facing white privilege: a film series...

3/31

Facing White Privilege: A six part film series

As we continue deeper into this presidency, the project of deconstructing white privilege becomes ever more important. This year we have a valuable resource from a surprising place, i.e., Hollywood. After the embarrassment of 2016’s #oscarssowhite, there was actually a solid list of African-American themed films both nominated…and winning, not the least of which Best Picture winner Moonlight. (Leaving aside the whole embarrassing scene around the presentation of that award, metaphoric in its own right.) There were in fact enough films to create a film series that a congregation or study group could use to explore white privilege from the perspective of African-American artists.

Let’s take a look at these films:

First, Hidden Figures. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846340/)(3 nominations…Best Picture, Supporting actress Octavia Spencer and Adapted Screenplay). This, the most traditional of the films, tells the story of three African-American women Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson who were vital to the success of the Mercury 7 space launch. The film depicts the prejudice that was the norm at the NASA facility in a segregated Virginia. (It also secondarily shows how sexism limited the roles of women.) The women through grit and determination survive the racism and take their rightful roles with the assistance of a supervisor, Al Harrison,  who realizes the importance of the best, no matter what, we all cheer when he takes a sledge hammer to the colored bathroom sign, and astronaut John Glenn. It becomes clear that racism was holding the US space program back and a choice had to be made between maintaining old structures and having a program be as successful as it could. All the right heart strings are rigged as the women succeed.

From a movie about a true story, there were 3 significant actual documentaries.  The winner, OJ: Made in America, was a actually a five part 7.5 hour long ESPN series. (http://www.espn.com/30for30/ojsimpsonmadeinamerica/) You watch, are amazed at how much we forget and see the story of OJ in its context. You see his rise to fame as a “safe” (ie, deracinated black man), the trauma of the Rodney King era LAPD relentless assault on the black community. And how the trial became a touchstone in our national drama. Underneath the prosecution’s bungling of the case (why did this make me think of the Clinton campaign?) and irrespective of OJ’s guilt or innocence, Attorney Cochran weary showed that whether or not they planted evidence intros case, the LAPD certainly could have based own its attitudes and culture. Cochran didn’t so much play the race card as revealed what was already there. In Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, Michael Eric Dyson has pointed out how for black Americans, this case was payback. And more than one juror in the  film attests to that reality. It’s important to remember that 95 million  Americans watched OJ’s white bronco run…more than the Superbowl. The nation was transfixed. It is tragic that the Rodney King videos look like they could have been on this morning’s news. 

13th is required watching.(Best documentary nomination    The title refers to the 13th amendment which abolished slavery…except for criminals. It shows how that loophole was used to criminalize blackness and find anew way to enslave African-Americans. In illustrating what Michelle Alexander has named the New Jim Crow,  Ava Du Vernay’s film clearly shows the connection between mass incarceration and police violence. (To which one could add gentrification) Today’s mass incarceration is a direct (chain) link back to US slave history and  until this issue is truly wrestled wth, slavery is not only a legacy but an unsealing wound in society.  Consider: one of every four African-Ameriocan males will do time in  prison...

Finally,  Raoul Peck’s “I am not your Negro” (Best documentary nomination). This documentary follows an essay by Baldwin dealing with the lives of Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X. It s both revealing as to Baldwin’s subjects but also to his internal life. It captures the searingly beautiful lyricism of Baldwin’s prose. One early intercut views of recent police violence illustrates…again and yet again…how little has changed. We see the tragedy that the US could not understand the opportunity that Evers, King and Malcolm X offered. And it shows that King snd Malcolm had arrived at virtually the same place vis a vis American society. Through Baldwin’s voice, we hear his unrelieved anguish and tragic lack of hope  for the future. We hear why he had to go in exile  to Paris and then had to return. We hear in the awkward words of Dick Cavett our inability to even find the language to talk about our struggles with this issue. Baldwin’s look in response captures the knowing bemusement, resignation and sadness of the reality. While he had loving relationships with individual white people, his sense of hopelessness is a stern warning  to any who see us in a post racial society. 

