Being there for Mohamed Bah

6/30

Mohamed Bah was a 28 year old immigrant from Guinea. A cab driver. A student. A  devout Muslim. A Harlem neighbor. And a son. His smother was concerned about him and called for emergency medical assistance. She got police instead. And Mohamed was shot dead. The story the police told was simple enough. As usual, they were quickly exonerated 

But aa the case has been examined and studied, stories have unravelled, key pieces of evidence “disappeared” and a critical gun shot, when Mohamed was already incapacitated, came not from below, as in defense, but from above as an execution. Finally, five years later, hearings have begun. In Federal court. 

Part of the tragedy is that these events have become so common, details of any individual case are hard to keep track of. There are almost too many to protest. But there is a more personal connection here. One of our colleagues, Imam Konate, was the leader of Mohamed’s spirit home. And has stood beside his mother, Hawa, throughout the long ordeal. He came to the interfaith circle of the Micah Faith Leaders Table seeking our presence.  And we have joined him in support for Mama Bah. 

To walk the streets of Harlem’s Little Africa with Imam Konate is like walking a neighborhood with my favorite Irish parish priest friend. Imam Konate nods a greeting to all he passes on the street, In the Shabazz Market, he seems to know every vendor by name. During midday prayers, the cab drivers park in a long double line in front of his mosque. Though constantly on the verge of being pushed out by the rising tide of gentrification, the Imam is part of the glue that holds this diaspora of francophone Africa together. 

The Patrick Moynihgan Federal Court House

The Federal Court building looms imposingly over Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan. After passing through the airport like security check, I’m surprised to have to surrender my phones well. It makes me feel very anxious to give it up.

I go to the 11th floor and discover the courtroom is already filled to overflowing. They are directing people to an overflow room three floors up where the proceedings are on closed circuit television. I look around the room….there are African Muslims in long flowing robes. And Imam Talib, the dean of African-American Muslim clergy. Women like Debra Almontraser, founder of the Kahlil Gibran Arab culture focus public school until hounded, harassed and harangued by the Post and its allies until the Board of Ed buckled and removed her. Leaders like housing activist Marc Greenberg and Micah’s Peter Heltzel. Other clergy of various denominations. Rev.Dr. Caryn Di Carlo, a former police officer, the passionate Bishop Ray Blanchette.

At the break time, I will see Labor-Religion’s Rabbi Michael Feinberg. And current Muslim lightning rod Linda Sarsour, Palestinian American, organizer of the Women’s march, our go between with the Justice League and the grassroots leadership of Black Lives Matter. Under unrelenting attack by FOX news and the mainstream Jewish establishment. And, sadly, death threats to herself and family. And Muslim women in their robes. The reason for their  presence here is obvious. 

And there are the ubiquitous Revolutionary Communists in their black t-shirts. Leaving aside my puzzlement around the whole “BA”(Bob Avakian) devotion deal, I am fascinated by the Rev Coms.They are always there. Always present. Perhaps that’s why Cornell West will appear with, work with, them. They are disciplined. Committed. And always there. I wish there were a progressive Christian community, not just the usual cadre of progressive clergy, but an identifiable and visible community of witness and presence that like the Rev Coms was always there. In the name of Jesus. Muslims. The progressive clergy cohort collective. And the Rev Coms. Presente. Important for the judge to know we are watching. This case will be watched. 

The wheels of justice grind slow. The day drags on, through the minute details of how the evidence came to be lost and/or damaged and/or…..Well, there was Super Storm Sandy, you know? Well, the officer in charge? Well, retired….

Will there be justice for Mohamed Bah? Even proximate justice? That remains to be seen. We will continue to bear witness. At the least, the Department of Justice has to respond to how people with mental illness are dealt with. A special investigation by the Washington Post showed at least 125 people with symptoms of mental illness killed by police in the first half of 2015. 

And so we watch. And listen. And wait……

#godcantbereathe: clergy die in at city hall

12/7

We began our action with worship and prayer at St.Paul's Chapel

Church. Session meeting. Finally out of collar after wearing it all day. Exhausted.

Spent the day with faith leader colleagues in an action related to the Eric Garner decision. Congressman Charlie Rangel had wondered where we were. We finally showed up.

Began with a worship service at St.Paul’s Chapel. Near Ground Zero.  Where President Washington came to pray when New York was the US capital. Vounteer command center during the days after 9-11. Over 150 there. Not counting groups of tourists moving in and out. Around and through. Never before at a service breathing was a liturgical act. (Outside of Buddhist meditations…)The one thing we all share, someone said. (Well, there are more, but….)   A reading from Genesis, another from Ezekiel. We end by taking 11 breaths together, the number of times Eric Garner told us he could not breathe.

Half of us march silently, two by two, to City Hall. Carriage drivers in top hats waiting to enter to protest the mayor’s proposed ban on horse drawn carriages in the city. Inside the gates, Marc Greenberg and the Interfaith Assembly are with other housing activists demanding affordable housing for veterans.

Demanding affordable housing for veterans

As we enter, the Black and Latino council members are leaving. To die in the street, We go with them. And shut down Broadway.

Back inside, security is troubled by our number. Peter Heltzel of the Micah Institute negotiates twenty of us entering with him. He prays a strong prayer. Then Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito  speaks ending with I can’t breathe. Eleven times.

We circle the rotunda. Marching. Singing. Freedom Songs and spirituals. This little light of mine. Ain’t nobody gonna turn me around. Oh freedom. And then we lay down and die. Right there. And we lie still. For eleven minutes. And then rise, hold hands. Sing We shall overcome. The sounds echoing off the chamber walls. And then quietly exit.

