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.

For BHM

I felt led to share this piece of poetry that I composed a couple of months ago.

Black
Doubly conscious
Conflicting, resisting, assimilating
Emotional fluctuations occur constantly
Enslaved

Still…

Mahogany beauty is all I see
The creative flair of Divine genius
Exhibiting chromatic diversity
Undeniable artistry with us

Yet…

They view my complexion as inferior

And incessantly insinuate menace

Does my very being inspire terror?

Are my people fulfilling holy penance?

No…

Perhaps the problem is not real but feigned

Intentional miseducation prevails

Social stratification denies means

Ensuring generations filled with tails

They dress the wounds of my people passively

“Peace, peace” they say when there can be no peace.

© Brooke Taylor 2014

Reflections on Ferguson: How We Can Help Turn the Tide

There has been much reaction lately to the terrible situation in Ferguson, Missouri surrounding the death of Michael Brown, Jr. There is not any evidence that supports the claim that Brown was a physical threat to the officer at the time he was killed. This being said, I believe that the federal investigation will show that Brown was clearly murdered by an officer of the law.

While this crime would be appalling regardless of the demographics, it cannot be ignored that Brown was a teenage black male and the mystery officer (the precinct refuses to release his name) is a white man. It seems that every few weeks there is a new case and the participants are always the same. Young black victim killed by white perpetrator armed with a gun and a false sense of superiority. Trayvon Martin and Zimmerman, Jordan Davis and Dunn, Renisha McBride and Wafer... It has been traumatic to witness injustice after injustice and to know that people who look like me are targeted for nothing less than- walking to the corner store, playing loud music in their personal vehicle, searching for help after a car accident, and in the case of Brown, simply walking down the street to his Grandmother's house.

Since the murder occurred there has been a strong police presence in the streets of Ferguson. The armed forces have been tear gassing the protesting crowds every night as well as intimidating unarmed black citizens with high caliber weapons every day. Due to this unrest, many have taken to social media to either promote violence to authority, or to shift the blame onto the victims by devaluing white-on-black murder because there is widespread black-on-black murder. In my opinion neither of these stances adds positive motivation to the daily struggle that we find ourselves in. I believe that to even begin with fixing the violent trends that we are seeing played out currently across the country, we have to start with the root issues. Here are two brief thoughts of mine about how to turn the tide.

1. We need to realize that all violence is wrong. 
         Even though we live in a world where the lines are seriously blurred when it comes to certain types of violence, I believe that there is never "a time to kill." Every act of violence leads to a loss of spiritual connection- it causes a disconnect from the Divine. It is my belief that we are created in love with the intent to peacefully coexist, and every time we engage in violence we create barriers between not only each other but also between our spirit and the Creator. We have to stop believing that there is justification in hurting people, even when society tells us otherwise. The entirety of humanity is valuable- all races, all religions, all income and education levels. We have to get to a point where our first reaction to conflict is open dialogue and communication- not fighting or killing. However, in order to honestly and non aggressively communicate we have to...

2. Confront and work through our personal traumas.
       Every person has issues. Most people are taught at a young age to suppress these issues by devaluing them, and promoting the idea that we should not complain because someone always has it worse. While it is true that we can usually find people who have less than we do, it is dangerous to continuously downplay our own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. The only way we can engage in healthy and positive communication is if we realize and work through some of our own stuff. When we allow negativity and hurt to reside in our hearts it usually manifests itself into subconscious aggression. When we have entire generations of adults who are not equipped to deal with the inward pain, we will have a youth generation that is comfortable with causing outward pain. It is important to realize that our youth have real issues ranging from all types of abuse to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from living in residential war zones. Unless you are dealing with a sociopath, there are traceable events that happen in a person's life that lead them to a point where they become apathetic about committing violent crimes. Perhaps it is time to address these soul concerns.