t just about a couple of Black people being hired by a company.
In 2020, we see a multiracial protest for Black lives in East Liberty.
And it is in the midst of these protests that the lightbulb seems to have finally gone off. What is true “equality”?
It is not about concessions. It is about justice. It is about ceding power. And 131 years later, Aunt Jemima can finally be laid to rest. Band-aids acknowledge that there are a variety of skin tones.
But it is not about concessions. It is about justice. It is about ceding power.
(Source: collection.cmoa.org)
martyrdom and saints
During the Boxer Rebellion in China during the turn of the 20th century, a man named Mark Ji Tianxiang was martyred on July 7, 1900. He was lifelong addict to opium and was denied the sacrements. Yet, even in the midst of this, he remained faithful and in the face of death, continued to pray and love others. A century later, he was canonized as a saint.
What makes a martyr?
George Floyd, in his final moments, declared the dignity of the human person. In the midst of injustice, he did not curse his oppressors, but sought to remind them and all of us about the truth about the value of human life, of a Black life. A martyr is not one who has lived a perfect life, but one who has died giving witness to Christ through their death.
And what can be said of his miracle? That after his death, systemic structures are falling down. Hearts are turning towards repentance. People are seeking truth and justice.
George Floyd, pray for us.
cleansing the temple
In recent days, posts have flown around about Jesus cleansing out the temple and what it means for us in this time. The story occurs in all four gospel accounts: Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48, and John 2:13-16. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all place this story after Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem while John places the account following the first miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding of Cana. Taking an inductive look at the passage in Mark, there is a clear chaismtic structure:
15 Then they came to Jerusalem.
And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying,
“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
18 And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.
19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
Why does Jesus drive out “those who were selling and those who were buying” from the temple?
The obvious answer is in v17, but how did the former actions make the temple a ‘den of robbers’? What was being 'robbed’?
In v15, we can make a number of observations:
- Jesus “began to drive out” after entering the temple, suggesting that this activity was at least occuring near the entrance.
- Jesus drove people out, overturned tables and seats, and wouldn’t allow anything to be carried through the temple.
- There were four groups of people who were targeted: sellers, buyers, money changers, and specifically “those who sold doves.”
So this also brings up a number of questions:
- What was the significance of being near the entrance?
- Why did Jesus destroy property of the money changers and the dove sellers?
- What exactly were all those sellers, buyers, and money changers doing?
- What’s with the doves?
A final observation is with v18, with this event precipitating the plot to kill Jesus. What was the teaching that led the religious teachers to fear Jesus?
the right to bear arms
The lynching and murders of black men and women always bring up the same cyclic discourse. “Don’t protest this way.” “Don’t protest that way.” “Rioting doesn’t get you what you want.” “Stop disturbing the peace.” Martin Luther King Jr. is wielded as a shield against Malcom X.
In 1773, North American colonists decided to dump tea into the Boston harbor as a protest for what they deemed as “unjust” taxes. But what were these taxes for? The colonists wanted to push West, deeming the indigenous as “savage” and “uncivilized.” The resulting French and Indian War was a costly defense to which the British monarchy sought recompense for. But American colonists wanted to have their cake and eat it to. More Land, No Cost. The birth of a nation through violent revolution came out of a desire for the “right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” at the expense of others – of indigenous lives, of black lives.
The so-called “right to bear arms” against tyrrany was and continues to be deemed as only appropriate for some. As theologian James Cone reitereated, justice and liberation can only be defined by the oppressed, not the oppressors. Through the history of Christian theological tradition, a notion of “just war” has been developed. In sum, when all other reasonable options are exhausted to protect the innocent, violence can be justified.
There has not been peace in this country since its inception. There still is not peace. The names of the innocent are dripping with fresh blood. I do not claim to know when that threshold of reasonable options has been exhausted - what I do know is that Black people have a right to self-determination. As Malcom X has said, “it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.” As Martin Luther King Jr. stated towards the end of his life:
“Urban riots are a special form of violence. They are not insurrections. The rioters are not seeking to seize territory or to attain control of institutions. They are mainly intended to shock the white community.”
Until we have true reparations and true justice, the litany of Black martyrs extends onwards. The fires will burn.
Emmett Till, pray for us.
Trayvon Martin, pray for us.
Michael Brown, pray for us.
Tamir Rice, pray for us.
Antown Rose, pray for us.
Atatiana Jefferson, pray for us.
Ahmaud Arbury, pray for us.
Breonna Taylor, pray for us.
George Floyd, pray for us.
May your deaths not be in vain.
essential
Only in moments of crisis do we begin to re-evaluate all that has held us until this very moment. What really matters?
That job, that project, that mammon is all worthless.