Fences and Moonlight serve as bookends. Through the very particular lives of individual black people in specific contexts in two eras, film with no significant white characters whatsoever, we gain insight into the universal human reality. Through the lens of blackness. Between the two of then they garnered a dozen nominations ranging for best picture too score.  

Denzell Washington’s Fences brings the work of August Wilson to the screen and makes it  available etc those may not have been able to experience his plays. Wilson may be the quintessential American playwright of the 20th Century. His 10 Play cycle…one for every decade..is a vibrant, passionate, loving and lyrical portrayal of African-American life through the century. Once complete, he died soon thereafter. I have had a special love of Wilson’s plays because all but one are set in Pittsburgh and show me the tie of my home town I never knew. For those who say the words are too poetic, I disagree. When I go around the corner from my apartment  on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr, Boulevardrd, in front of the liquor store, and listen to the men, I hear the braggadocio, the metaphor, the dance and parry that is Wilson’s language. In Fences we are taken to Pittsburgh’s Hill District in the mid-50’s.  We see a world shaped and controlled by white people, even when invisible, including the commonness of the prison experience, and its impact on one man, Troy Maxon and his family. August Wilson opens for us a world we would otherwise never see….or hear….

Moonlight accomplishes the same thing in a different era. It is in short an exquisite motion picture. A true film in every way from cinematography to sound. It’s beauty takes us into a world where white people are fro all intents and purposes irrelevant. Like Wilson, Barry Jenkins gives us characters who are complex, not easily categorized. We find, for example, drug dealers who can be caring and compassionate and valuable to their community as well as destructive. (One can think of the similarities of legal jobs of white people that are destructive been when the individuals may be more complex..) We also get to see how that world looks though the perspective of queerness. It gives us the opportunity to talk about what moves us, what we connect with, in a story in which we collectively have no visible role. 

Together these films give us a sound insight into what white privilege means and what our societal reality is like for the African-Americans who live within it. We get a broad and deep view without having to ask any African-Americnas we know to….. once again…. be our tour guides int blackness. The journey is very long. It’s time to start….

Can you be persistent enough?

10/16

Pete....was persistent

I knew that judge. Judge Raymond H. Graham. Back in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Known as a  “hanging judge”. Pretty much neither feared God nor had respect for people. I was director of the Presbyterian Urban Ministry Council. Each church got to assign a representative to our board. Judge Graham was assigned by his congregation.I called the pastor. He said I’d be surprised. When I interviewed him, Judge Graham told me he’d had a heart attack. While he was in the hospital, he realized that he’ d been putting the wrong people in jail. And felt he had a chance  to make up for it. Together we created Oklahoma’s first alternatives to incarceration program.  (He’d brought along an old friend, Baker Davis,  who said I came to jeer and stayed to cheer…we had many a meeting at the Judge’s poker table over fine single malt and a slight haze of smoke.)

And now, the week…

John Oliver asks us to look up, way, way up there, way up in the sky, beyond the clouds, beyond the stars……way up there is rock bottom he tells us…And I am frightened by news from the Trump rallies…that if he loses, he will declare the  results illegitimate…what would that unleash?

On the one hand, i am  encouraged by some developments in the evangelical community….last week Liberty College students protested their President Jerry  Falwell’s continued  support for Trump…BUT….why only now?  Why not when he threatened 

Muslims? Mexicans? This is Not just about SEX…

Back to the parable…

Who are we in this parable?  How we answer that  question makes a world of difference. Basically, its about patience, persistence. But the issue is, who is telling whom to be patient? Jill Duffield, of Presbyterian Outlook, reminds us that on so many issues, we are simply not in a position to tell others to be patient. 

As Martin Luther King, Jr's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" noted: "For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!' It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This 'wait" has almost always meant 'never.'"

