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……

Freedom Summer: The next generation (not about nostalgia)

6/9

This summer marks the 50^th anniversary of Freedom Summer, 1964, the summer white and black college students from the north bussed to Mississippi to work for voter registration and voting rights of African-Americans. On June 21^st, their first day in Mississippi, three young men, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner were arrested and released. And then disappeared. During the days of searching for them, eight other bodies of local young black men were found. And eventually, Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney. Murdered. (A movie, Mississippi Burning, was made about this case.)The anger over these murders would eventually lead on July 2^nd to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

One of the three, Andy Goodman, grew up right next door to West-Park. He grew up in a neighborhood with a progressive ethos, home to long time union people who had moved up town, old school Jewish communists, civil rights activists. A neighborhood that understood and affirmed his choice to go. A neighborhood that gave birth to people like Andy. It’s a very different Upper West Side now. His mother Caroline established  a foundation to keep his work and legacy alive. And his brother David has worked to encourage the next generation of workers for justice.

Since most of the events around the actual date, June 21^st, would be in Philadelphia, Mississippi, we felt it important to lift up Andy’s life and witness here in his own neighborhood. And so worked with the Andrew Goodman Foundation to put together our commemoration. Our main commitment was that it would not be about nostalgia.

jeremy and musicians

West-Park’s Jeremy Mage curated the music with support from  Andre Solomon-Glover, Marcelle D. Lashley and Monica Hope. They began with the old Freedom Songs, done with their own soul and gospel style. 

Our city council member Helen Rosenthal brought a commendation to the Andrew Goodman Foundation. As she read the proclamation from council, I looked and noticed that she was crying.

Helen Rosenthal delivers the proclamtion

Later in the night, our Borough President Gale Brewer would bring her own proclamation. David, Andy’s brother, had been looking for Gale all night long because of their years of friendship and her support his work. Gale also spoke of her love and respect for Caroline Goodman, an activist into her 90’s. I am happy to have met her in support of the church. In 1965, she sad of her decision, I still feel that I would let Andy go to Mississippi again ... [E]ven after this terrible thing happened to Andy, I couldn’t make a turnabout of everything I believe in.

It’s that spirit we were here to honor.

Dr. Forbes preached

Our keynote was Dr. Jim Forbes, of the Riverside Church and Union Seminary. He spoke of his days as a young man at lunch counter sit ins. And then drew on the Bible story of Cain and Abel fro his thoughts. And went after the whole issue of violence, including the insanity of gun violence in our American culture.

He was my brother

Before our panel, we had another music break and this time Jeremy had me take the lead on Paul Simon’s He Was my Brother, a song written to honor civil rights workers, dedicated to his Queens College classmate Andy after the murders. 

He was my brother

Our responders were carefully chosen to show the more broadly interfaith reality of our culture today and the expanding circles of hate and prejudice and their effects. Stosh Cotler came from Bend the Arc, a Jewish Partnership for Justice. (Named fro Martin Luther King Jr’s quote: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.)

  She chided her own community for moving away from the movement as they became more comfortable and challenged them to reengage. She has helped establish a truly progressive organization focused entirely on national and local issues.  And called on u sot join them in a candlelight vigil to stop the roll back of voter rights currently underway in the American south, aided and abetted buy the courts.

Our good friend Simran Jeet Singh was to come and speak of his experiences as a Sikh after 911, but got stuck in an airport after a valiant day long effort to make it back in time for the event. (for a video of Simran’s previous visit to West-Park go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idTriW2IjPw)

City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal and Linda Sarsour

Linda Sarsour, Exdcutive Director of the Arab American Association of New york came to us through her friend Helen Rosenthal. She was direct and o the point, going straight to issues like stop and frisk and the NYPD’s focused harassment of Muslims.  A Palestinian – American from Brooklyn, and a mother—Linda brought the word strong and true.

Our three speakers spoke of what they appreciated most about each other speaker.  In his wrap up, Dr. Forbes, quoting Father Divine, called me a tangibilitator which felt pretty good.

Stosh Cotler, Dr. Brashear, Dr. Forbes, Linda Sarsour

More stirring music. Then it was over.  A beautiful and powerful night. It’s hard to leave. Circles of people standing around, talking. What was. What is. What is to come.

David Goodman interviewed by WBAI. They carried the event live then filed a story. To hear the story go to :http://www.wbai.org/articles.php?article=2031       

Thanks David, for keeping the flame burning...