White Noise

Update 8/15: I wrote this last month, but it seemed too angry. Now it seems too tame. 
This song is meant to be sung in the sweetly sarcastic folksy style of Pete Seeger. 

A businessman was happy ‘bout his real estate downtown

And he couldn’t understand the fact it made some people frown

And he said with some frustration that if people who were brown

didn’t stop with the complaining it would bring his value down.

 

He said, “there was racism back in 1963;

But racism is over and it doesn’t bother me.

And gentrifizzication occurs naturallifically,

It’s simply market forces just as far as I can see.”

 

It’ll just —  go away, It’ll just — go away

Ignore it and racism will just go away

Like shingles, or cancer, let’s just wait and pray

If we don’t talk about it, it’ll just go away.

 

Well Black Lives Matter blocked a street and made her late for work,

And she got up in her feelings and said that all of them were jerks.

“If they wouldn’t be divisive they would sure have my support.

Just work within the system and wait for justice from the court.”

 

It’ll just —  go away, It’ll just — go away

Like rain clouds give way to a bright sunny day

Like diabetes, or cancer, let’s just wait and pray

If we don’t talk about it, it’ll just go away.

 

“Well slightly less than half of us elected 45;

And Beauregard Jeff Sessions wants the drug war to survive.

Some say incarceration is just legal slavery

But we’re number one in prisons here in this land of the free.

 

“We’ve worked hard to create a culture that is colorblind;

And we’ve made so much progress that no child is left behind.

The fact that some contest it is truly a disgrace

The problem that we live with surely isn’t about race.”

 

It’ll just —  go away, It’ll just — go away

Ignoring white priv’lege will make it go away.

Like appendicitis, or cancer, let’s just wait and pray

If we don’t talk about it, it’ll just go away.

 

The preacher was offended that I said his God was white.

He said I was unloving and so very impolite.

But the Jesus that I know of wasn’t killed for being tame.

And a gospel without justice is a dirty rotten shame.

 

‘Cause it won’t go away, no it won’t go away.

Just wishing and praying won’t make it go away.

And when folks fight against it, don’t stare in dumb dismay.

You’d best decide which side you’re on before the Judgment Day.

Redlining

Gentrification

My Brooklyn

Open Secret

Voting Is Not Consumption

If your vote isn’t important, why are they trying so hard to take it away?

We’ve come to think about democracy as a form of consumption, like everything else, where voting is just a indication of preference. This is what the dominant narrative wants you to think: politics is just like buying a pair of socks. That way, when they place restrictions on that right or take it away from your neighbors, you won’t mind so much.

But democracy is really about what happens on either side of election day. It’s about telling stories, building relationships, and leveraging power. It’s holding officials accountable and showing up at their offices. Your officials don’t represent you if they don’t have a relationship with you.

The forces of domination and empire would really rather you stay home, stay quiet, and let lobbyists and money have all the influence. Even our Supreme Court has declared that democracy is consumption, because money is speech.

That is a lie.

Alabama,* we’ve got elections coming up. Your state has tried to make it as difficult as possible for you to vote — spreading out multiple elections in the same month (senate primaries on the 15th, municipal elections on the 22nd), shutting down registration locations, and most recently, refusing to tell some ex-prisoners that they may actually be able to vote after all.

Your state legislators have gerrymandered you so officials could choose their voters instead of voters choosing their officials. They have sold you the most cynical and hopeless of political narratives, that “this is Alabama, and it’s just the way things are,” because they want you to stay home. They DO NOT WANT you to turn out. They have made that abundantly clear.

If this is your home, fight for it.

1. Make sure you are registered (They may have silently unregistered you if you haven’t voted recently. They do that.)

2. Make sure you know your polling place (They may have moved it, or moved your district. They do that, too.)

3. Join the discussion. Go to the forums and debates. Talk to your neighbors. There are multiple opportunities to hear from candidates before the election, so you don’t have to walk in to the voting booth uninformed. Check out Stand As One and I Believe in Birmingham.

