mississippi burning| day 003

Mississippi burning

Anger, tears, sadness, broken heartedness, pain, disgust, passion, justice, and peace. These are just a few words I used to describe my experience while watching the film Mississippi Burning. The film was based around a murder investigation where two white civil rights activists and a black man from Jessup County, MS in 1964. The film weaved throughout the investigation were scenes of Klansmen who were guilty of murdering and severely beating the blacks of the city. The scenes of the oppression and hatred toward the black people were disgustingly real. Seeing such bigotry and racism while being exposed to the very same thing just hours earlier in Jackson made the film very real. I had a lot of riveting thoughts while the film went on.

What I felt was most interesting was the fact that the very same types of oppression could happen to our team here, today. There were several scenes were homemade gas bombs were tossed through the windows of black families homes, causing the houses to burst into flames and threatening the lives of the family. I became very real to me that some white supremacists could easily realize that there is a group of white Christians who are trying to “disrupt” our way of living and so we should go through bombs into their house and kill them. Even as I am writing this, the thought still passes through my mind and it makes me wonder how I am going to sleep tonite. How would you respond if you were in this situation? I realize now how I take so much for granted and how little I really do understand about social tension in America. I am beginning to realize how much of a racist I am and how horrible that truth is. It’s a destructive force that has been fueled by the screwed up American media and by the oppressive political forces in this country. At the same time, I realize it is only the love of Christ that can change me and change the people around me. I must be wiling to submit myself to the lordship of Christ and embracing the redeeming power of the cross. It was powerful and sad to see the cross, which is seen by so many of us as a symbol of unity, being used as a symbol of segregation and division. The burning crosses of the KKK used as symbols of hatred angered me. Throughout the film I really wanted to get a hold of these white Klansmen and kill them, but at the same time I realized that I was a part of the problem and in a lot of ways was no better than them. I think I just cloak my racism with “culture” and then think nothing of it.

One of the things that really irritated me about myself in this was that I don’t really know how to stop such a problem. How do we stop a problem that we’ve been embedded with in this country? It is a true question of cultural and societal engagement.

this is a poem I wrote about the issue of the KKK using the cross as a symbol of destruction rather than a symbol of unity.

The true Cross.

A house around me mourns in agony as a wooden cross blazes with flames.

A message of destruction is fashioned to a symbol that resembles peace.

This wood stands marred with flames as fear and tears tremble down this innocent face.

Screams and shrieks come from inside as God’s beloved children burn in pain.

Here there is no grace given by those who live with hate.

But this burning cross does not destroy.

Instead it makes them stronger.

Empowered, they fight for righteous justice and to live peace and harmony.

The cross that showed us grace and peace now burns with flames of bigotry.

That freedom was stolen on a faithful day when our brothers breathed their last.

A crowd around me mourns in agony as a wooden cross bleeds with blood.

A message of redemption is fashioned to a symbol that resembles death.

This wood stands marked with blood as tears of passion role down His innocent face.

Screams and shrieks come from inside as God’s beloved Son bleeds in Pain.

Here there is no death given by one who lived by peace.

This bleeding cross does not destroy.

Instead it makes them stronger.

Empowered, He fights for precious justice living life in peace and harmony.

A cross that once made us afraid now stands in noble victory.

That justice was served on that faithful day when our savior breathed His last.

Mississippi day 002 | charles

Charles| 05/19/08

Charles Evers is an African American Civil Rights activist from Jackson. Charles is the older brother of the late Medgar Evers, the famous Mississippi civil rights activist who was murdered in 1963 in front of his own family. Medgar Evers’ story is portrayed in the film The Ghost of Mississippi.

Monday afternoon we went for a session of dialogue and discussion with Charles Evers, who is still rather active in the Mississippi area as an activist and owner of a local radio station. There’s a lot to be said about Charles. But I think the one word that can sum him up is PASSIONATE! Charles Evers is one of the most insightful and entertaining individuals I’ve ever met.

Just look on Wikipedia for Charles Evers or even YouTube him and I think you’ll see what I mean. Charles has some of the most awesome quirks, mannerisms, “phrases”, and “things” about him that you can’t just help but smile. One guy has even referred to him as the “Snoop Dogg of Civil Rights.”

Mississippi day 001-002 - the church

This is the first of a daily series of blogs about my trip to Jackson, Mississippi working the John M. Perkins foundation for a week. Each blog will begin with an explanation of what the day what the day was to look like and then commentary on each daily experience/event that I/we encountered. I apologize for posting so late. It's been go go go go since day one and I haven't been able to blog as frequently as I originally thought I would. Nevertheless this is what i have written so far.



The church 05|19|08

The morning began with John (yes, I am calling him John. We are on a first name basis with him) talked about us having a big vision for the church and showed us how the apostle John had a powerful vision of the church and for Christ’s followers. In today’s society, we should have powerful vision (what he referred to as a BIG BOOM!) for justice and reconciliation within the church. John’s devotion was pretty basic, and it was really a starting point to get the ball rolling (or get the justice rolling).

After John’s message, we loaded up the vans and headed for New Horizon Church, an all black church in Jackson. I was eager to attend church, because I’ve always wanted to experience a black southern church service. The only thing I’d ever known of any African-American church service was what I’d seen in the media. Films such as Blues Brothers and The Preachers Wife were my only “exposure” to a predominantly “black” house of worship.

My experience was more than I expected.

As the hot Jackson sun beamed down on my face, I made my way across the street to the medium sized brick building that was New Horizon Church. The group appeared eager to be there, and we all seemed rather enthusiastic about it.

Like I said, this was my first experience in an all black congregation and I’ll be honest that I felt a bit out of place knowing I was a minority. While there were 11 of us who would have been considered “minorities,” (I knew I wasn’t alone) still something felt a bit uncomfortable. I suppose it was because I didn’t know what to expect. I had a large mesh of stereotypes protruding my uneducated cranium as I neared the doors of the church.

My head raced with questions as I entered the building. Right away I was greeted by several people, both greeters and “non-greeters” alike, welcoming me to their church. They appeared genuinely excited that I was visiting their church and they didn’t seem at all suspicious that a group of white people were there to worship with them. The rush that captivated my body was intoxicating and I couldn’t really explain it. It was like I had this intense feeling that I was home. It felt like I was in a safe environment where people genuinely loved me and cared for me. I was thrown off by how passionate, loving, authentic, and radical the congregation was. The color of their skin never once occurred to me. My heart seemed to pound with Joy as I saw genuine praise to God being lifted up.

I figure a lot more could be said about the service, but I want focus on one particular aspect.

Love.

From the minute I walked into New Horizon Church, I felt a real sense of genuine love and concern that abided within each of the congregants. The atmosphere in the room was thick with emotion, love, and The Spirit. This feeling is something I didn’t get from the “white church.” It seems that these people had a deeper connection with reality than what I am used to seeing in the church.

It makes me wonder about cultural, racial, and class issues within the suburban American “white” church. It seems like white American Christians are really reserved and up tight, especially when it comes to church. We don’t want people to know about our problems and we want people to think we’re doing alright when on the inside, that’s not really the case.

Down south it’s different. Down south, everyone appears to act like their family. People are genuinely concerned about each other, and people are united as the body of Christ. The group was even invited home for lunch, or at least that’s what I heard. You wouldn’t see that in the white parts of America.

We white folk seem to want our own personal space. We want to see a personal Jesus divorced from the rest of the Body of Christ. I think that the people can learn a lot from southern black communities of Faith. I think we need to look past our racial and class barriers and wake up to what we can learn from each other.