Instagram Posts from the Week of Dec. 15, 2019

Headlines and History - Dec. 15, 2019

***Trigger Warning***

In a CBS News report titled “Trump Administration Vows to Take Case to Bring Back Death Penalty to Supreme Court,” Caroline Cournoyer wrote, “At a time when several states, including some with Republican governors and legislatures, are moving away from the death penalty, the Trump administration wants to restart federal executions, which have been on hiatus for 16 years. A federal judge blocked its plan this week, but Attorney General William Barr said he would take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary.” 

On the Equal Justice Initiative website, there is more information about the death penalty. Innocence and error, inadequate counsel, racial bias, arbitrariness, and public safety are all addressed. Data from the site includes: “For every nine people executed, one person on death row has been exonerated”; “African Americans make up 42% of people on death row and 34% of those executed, but only 13% of the population is black”; “In 96% of states where researchers completed studies on race and the death penalty, they found discrimination based on the victim’s race, the defendant’s race, or both.”

In the Third Edition of the report Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror by the Equal Justice Initiative, researchers found that  “More than eight in ten American lynchings between 1889 and 1918 occurred in the South, and more than eight in ten of the nearly 1400 legal executions carried out in this country since 1976 have been in the South. Modern death sentences are disproportionately meted out to African Americans accused of crimes against white victims; efforts to combat racial bias and create federal protection against racial bias in the administration of the death penalty remain thwarted by familiar appeals to the rhetoric of states' rights; and regional data demonstrates that the modern death penalty in America mirrors racial violence of the past. As contemporary proponents of the American death penalty focus on form rather than substance by tinkering with the aesthetics of lethal punishment to improve procedures and methods, capital punishment remains rooted in racial terror - ‘a direct descendant of lynching’” (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017, p.64).

For more information on lynching, please listen to the 2 episodes of “The Jim Crow Series: Racial Terror, Violence, & Lynching” on the Sincerely, Lettie podcast. Our present is intertwined with and informed by our past. We must face the past so we can heal the future.

*Edited to add: On June 17, 2020, I came across The Redemption Project with Van Jones for CNN. I read the words, “Face the past. Heal the future.” I will no longer use this phrase for my Headlines and History posts beginning in June 2020.

#deathpenalty #lynching #abolishthedeathpenalty #equaljusticeinitiative #eji #bryanstevenson #lynchinginamerica #sincerelylettiepodcast #blacklivesmatter #endracism #endwhitesupremacy #dismantlewhitesupremacy #antiracist #antiracism #socialjustice #loveyourneighbor #seekjustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #lament #repent #repair #facethepast #healthefuture #headlines #history #headlinesandhistory #historyandheadlines #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative

Podcast Rec. - Dec. 17, 2019

Current Listen- The Zeitcast with Jonathan Martin: "Prayer on the Other Side of Deconstruction" (Released Nov. 13, 2019)

"I feel more connected than I ever have in my life, in some ways, and even there being a kind of conversation there. In that way, I feel like I've never prayed more."

"Most of my prayer life historically was begging for forgiveness."

"I believe that prayer is a way of being in the world with God...That's part of what's so sad to me now is how much of my life that prayer just seemed like hard work, that prayer was something I dreaded, that it was something that I didn't enjoy, that there wasn't a sense of retreat, that prayer wasn't an escape. Because I think that's the idea now, prayer is an escape. It's breath. It's life. It's sustenance."

"For much of the first half of my life, I felt like I was so in my head, and I would so intellectualize everything, no wonder prayer felt impossible. Because since I was always intellectualizing my emotions, and everything's always words, words, words, that makes prayer nearly impossible. Whereas I feel like what prayer is often about is getting to a place that's deeper than words."

"When the faith is in a particular outcome, then when you don't get that outcome, then inevitably there's something wrong with you, there's something wrong with your faith, you didn't believe hard enough, you didn't wish hard enough, or there's something wrong with God, and neither one of those scenarios are good."

My experiences with prayer echoed Jonathan Martin’s as he spoke about prayer prior to deconstruction and on the other side of deconstruction. In recent months, when I tell people I will be praying for them, I don’t add what I’m thinking in my head, which is, “I’ll be awkwardly stumbling over my words as I attempt to pray for you.” I feel like I have such deep and constant communion with God as I communicate with God throughout my day about a passage or idea I’m now thinking about differently, but my prayer life has shifted, and I am still getting used to the changes. I really needed this podcast episode, and I hope it encourages you as much as it encouraged me. 

#jonathanmartin #thezeitcast #podcast #podcastrecommendation #podcastrec #prayerontheothersideofdeconstruction #prayer #deconstruction #reconstruction #faith #evolvingfaith #faithtransition #compassion #grace #mercy #empathy #listening #learning #love #pray #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative

Account to Follow - Dec. 18, 2019

As you can see in Jemar Tisby’s IG profile, Jemar Tisby is President of The Witness (@thewitnessbcc), a co-host of the Pass the Mic podcast, a PhD candidate in history, and the author of the book The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism.

I am grateful for Jemar Tisby’s voice through the articles he has written, the Pass the Mic podcast, and his book The Color of Compromise. Having the opportunity to learn from his wisdom and prophetic leadership is a gift to the Body of Christ.

Follow @jemartisby if you aren’t already, and support his work through The Witness, the Pass the Mic podcast, and by purchasing a copy of The Color of Compromise.

