I'm not the only one who stayed awake last night. The families of the murder victims lay awake last night. Members of Mother Emmanuel AME Church lay awake last night. And hundreds or thousands of people with skin darker than mine lay awake last night, too. They may also be reeling, also grieving, angry, heartbroken, and not shocked.
So let me name it. Last night was the exception for me. I am usually blessed to sleep well, safe in my bed, my neighborhood, my church, my country. This is my privilege, my #whiteprivilege to feel safe (to be safe) in my own skin. And because I am blessed/privileged, I am called: to pray, to speak up, to act, to make a difference.
But still, I felt confused. I didn't know what to do. What prayer could I possibly lift up, what words could I possibly say, what things could I possibly do that would make a difference? And then I realized I feel helpless because this isn't just about a shooting in one place and one time. It's about a continual history of racism and violence against God's children with dark skin -- brought into focus because of sudden media attention, not because it's new. How do I, one person, affect something as big as the racist cornerstone on which our country, laws, businesses, churches, and organizations are founded?
I needed time to grieve, to process, to be shocked/not shocked/shell shocked. And slowly, the answer crept up on me. The answer is in the question. I don't have to do anything about Charleston. There are people in Charleston who will do something there. I am called to pray for the whole church, to speak into my context, to do something where I am.
How do I pray?
Yesterday, I trusted the Spirit to intercede with groans too deep for words. I prayed with silent yearning and tears.
Today, I pray with repentance and thanks to God for what God is already doing and will do. God is bigger than racism, God moves through evil and overcomes it, God makes a way out of no way and redeems even that which seem utterly lost.
What do I say?
Yesterday, I posted news articles to Facebook and shared messages from church leaders, Black friends and allies.
Today, I say:
Know their names. #BlackLivesMatter
Use the words in 'I' statements: racism; white privilege; sin; evil; domestic terrorism; injustice; complicity
What do I do?
Yesterday, I had no idea.
Today, I act out of my context:
- Write the Village of Western Springs, IL in support of BEDS housing in WS' churches (the homeless are disproportionately people of color)
- Write the Village of La Grange, IL in support of a permanent BEDS housing facility
- Support the Moral Mondays Illinois movement (proposed budget cuts in Illinois will disproportionately affect the poor, and the poor are disproportionately people of color)
- Sign the petition at We the People to issue an executive order banning flying the confederate flag over government/public buildings
- Speak the names of the victims aloud, pray for them in worship:
- Cynthia Hurd
- Susie Jackson, 87
- Ethel Lance, 70
- Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor
- The Honorable Rev. Clementa Pinckney
- Tywanza Sander
- Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr.
- Rev. Sharonda Singleton
- Myra Thompson
- Don't "move on" or forget the other stories
- Eric Garner
- Michael Brown
- Children in McKinney TX
- Freddie Gray
- Trayvon Martin
- Remember these aren't the only ones, they're only the ones in the news
- Use Community Voice to bring up race concerns in Western Springs
- Contact the Police Department and ask about anti-racism training and strategies
- Contact your state and national legislators in support of reasonable gun control