She goes on to say: That’s my concern with preaching these texts this week. That we will preach "don't lose heart" without an antiphonal cry of "How long O, Lord?" I fear that I would be tempted to proclaim "pray always," without also walking with the widow to the judge's bench.

In a1963 forum, a history professor asked about James Baldwin about his critique of liberals. Baldwin replied that, with some exceptions, "Liberals have the proper attitude with no real convictions." He had observed, he said, that, "when the chips are down," they "don't come through." I wonder if that couldn't be a critique of the church, too. I suspect the backlash against "thoughts and prayers" is grounded in this very reality.  We need more than thoughts and prayers…we need righteous action.

We need patience to continue work on what we won’t see accomplished  in our lifetime….to be persistent….to keep going back over and over again…the one  good thing Donald Trump said about Hillary in the last debate was….She doesn’t give up…she’s not a quitter..

That’s issue one.

Issue number two is…what do you know by heart?  Remember that in school? Learning the pledge to the allegiance? The Lord’s prayer?  Jeremiah is asking us what we know by heart…his challenge is for us to  know God’s law so well it shapes who we are and that who we are is visible embodiment of it…ou lives being then lesson text.  

As we talk about what we know, there are the expected replies…Lord’s prayer, Psalm 23, the rosary…Hail Mary, full of grace…then Rachel recites a beautiful poem about October..

Back to Baldwin fro a minute…do we come through? What difference does it make?

Thanks Leila....

Jill Duffield challenges us with these questions: 

1. When we say we will pray for someone or about something, do we? What difference does it make if we do or don't follow through on our promise to pray?

2. When have you lost heart? Were you able to find your heart again? If so, how?

3. How do we balance faithful patience with faithful action? When have you been persistent in seeking justice?

May God grant us persistence…….may God help us to encourage each other when we lose heart…persistence….until justice comes…

First Reading Jeremiah 31:27-34

27The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. 28And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. 29In those days they shall no longer say: "The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." 30But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

31The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Psalm 119:97-104

97Oh, how I love your law!

It is my meditation all day long.

98Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,

for it is always with me.

99I have more understanding than all my teachers,

for your decrees are my meditation.

100I understand more than the aged,

for I keep your precepts.

101I hold back my feet from every evil way,

in order to keep your word.

102I do not turn away from your ordinances,

for you have taught me.

103How sweet are your words to my taste,

sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104Through your precepts I get understanding;

therefore I hate every false way.

Second Reading 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. 5As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

Gospel Luke 18:1-8

1Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" 6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Another sweeping story

10/13

This blog began with a story of sweeping...the steps of West-Park church. Last November, a connection was found with men and women sweeping the streets of Managua, Nicaragua in the early morning. Today there is another sweeping story.

It is still dark when I arrive at Zucotti Park. Energy, spirits and tension is running high. All  around the edge of the park, I see people with brooms, sweeping. We are prepared, if necessary, to form a human chain around  the park to prevent police evicition. I see a young man in a collar sweeping and approach him. He’s one of the “protest chaplains”, a seminarian froom Union. I ask him what it’s been like. 

He tells me that they have been a constant presence. That once occupiers got used to them being there, they began to accept them, to talk. Ask questions. And there had even been requests for baptisms. As we’re talking, a cheery young woman approaches. Hey, another collar person! She too is a chaplain, a seminarian. I ask who’s in charge. And they tell me, we’re in the spirit of the occupation, we share leadership. (I do know that friends at Auburn Seminary had provided trainng yesterday to prepare for police action.)

Soon I’m surrounded by a circle of collar wearing men and women, all with brooms. Many have written phone numbers and other information on their arms and wrists in case of arrest. And I came here this morning prepared for that possibility myself. Only wondering about my healing back.

A marching band is providing music. I see two men quietly playing chess, as I have every time I’ve been down there. Breakfast is being served.  I see, greet  and hug my friend from St. Mary’s Episcopal, Father Earl Koopercamp. Another one of my if he’s there it’s real colleagues. 