#jemartisby #accounttofollow #thewitness #thewitnessbcc #passthemicpodcast #passthemic #thecolorofcompromise #truth #church #complicityinracism #history #supportblackauthors #endwhitesupremacy #dismantlewhitesupremacy #endracism #endracismnow #antiracism #antiracist #love #empathy #equality #reflection #action #loveyourneighbor #seekjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative

Additional Rec. - Dec. 19, 2019

Additional Rec. - "What is White Supremacy?" by Elizabeth Martinez

“By not seeing that racism is systemic (part of a system), people often personalize or individualize racist acts. For example, they will reduce racist police behavior to ‘a few bad apples’ who need to be removed, rather than seeing it exists in police departments all over the country and is basic to the society. This mistake has real consequences: refusing to see police brutality as part of a system, and that the system needs to be changed, means that the brutality will continue.”

“The purpose of racism is much clearer when we call it ‘white supremacy.’ Some people think of racism as just a matter of prejudice. ‘Supremacy’ defines a power relationship.”

“Every nation has a creation myth, or origin myth, which is the story people are taught of how the nation came into being. Ours says the United States began with Columbus's so‐called ‘discovery’ of America, continued with settlement by brave Pilgrims, won its independence from England with the American Revolution, and then expanded westward until it became the enormous, rich country you see today. That is the origin myth. It omits three key facts about the birth and growth of the United States as a nation. Those facts demonstrate that White Supremacy is fundamental to the existence of this country.”

“In short, White Supremacy and economic power were born together. The United States is the first nation in the world to be born racist (South Africa came later) and also the first to be born capitalist. That is not a coincidence. In this country, as history shows, capitalism and racism go hand in hand.”

“Certain privileges were given to white indentured servants. They were allowed to join militias, carry guns, acquire land, and have other legal rights not allowed to slaves. With these privileges they were legally declared white on the basis of skin color and continental origin. That made  them ‘superior’ to Blacks (and Indians). Thus whiteness was born as a racist concept to prevent lower‐class whites from joining people of color, especially Blacks, against their class enemies. The concept of whiteness became a source of unity and strength for the vastly outnumbered Euroamericans ‐ as in South Africa, another settler nation. Today, unity across color lines remains the biggest threat in the eyes of a white ruling class.”

“The doctrine of Manifest Destiny facilitated the geographic extension and economic development of the United States while confirming racist policies and practices. It established White Supremacy more firmly than ever as central to the U.S. definition of itself. The arrogance of asserting that God gave white people (primarily men) the right to dominate everything around them still haunts our society and sustains its racist oppression.”

The “What is White Supremacy" document by Elizabeth Martinez has a copyright date of Feb. 1998. Almost 22 years later, there remains much work to be done to ensure that an accurate history is taught, rather than the origin myth rooted in the idea of white supremacy. Elizabeth Martinez unpacked a plethora of information in this 4 page document. As I read this, I thought of Rachel Held Evans saying, “If genocide in the Bible doesn’t bother you, genocide won’t bother you now.” If genocide, oppression, and white supremacy don’t bother us when we read about these things in the past in this country, they won’t bother us in the present. I see this document as an imperative to white people to wrestle with the uncomfortable and ugly aspects of this nation in order to actually address, repent of, and repair all the damage.

#additionalrecommendation #recommendation #whatiswhitesupremacy #elizabethmartinez #whitesupremacy #empathy #equality #reflection #action #loveyourneighbor #love #endracism #endracismnow #dismantlewhitesupremacy #endwhitesupremacy #humanity #history #originmyth #learning #socialjustice #seekjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #lament #repent #repair #tellthetruth #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative

Book Rec. - Dec. 21, 2019

Past Read- One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race by John M. Perkins with Karen Waddles

"Scripture was never intended to be used solely for individual application. It was meant for the community of believers. The psalms of lament were meant to be tools in the community worship experience to bring the worshipers into the presence of our God" (Perkins, 2018, p.66).

“Those who marched for equal rights in the 60s, both blacks and whites, were willing to risk their lives to end the scourge of segregation and Jim Crow in our country. They risked imprisonment, lynchings, beatings, and much more. May we have the same determination to risk life and limb for the worthy cause of bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth - that we might be one” (Perkins, 2018, p.91).

Using personal narrative, including chapters that focus on lament and confession, and highlighting 4 churches that are striving to live out God’s call to unity in multiethnic diversity, Mr. John Perkins, along with Karen Waddles as a contributor, wrote a compelling manifesto to the church regarding race and oneness. As I reflected on this book, I thought of the lines “Hey, you want unity? Then read a eulogy/Kill the power that exists up under you and over me” from the song “Facts” by Lecrae for what I must be doing in my personal life and working toward in the institutions in this country, including the Church, to dismantle systems of oppression in order to achieve the unity Mr. John Perkins wrote about in One Blood. I also thought of the lines “No one can win the war individually/It takes the wisdom of the elders and young people's energy,” from the song “Glory” by Common and John Legend.  Mr. John Perkins is a wealth of wisdom, and it is a gift to “sit at his feet” through reading his parting words to the Church on race.

Have you read this book? I would love to hear your thoughts.

#pastread #oneblood #partingwordstothechurchonrace #bookrecommendation #bookrec #johnperkins #civilrightsmovementpioneer #church #race #injustice #reading #learning #empathy #equality #reflection #action #seekjustice #socialjustice #racialjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #lament #repent #repair #loveyourneighbor #tellthetruth #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative