Tuesday, June 9, 2015

FTE and McKinney, TX

The FTE Forum was a truly life-changing experience for me. It was an awesome feeling to be surrounded by like-minded people who were willing to actively foster a sense of community. This four-day gathering has given me spiritual renewal beyond anything that I could have imagined.

From the start, there was a desire to see real change and growth. At the conclusion of the first day, we were separated into random, small, intimate groupings; the purpose of this one-hour period was to allow the young adult leaders time to decompress from the intensity of the constant programming of the day. My group collectively expressed skepticism about the Forum’s ability to inspire lasting change in the lives of the very diverse collection of participants. Particularly, I wondered, how could one conference change the trajectory of segregated Sunday mornings of worship, and the overt effects of privilege seen daily across America? However, by the end of the week, everyone seemed to be so full of life, so reinvigorated, that the cynicism from a few days prior seemed like ancient history. Many of us were very intentional about exchanging contact information and creating ways to connect in the future. I left Dallas spiritually and emotionally renewed.

 Then… almost as soon as the wheels of my airplane touched down in DC, I was bombarded with images of the atrocious police harassment that happened in the same state (45 minutes away) in which I had just experienced a wonderful community of love and hope. Children, who were clearly not a threat to law enforcement, were manhandled, intimidated, and humiliated simply due to their race and class. I saw a young black teenage girl physically attacked by an adult white male who, even after dominating her frail and bikini clad body, continued to assault her by using his body weight to intentionally cause her extreme discomfort. As much as this act was physical, people must realize that this was an attempt to teach black submission; it was not enough to have the young girl handcuffed, face down in the dirt, and uncovered, she had to be broken. The overzealous police officer, who took an oath to “protect and serve” the community,even pulled a deadly weapon on unarmed black boys. Other cops, who were not utilizing the same reckless approach, still allowed their colleague to terrorize children - in my eyes, they are equally guilty.

After a few moments of watching news coverage of this shameful misuse of authority, I came to an uncomfortable place of realization - the images cycling on every major news channel mirrored closely an activity that we participated in at the Forum: the living statues. This activity called for members of a group to take a topic and create a statuesque scene using only their bodies. Every young adult leader and community partner took part in one of the various statues. The topics included addiction, gentrification, and education, just to name a few. However, it is ironic that the example provided to the large group (to show how to complete the task) was the controversial issue of policing in America. The statue which was modeled featured white officers physically abusing black bodies, and it also included white bystanders who either recorded the scene or took no action at all. Here is what we did not realize at the time - we were witnessing a prophetic dramatization, one that would be actualized merely one day later. How powerful is that?

So now that we are all back home, back within our particular contexts with our unique privileges, can we still foster the FTE community? Will we continue to preserve, or diligently work to nullify the effects of being a member of the dominant race, gender, class, education level, sexual orientation, etc? Will we choose to use those four days in Dallas as a catalyst for engaged social justice work, or will we let the spirit-filled power of agency quietly slip into a sea of complacency? The choice is uniquely ours. Which living statue will you emulate? Will we continue to participate and accept the realities of a broken world, or will we dare to “re-imagine” the glorious possibilities that God allowed us to glimpse and actively seek to make it a reality? The time is now… choose.

1 comment:

  1. Brooke: You capture the paradox I felt after leaving FTE's Dallas and hearing about McKinney's atrocities. Thank you for your words here, and your commitment to the long work of changing the statues! Peace, Dori Baker

    ReplyDelete