A New Segregated City in Louisiana
Plus, the IDF keeps attacking humanitarian workers
Hey everyone,
Stay tuned tomorrow for some exciting news about what’s coming up on season 4 of Shake the Dust! And if you want to support the show and get caught up on the bonus episodes we put out between seasons, become a subscriber!
Our highlights this week include:
- Wealthy White folks in Louisiana form a new, segregated city
- The tension of spending resources on art while the world burns
- Israel’s pattern of attacking humanitarian workers
- Who’s left out in a world built around cars
- And Jonathan keeps us grounded with a powerful, short documentary
Jonathan’s Recommendations
Wealthy White People Segregate by Forming Their Own City
Residents of a wealthy, White neighborhood in Baton Rouge fought unsuccessfully for years to form a segregated school district for themselves. Instead, they have now formed the entirely new city of St. George to accomplish the same goal. That article is from Axios, and it’s full of links to background, statistics, and context explaining how this resource-rich enclave will become one of the largest cities in Louisiana and economically devastate the Poorer and largely Black population it’s leaving behind. There is no mystery about why this is happening. The old South is revealing itself in new and troubling ways. My prayer and longing is that though so many individuals and institutions in this country fiercely resist injustice, the people of God will not endorse this racist resource hoarding.
The Tension of Making Art While the World Burns
is an amazing pianist and theologian. He recently wrote thoughtfully about the Met Gala, the continuing genocide in Gaza, and the tension between art’s decadence and war’s devastation. Reid acknowledges those who criticized celebrities for paying $75 thousand per ticket to go to the gala while Rafah was under siege. But he shows us how we can wrestle with that tension, even as the reality of the world's injustices become more and more visible via our endless newsfeeds. And he does it in a nuanced way that is honest about how expensive and excessive art is, even as we all long for beauty. We should follow his example and engage with this tension with humility and, when necessary, repentance. Because the temptation here is often judgment and demonization of those who make different choices than us.Sy’s Recommendations
Israel’s Pattern of Attacking Humanitarian Workers
Many of you probably heard about the Israel Defense Forces’ attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy providing humanitarian aid in Palestine last month that killed seven aid workers. But that was just one of eight similar attacks on humanitarian deliveries since October 7. The IDF has also killed or injured aid workers from the UN, Doctors Without Borders, the International Rescue Committee, and several other organizations. In all eight cases, the military had coordinated with the humanitarian workers ahead of time to ensure their safety. The IDF contends all of these attacks were isolated mistakes. Human Rights Watch is skeptical of that claim in a new report, and urging the international community to make sure these attacks on humanitarian workers stop. Now, Israeli civilian settlers in the West Bank have attacked an aid convoy heading into Palestine, claiming that the convoy was giving gifts to Hamas. The amount of ignorance, dehumanization, and hatred toward one’s perceived enemies that it takes to justify attacking those who bring food and medical supplies to innocent people under bombardment is staggering. Please join me in praying that we would see a change in behavior from Israel to anything remotely approaching Jesus’ ideal of loving one’s enemies.
- Read about Human Rights Watch’s findings
Who’s Left out in A World Built around Cars?
As a blind 13-year-old, moving to Europe was a revelation. I could suddenly get more or less anywhere completely on my own via public transportation. Meanwhile, all my friends in suburban New Jersey still had to wait three years before they could get licenses and stop asking their parents for rides. But as an adult back in the US, I had to make the decision that all blind Americans do: live in a city with good public transportation, or get rides from others forever like my middle-school friends. So, I’ve been in New York City for almost 20 years, with brief stints in D.C. and Chicago. I was therefore immediately interested in a recent podcast interview with Anna Zivarts, author of When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency. Zivarts says 30% of people in America cannot drive because of everything from disability to poverty to age to immigration status. But in most of the country, driving is the only viable way to get around. The interview touches on several reasons this is terrible for society, as well as the many interlocking injustices that result when we simultaneously supercharge climate change and exclude about a hundred million people from fully participating in the world we’ve built. But Zivarts still finds hope and a way forward in her work as a disabled transportation activist. If you’ve never thought about how transportation policy can be genuinely oppressive, or what we can do about it, I highly suggest tuning into this fascinating episode.
- Listen to the interview, or read the transcript
In last week’s poll about church attendance, a small majority of those who answered had gone to church the previous Sunday, with another eight percent having gone in the last month. A quarter chose either sometime in the last six months or more than six months ago. Four percent couldn’t remember the last time they went. We really are happy to have the whole range of those answers here with us at KTF!
Staying Grounded with Jonathan
Nai Nai & Wài Pó is an award-winning, short documentary film about the maternal and paternal grandmothers of director Sean Wang. The two women grew up in poverty and war zones, but now live together in the US at the ages of 83 and 94. They do chores together, exercise, and even sleep side by side. Though the film depicts the mundane day-to-day of their lives, the two are open about their pasts, deeply reflective, and extremely funny. At different points, the film reflects the widely varying tones of the stages of these women’s life stories. It is beautiful and raw. As one review put it, the film shows “how even the most ordinary lives, when viewed up close, become extraordinary”. And that was it for me. Observing these lives lived together reminded me of how we are all made in the image of God to both love and be loved in honest and vulnerable community.
- Watch the trailer or the full film on Disney+
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Jonathan and Sy