In the midst of Covid-19, the epidemic of our century, the hidden societal structures have come to light. Who keeps producing food? The hidden agricultural workers. Who gets the food to us? The hidden transportation and delivery network. Who serves us the food? Grocery and restaurant workers. Who keeps the lights on? Who keeps the water running? Who keeps our environment clean and orderly? Who gets rid of our waste?
The individual cell in the human family is truly negligent to believe that it alone has brought forth the world unto itself.
How is that, these most essential people are so disregarded, underpaid, or under-recognized? Is the teacher so much less valuable than the executive? Is the sanitation worker any less valiant and brave than the police officer?
Here in Pittsburgh, sanitation workers have gone on strike, asking for personal protection equipment and hazard pay as they work to continue to remove the physical waste that we generate. They too, are on the frontlines of keeping our society operating. Even on a less critical occasion, sanitation workers have the most dangerous public service work, not only because of handling heavy machinery, but the many environmental hazards that come with dealing with our monstrous waste.
A number of years ago, I was visiting the Bible Museum in DC. As I sat in an atrium eating lunch, I saw a janitorial staff lady clean and wipe down a glass door so it was spotless. People walking through the door inevitably left fingerprints and smudges. Every couple of minutes, the same staff person came and wiped it down again, leaving it spotless, only for more people to walk through. Nevertheless, she persisted.
This was one of the most beautiful scenes I have observed. The display of faithfulness still has me in awe – the distillation of what is essential. How I pray that in the midst of this Great Lent, that we repent of how we have neglected the essential, the good portion, those who are blessed. Let us change our ways and demand justice for those who are essential.
"Almighty Spirit of humanity, let thy arms of compassion embrace and shield us from the charge of treachery, vindictiveness, and cruelty, and save us from further oppression! And may the great chief of the United States appoint no more broken-down or disappointed politicians as agents to deal with us, but may he select good men that are tried and true, men who fear not to do the right. This is our prayer."
— Simon Pokagon, The Red Man’s Rebuke (1893)
(Source: library.si.edu)
liberty & death
Lady Liberty
You carry words of Justice
Your torch lights the Path of Progress
But beneath your White cloth
Reveals the Wolf
Ravenous, feasting on blood
Your appetite is insatiable
You demand more!
More Growth! More Gold!
Your torch burns and desecrates
Our home is your kindling
Our bodies are sacrifice
Your laws enshrine savage cruelty
Your culture is demonic
Your worship is heresy
Lady Liberty
Principality of this Land
Thou art Death Incarnate
insanity
Guns are clearly a mental health problem in America.
The number of people who have been murdered in this country using guns is staggering, yet we have continued to believe and act that all is well. We have a healthy dose of collective insanity that goes along with our collective amnesia. It’s as if every bullet fired is a shiny new object that distracts us from the pattern of killing.
The “good guy with a gun” mythology is incredibly, racially naive. Jemel Roberson and Emantic Bradford were both legally carrying a handgun, both assisting others during a violent event, and both killed by law enforcement. Their murders were “justified” by law enforcement, because there was confusion about black men holding weapons.
Furthermore, the Dayton shooting shows that, despite trained law enforcement professionals responding in less than a minute, an active shooter was able to kill and injure dozens of people. More people with guns makes the job for law enforcement even more challenging. How in the world can they tell in the moment who is the aggressor? Active shooter scenarios are about stopping the shooter as quickly as possible – that doesn’t leave much time for questions.
There is no justifiable reason besides insanity that we do not require background checks and licenses for owning firearms. There is no reason for an individual to personally own a high-capacity magazine. And weapons kits should also be regulated. Maybe every firearm owner should also be required to be insured in the case of negligence or deliberate harm through the use of their weapons, or every firearms manufacturer – insurance companies wouldn’t bet money on such risk and neither should we as a society.
No one discounts that all of these individual people who have murdered, the gun was clearly a tool wielded for ill intent. People can go around killing people using a knife, a car, or whatever. So yes, let’s get everyone proper mental health care too. But universal healthcare? That’s insane?
So, still we seem happy to feed human sacrifices to the twisted metal gods. It is time for us to smash these false idols, repent, and turn to the Living God.
"I wish I was de-colonized enough to not feel like I need a white person to tell me: I’m thankful you are an American, please stay."
There are a million ways to policy out of this. But at the root of this crisis, this inhumanity, this national sin is a hardened heart. A heart that can say “focus on the family” and justify the division of families seeking shelter and asylum. A heart that can send shoeboxes full of toys made in China to children far away and deny soap and toothpaste to children next door. A heart that seeks to save innocent babies and looks the other way while traumatizing children. We need to repent. And we must pray for our leaders for hearts that are continually repentant.
“And they were bringing children out of suffering, into hope, and the disciples rebuked them, separated the children from their families, and refused proper care to them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.”
(Source: The Atlantic)