It was a good action. A strong action.

Notes:

1.      We are an interfaith group. 

Rev. Steve Phelps, Rabbi Michael Feinberg

Christians, Muslims, Jews. Our songs are mainly from the African – America tradition. Sometimes it feels a bit triumphalisitc. We need some new songs. Some more Pete Seeker songs. Arab American director, Muslim and Palestinian Linda Sarsour says I know all those Christian songs. How many times have I sung Hallelujah? New songs for a new day.

2.     But singing was a good thing. As one friend pointed out, chants are inherently aggressive. Singing is invitational. Singing our songs changed the City Hall atmosphere. The mayor heard us from his office.

3.     The council members were inspired by our presence. Felt supported. They are in their own place of discernment, not sure what to do next. Our action was a form of pastoral witness.

It was a long day.  Session takes care of its business. Construction about to begin.

Pastor Bob Brashear, Pastor Heidi and Russ Jennings

Remembering Hiroshima

8/5

TK in early, working on all the details for tonight’s Hiroshima commemoration. TV crews from Japan are already here setting up.

Sam from Cymbeline trying to figure out where he’ll rehearse tonight with another full house.

A very intense, purposeful and single minded man from Brooklyn believes he has been called by God to  do our bulletins.

Jamie, Marsha and Pat are here fro a second interview with our architectural candidate. Arcane discussion of issues like grandfather clauses and certificates of occupation.  Our main  goal is to get rid of any outstanding Department of Building violations.

It’s finally time for Let the Bells of Peace Ring!, our Interfaith Peace Gathering and Hiroshima-Nagasaki memorial gathering. There’s at least 250 people here. The Japanese TV crew is filming everything, broadcasting live. It is an honor to host this event, the 20^th annual, which has been at the venerable institutions of Riverside, St. John the Divine, 475 Riverside Drive and the UN.

Carman Moore

The first offering is our friend Carman Moore and his collaborating partner dancer Kiori Kawaii.

Kiori

Kiori Kawaii

It is an impressionistic piece moving from pain and isolation to freedom, from a cocoon like encasement to reclaiming life

There is the conclusion of the film, The Children of Nagasaki, and Rev. Kaz Takahashi of the Japanese American church both plays the tenor sax and gives the invocation. There was traditional Japanese music and then TK  chanted a sutra. At exactly 7:15, the hour the bomb fell on Hiroshima, a bell rang twelve times, a unison expression after each bell:

No more Hiroshimas

No more Nagasakis

No more Hibakushas

No More nuclear weapons

No more violence and killing

No more wars

Never again

Let there be peace in the world

Let peace begin with me!

Let us begin peace today!

Let the bells of peace ring around the world!

Peace and happiness to all beings!

Rabbi Michael 

My friend Rabbi Michael did a very moving performance. He explained that today was Tish B’Av, a Jewish day commemorating the destruction of the temple. A day on which the book of Lamentations is read. He first chants in Hebrew, then chants English verses from Lamentations interwoven with first hand testimonies of survivors, difficult to to find the difference. And because Michael is who he is, he speaks of the children of Gaza.

There was an imam and a Hindu swami and a Buddhist monk and an African-American Christian, the strong presence of Alfonso Wyatt.

Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt

Then it was my turn for a welcome. I spoke of how it was an honor to host this event And of our deep and rich history. Most especially SANE and FREEZE and the religious peace movement planning here the 1982 march against nuclear weapons that drew over a million to New York City. I remember going to the start at the UN with my friend Donna. Japanese dancers and drummers whirling in rhythm under the sun. I was just struck by the beauty, so I said, How beautiful to Donna and she replied, who would know better…and I realized why this was such a personal issue to the Japanese. Who would know better…

The Japanese Choral Harmony TOMO performed two selections and four young adults read testimonial statements from Japanese children.

Japanese Choral Society

The Japanese American Society brought greetings as well as mayors’ messages from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Then pop star

Mika sings

Mika sang the old song Sukiyaki accompanied by Japanese pop legend Shinji Harada.

The keynote address was by 82 year old hibakusha Tomiko Marimoto West.

Tomiko Marimoto West

Her first hand account was searing as she described thinking that the B29 was only taking pictures, then that it was dropping a little warning  bomb. The apocalyptic terror that followed was an experience like none other on earth. There is a sense of unreality even hearing it described how amazing  then, her grace, her embrace of life in the face of the overwhelming power of death. What I experienced at ground zero following 9-11 pales in the face of the incineration of a quarter of a million people. We who speak so self-righteously about terrorism killed 250000 people, mainly civilians, and condemned generations  to radioactive disease suffering. You have to stop and think about that.

Former teen idol Shinji, accompanied by percussionist Mataro, sings his Yamato, Global harmony and Hiroshima, the place to start. As he has grown older, he has turned to writing songs dedicated to world peace and understanding. He’ll be back Friday for his own show when we commemorate Nagasaki.

Then world famous jazz artists Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin perform. (This is such an honor, says sound man Marc.)

Lew Tabackin and Toshiko Akiyoshi

TK makes some final remarks then invites me to come up and join him in leading Pete Seeger’s Where Have All the Flowers Gone.

Tinya Seegeer

That’s a bit daunting when Pete’s daughter is in the second row.

The Gagaku Music Ensemble leads us out. I’m impressed that TK has been able to present an event that not only  touches on the depth of horror but also captures the inspiration of hope. His attention to detail made the event as well as the diverse cast of participants that came because he invited them.

Another night to remember. Back again Friday.