Take Courage: November 9, 2016
Today is a difficult day. And today I will not hide, or seek refuge in
my bed. I am taking my example from the
generation of American Strivers and Women’s Leagues of that sharp time[1] in
American history from 1900-1948. I am
also grounding deeply in my faith to find hope and strength.
The
American Strivers experienced the hope of civic engagement during the
Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War. In numbers that have rarely happened again
African Americans were elected to office.
The very center of oppression was beginning to crumble. It is the Strivers who survived the ensuing
oppression, rise of hate groups, and the rise of those groups to governmental
power. It is in this moment, in response
to terror, a small multiracial group came together in Niagara New York (The
Niagara Group) to create the NAACP. They
were not the only such group. Many vital
groups for uplift and justice came into being during this time. It is these Strivers who worked hard to
expose the “Red Record”[2] of
systematic state supported lynching across these United States and campaigned
for years to pass the National Anti-Lynching Bill (the Dyer Bill). It is in their steadfast refusal to give up
hope of legal redress that I find strength.
The Dyer Anti-Lynching bill never passed. This fight was the training ground for the
legal eagles to come who would pursue the goals of justice and civil rights
into the future. These Strivers had the
moral endurance to push relentlessly for justice. They also found the crazy courage to resist
the obstacles of brutal retaliations and organized violence.
It is in
this sharp time that the organizing abilities of American Women’s Leagues (who
had trained in the Abolitionist and Temperance Movements) pushed toward the
victory of voting rights for women.
These “Iron Jawed”[3]
women endured. I find courage in the
story of one of my great aunts Mildred.
She declared her intent to march in a parade for Women’s Suffrage. Her father stated that if she did so she
would be thrown out of the family. She
left to march in the parade. Her shocked
mother and sisters immediately asserted Mildred’s right to remain in the
family. They staked out a spot on the
parade route so they could shout to Mildred to please come back home, she was
welcome there. Mildred went on to become
a life long activist for peace and one of the early members of the Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom.
If my great aunt could find the courage to risk her material comforts
for a possibility…what holds me back?
As a
college student I was fascinated with the power of religions to give powerless
people the strength to work for justice.
Although I have stepped away from and returned to my faith tradition
over the years, I have come to realize that for me to live my faith I need to
engage with it. I have found the places
from which I can draw strength and courage.
It is a certainty of engagement that I will be in dialogue with my
faith. This relationship shines light
into my soul and gets me out of bed in the mornings. During a recent church wide retreat on
Undoing Racism one of the leaders reminded us that the work of undoing racism
is similar to flossing. It is a daily
practice to get the gunk out of one’s system.
One needs a commitment to stay steady in the work that leaves us
breathless. Breathing is a radical act.
Our small steps add up to something greater. As Pete Seeger used to say keep adding a
teaspoon for justice on the scales of life.
It will make a difference.
So today I
will breathe, floss, put in a teaspoon for justice (tomorrow maybe a
tablespoon), show up, and pray. For
tomorrow I will rise again.