The word begins to spread....the city has backed down.  There will be no eviction today. Cheers wring out. And one by one people get up, call out mike check, and begin to speak.

A burly middle aged man stands up. I’ve been a trade unionist all my life. And this is a true people’s victory.  Don’t let any one take this away from you. Allow yourselves a moment to appreciate what you’ve done. Today we won a victory. And every win counts. 

And then there’s a young clean cut man in a suit, City Councilmember Steve Levin from Park Slope Brooklyn, calling out mike check. This is a victory for people who still believe  in democracy, that democracy still belongs to the people. The voters of ths city wouldn’t let you be evicted. The stayed on us until we stayed on the mayor. Money’s not the only power.

Later I learn how right that was. All day long people kept up the pressure. I called my Councilmember Gale Brewer. She assured me that the progressive caucus would keep meeting, keep asking to speak to the mayor. Thousands of ordinary New Yorkers kept calling. One of my clergy colleagues called 311 over 20 times. Finally even the owner of the park told the mayor to back off. 

The people united...

There’s a spirit of celebration. Voices begin calling for a march down Boradway to City Hall to say thank you. The sanitation task force calls on everyone to grab a mop or broom and sweep up as they march up Broadway. And brooms in hand, the march begins. 

                           * * * * 

Eleven o’clock. Judson Memorial Church. An interfaith clergy gathering and press conerence. Behind the lectern is Judson’s notorious Golden Calf, looking a lot like the Wall Strreet bull, created to point to the worship of false idos. I sit beside my friend and colleague Annie Rawlings who has been staffing the Intefaith Center’s Prepare New York to further understanding in light of the tenth anniverdary of 9-11. (West-Park’s showing of Divided We Fall was part of that campaign.) She's also been a key organizer in the new emerging PHEWA Criminal Justice Network . And  Mark Greenburg of the Interfaith Assembly on Housing and Homelessness. And my friend Kellie Anderson Picallo  from Auburn, one of  the chaplain trainers. Representatives of Interfaith Immigration Action. There’s an opening Buddhist chant. A chanted verse from the Koran. A Jewish prayer. Then Rev. Michael Ellick of Judson uses the people’s mike to read the statement of solidarity that had emerged from an interfaith working group. 

Line by line the statement echoes back:

We, the people of faith communities throughout New York and the United States, see in the spirit of Occupy Wall Street a promise of democracy renewed. 

Our spiritual traditions are clear: the impoverishment of the many for the benefit of the few destroys us all. The cries of our people are clear: the American dream is compromised; the middle is slipping away; and in our politics, fairness is dissipating. The Soul of our Nation is threatened by many false idols. 

So together we affirm the golden rule: do to others as you would have them do unto you. We commit ourselves to the restoration of justice for all in our economy, and compassion in our politics, that together we might behold a revolution of values for all our people. We ask all Americans to join us in this prayer, that once again our country might be the fulfillment of hopes and dreams for all who reach its shores. 

(To learn more an sign on go to 

http://www.groundswell-movement.org/occupy)

Already over 150 clergy had signed.

And then one of the longtime faithful witnesses, The Rev. Herbert Daughtry of the House of the Lord church in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, who goes back to King and the Civil Rights Days, ever young even after 80, comes to close out the talks. He gets a standing ovation from his peers. And then says, I liked that, that was good. Do that again. At my age, I’ll take all of those I can get. He reminds us of a 1978 march on Wall Street. Quotes from Hillel: If I am not for myself,who will be? But if I am only for myself, who am I? And James Baldwin: nothing is as dangerous as a society letting loose someone with nothing to lose. Then reminds us that in his last week, as he was preparing  for the Poor People’s Campaign, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, What this country needs is a radical redistribution of economic and political power. 

the golden calf

The time had come to lift up the calf and process to Zucotti Park where the statement of solidarity would be shared.