The Big Three Strike, Sundown Towns, A Church's New Muslim Neighbors
KTF Weekly Newsletter
Hi all,
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Alright, let’s get going on this week’s highlights!
Jonathan’s recommendations:
Darryl George is a Junior in a Texas High School that has suspended him for having locs that went below his ears. This took place days after the CROWN Act, a law banning discrimination against hair styles commonly worn by Black students, took affect in the state. It also happened three years after two other Black students won a lawsuit against the same school district for the same type of discrimination. One of the most stubbornly infuriating aspects of White Supremacy for me is the acceptable and incessant policing of Black hair. Braids, locs, cornrows and other hairstyles have a long and storied cultural history as mentioned in this video. Moreover, these protective hairstyles are simply proper ways to care for Black people’s hair. Prayerfully, this young man and the many like him in Texas schools will begin to receive the affirming education they deserve.
When a group of Muslim residents in a small town in Tennessee broke ground for an Islamic center across the street from a Church, the pastor and some of his congregation started feeling nerves born of their xenophobia. But this short video that tells the story of what happened next shows us what is possible when pastors seek the kingdom of God instead of the approval of their congregants. The power of the Gospel as an antidote to hatred and bigotry is on full display here. It is encouraging in a world torn apart by racism and religious bigotry. Watch for yourself and share far and wide!
The United Auto Workers will likely soon strike against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis—the big three Automakers. This is an opportunity to reimagine a more just distribution of profits, reduce burnout and injury, and resist the several-decades-long movement of restricting workers’ rights. As this article points out, executive pay packages have expanded without impediment as compensation remains stagnant for labor, even though productivity has increased. The United States’ economic foundation was the plantation that extracted as much productivity from workers as possible while routing wealth to those with the most power. Those principles endure. My prayer is that our generous God would make our economic structures just as favorable toward those at the bottom of the ladder as they are for those well-seated at the top.
Sy’s Recommendations:
We’ve pointed you to Rev. Esau McCaulley’s work before, and his recent column is another great one. It’s about White Americans’ nostalgia for a time in history that was brutally oppressive for Black people. The reason I’m sharing it, though, is more personal. Rev. McCaulley talks about growing up in Huntsville, Alabama with the knowledge of what local towns to avoid because of how dangerous they were for Black people. His mother emphasized that he was never to enter three towns in particular because they were “sundown towns,” or towns where Black people would be lynched if found there after dark. One of those three, Arab (pronounced A-rab, like the way a cartoon version of a southern racist would say it), is a town I’ve visited many times because a relative used to live there. Not once did I hear about this history. In other words, there were Black people in the area avoiding this place out of fear for their lives, and I never had to feel even the smallest sense that I was personally unsafe. The vastness of that difference in experience should effect how White people pray and act; we should strive for greater humility, understanding, and motivation to advocate. And as Rev. McCaulley suggests, we must let go of any aspect of our heritage that denies or ignores the harm that heritage did to others.
While we’re on Alabama, a quick update on a story I’ve mentioned recently in this newsletter. The Supreme Court in June ruled that the state’s congressional map discriminated against Black voters by putting most of them in just one of its seven districts. The court ordered Alabama to draw a new map that did not discriminate. But the redrawn map still has only one majority-Black district. A lower federal court has now found that new map illegal as well. Alabama Republicans openly praised the state legislature for defying the court order, and candidly admitted they redrew the map this way because House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told them he didn’t want to lose his majority. The brazenness with which so many Republicans flaunt illegal behavior is due in no small part to the enthusiasm of the White Christians cheering them on for doing whatever it takes to defeat their political enemies. I invite all of us to pray for repentance from these leaders and their followers.
For a long time, I’ve been a fan of fantasy and tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. Part of the appeal for me is that I think the ability to imagine and inhabit worlds wildly different than our own is a crucial skill for people trying to be ambassadors or prophetic representatives of the kingdom. Plus, story telling has an incredible power to guide, heal, and build community. I have maybe never heard of a better example of that latter point than this article from The Marshall Project about men playing D&D on death row in Texas. It’s beautifully written and shows the incredible grace and comradery people can find in the darkest of places while fighting what feels like an endlessly losing battle against injustice.
Shake the Dust preview
Tomorrow, we’re talking about how the just and practical love of God compels us to build wealth and power in Black communities. We’re seeing how two people are doing that through their work—Tamice Spencer-Helms with college students at Sub:Culture, and Diamond Walton with financial coaching at Elpida Social Capital. We discuss how to meet needs without being paternalistic, the importance and urgency of building systems where Black people can thrive, reparations, and a whole lot more. These two people are really worth listening to (and supporting if you want to click on the links above). Don’t miss this one!
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Jonathan and Sy