4. If you have a strong preference, join a campaign, or if you’re just serious about your community, join one of many Get Out The Vote campaigns (I’m with Faith in Action Alabama). They have a way for you to help. Work with your congregation or other community organization to get people to the polls.

5. On election day(s), VOTE.

6. After election day, hold your representatives accountable. Stand As One, who represents over 20 justice, advocacy, and service organizations is asking for follow-up meetings with candidates 100 days after their election. Faith in Action Alabama, a multi-faith, multi-racial federation of over 60 congregations all across Alabama, has a multi-year strategy to engage our state legislators and our governor. Write, call, and email your officials about your vision for your community.

Yes, I recognize that having the time to be engaged is a privilege. Making you too tired and overwhelmed to participate, keeping people in a state of perpetual poverty and debt; that is part of the disenfranchisement strategy. That’s why we have to love and support each other. Help your neighbors. Babysit their kids. Make food for each other. That’s also democracy.

Do not buy into the lie that your vote is just an indication of preference. You are not buying a pair of socks; you are shaping our future.

“Promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because your future depends on its welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7)

 

*I’m focused on where I live. If you’re reading this in another state, a lot of this same stuff applies! Look up “get out the vote” campaigns in your state.

An Open Letter to My Parents’ Pastor

Important words from a follower of Jesus.

Prayer for the Resistance

This is a version of the prayer I prayed last Friday, which marked the end of a five-day sit-in for health care.

“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8).

Intro

I am grateful for your witness. Like Joshua marching outside the walls of Jericho, y’all have been laying spiritual siege to this fortress.

The resistance has two parts. The first part is political, and it consists of issues: health care, mass incarceration, a failed war on drugs, tax cuts for the rich, sanctuary and mass deportations, the exploitation of the environment, and the list goes on and on.

But the second part is spiritual. It’s a dominant narrative that we must resist, a narrative that says racism is over, but some people’s lives don’t matter; that corporations are people, but real people’s votes don’t matter; that money is speech, so if you’re poor and sick your voice doesn’t matter.

Some people tell me they don’t much care for the Bible because of passages about violence and the wrath of God. But those passages were written by people who were oppressed. The reason people wrote about the wrath of God is because of BS like this health care bill.

I’m not a hellfire and brimstone preacher, but imprecatory prayers are in the Psalms. So today I offer an imprecatory prayer about the authors of this terrible health care bill.

Prayer

Good shepherd,
you tell us that the job of our leaders is to care for your flock:
to bind up the injured,
to tend the sick,
feed the hungry,
and to seek out the lost.

But our bad shepherds
have enriched themselves
at our expense.
The fat sheep
have butted and shoved,
not only drinking the best water
but fouling the rest;
not only eating the best pasture,
but trampling it down for others,
destroying your creation
and polluting our world.

Therefore, God, we ask you
to frustrate the plans of these bad shepherds.
Jam their copiers;
make their printers run out of toner;
make them miss appointments and misfile documents;
confound them with communication problems;
and let their immaturity
create conflict among their teams.
Make their work on this bill
like the Tower of Babel.
Confuse them and shame them.

But, God,
let their fax machines
and phones
and mail work perfectly
so they can hear
from each and every one of us
who text
and fax
and email
and write letters
and show up at their offices
to unsettle their comfortable corruption.

Let there be a spirit of love and unity among the resistance.
Let us dismantle racism
and white supremacy,
sexism,
ableism,
homophobia,
and transphobia,
not just in our world,
but in ourselves.

Give us grace to be gentle with ourselves and each other,
persuasive in speech,
wise in discernment,
and courageous in action.
Give us encouraging voices,
fearless resolve,
and love that is real love,
and not just paternalism.

We ask this, Good Shepherd,
in your name,
on behalf of your flock,
and your people.

Amen.