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NewsPEACE
January 15, 2009
*** SPECIAL EDITION ***
Peace, Justice, and Hope
Before us this weekend are three very special days that remind us of the
importance of justice and peace for our world. This e-mail provides information
regarding each day’s significance, opportunities for participation, and a
reflection from Derrick Williams.
We are living in historical moments of significance. What will we make of
these days?
Consider the following quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
 “Every
person must decide, at some point, whether they will walk in the light of
creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. … Life’s most
persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
“I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states.
... Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in
an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
Reflection
On the special observances of Racial Justice Day, Martin Luther King Jr’s
Birthday and the inauguration of Barak Obama
From Apologies to Promises
by Derrick J. Williams, African American Ministries, Community of Christ
This is 2009 and in looking back, I can say I have lived long enough to
remember growing up and surviving some very difficult situations where I knew
others made my race an issue and how they treated me differently because of it.
While trying to figure out how to be buffer myself against the games of
“prejudice” and the dynamics of racism (whether subtle or not) that would shape
the rest of my life, I got “no breaks” as I struggled through my own frustration
and asking myself …why me? As I was forced to deal with the daily reality that
living my life as a black man was not going to be easy.
In her book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Hurston – an African American
writer – wrote, “White folk that know me, like me. It’s only the white folk that
don’t know me that don’t like me.” In my adult life, it has been hard trying to
“just get along” or “fit in” when meeting new white people or when going to
“uncharted” places where no one really knew what “color” I was until I walked in
the door. And then depending on their response, I would be wondering if I was
going to be safe or even welcomed there or in the area.
Due to experiences like that, for many years I was operating under the
impression that I was in a country where I might never actually feel free or
equal to others because I would always be pre-judged or stereotyped by the color
of my skin. But now as an African American, a son, brother, father, neighbor and
a minister, I can honestly say over the last several years that I have finally
“felt” and have “seen a change a comin!”
In 1964, Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize and left a legacy for the world
through the African American Civil Rights movement to end racial segregation and
discrimination, and the peace movement known for its non-violent strategies
involving civil disobedience. But even before that, Rosa Parks refused to give
up her seat on a bus in 1955 to a white person, just because she was black.
It’s because of their sacrifices (and others) by going through some very,
very difficult situations in their lives in order to confront our country’s
racial injustices, that future generations could experience freedoms and
equality with others and no longer be limited by the color of their skin.
I realize that I have benefitted from the inheritances left for me by Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. Despite the rough times the two things
that kept me going were my faith in God and my belief in eventually receiving
“the promises” of freedom, equality, peace and justice in my lifetime.
If we want to look at the bigger picture…we can all view ourselves as
“products” or “seeds” from the unselfish acts of others that may have inspired
or motivated us by their dedication or commitment to something greater then
themselves. Sharing that thought, I have felt “sparked” by many, both past and
most recently by the history-making election of the first African American to
serve as President of the United States. This renewed my feeling that we can do
anything we set our minds to without being held back due to racism and by our
contributions, make positive changes in the lives of many.
Typically, because of race issues and tensions still remaining strained from
many years of discrimination, one of several traps people can fall into is that
of waiting around for someone or “a group of people at large” to say they are
sorry (whether it’s sincere or not). In Barak Obama’s book, The Audacity of
Hope, he writes, “a tradition that stretched from the days of the country’s
founding to the glory of the civil rights movement, a tradition based on the
simple idea that we have a stake in one another, and that what binds us together
is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe in the
truth of the proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem,
but we can get something meaningful done.”
In reading his book, the challenge at the end spoke to me…the “take action
…and get something meaningful done” part. It has been with that sense of purpose
for my life and work in the church that I feel I can make a difference. In the
December 20, 2008 issue of “In The Forefront,” the peace and justice
e-newsletter by Rod Downing, our faith community is encouraged to address and
support peace and justice and human rights initiatives in various places of the
world experiencing conflicts. (Contact
Rod
Downing to subscribe to the newsletter.) The new
Community of Christ Peace Support
Network encourages its members to create, model and share their stories of
advocacy and action as peacemakers all over the world.
As a global church, we should be taking advantage of the new opportunities to
embrace diversity by going into those “uncharted” places, in hopes of making
life better not only for those of this time, but for future generations by
sharing “the promises” of freedom, equality, peace and justice of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and lending our actions to support dismantling the human
injustices, poverty, violence and the many other forms of discrimination against
the marginalized throughout the world and here at home.
Racial Justice Day (observed by Community of Christ)
Sunday, January 18
Significance
The 1988 World Conference adopted a resolution titled Racism, encouraging
members and congregations to broaden their understanding of racism and prejudice
and to take more effective action in addressing these problems.
The resolution asked the First Presidency to declare an annual day of fasting
and prayer. Racial Justice Day has been part of our church calendar since 1988
and in 1995 was designated on a specific Sunday each year.
Participation
- Attend the Prayer for Peace at 1 p.m. in the Temple.
- Worship with your congregation.
- Invite another person or family of another ethnic group to your church.
- Take Martin Luther King Day posters to be displayed in your congregation
(and elsewhere). Posters are available for download at
www.kclinc.org/mlk.
- If your congregation did not celebrate Racial Justice Day this year,
encourage your congregational leadership or volunteer to help center classes
and worship next year on this subject.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Monday, January 19
Significance
A United States holiday marking the birth date of the Reverend Martin Luther
King, Jr., observed on the third Monday of January each year. It is one of four
United States federal holidays to commemorate an individual person.
Dr. King was the chief spokesman of the nonviolent civil rights movement,
which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. He
was assassinated in 1968.
The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began in 1968 soon after
his assassination. Congress passed and Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law
in 1983, and it was first observed in 1986. At first, some states resisted
observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with
other holidays.
In 1973, Illinois was the first state to adopt MLK Day as a state holiday. In
2000, Utah becomes the last state to recognize MLK Day by name, renaming its
Human Rights Day state holiday and South Carolina becomes the last state to make
MLK Day a paid holiday for all state employees.
The Community of Christ has provided Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday
for its employees, according to available records, since 1999.
Participation
- Attend the Prayer for Peace at 1 p.m. in the Temple.
- There are several community-wide worship services centered on the theme
“The Dream that Changed the World.”
- Independence – 7 p.m. at the Truman Memorial Building at 416 S.
Maple. Including dynamic guest speaker, Reverend Wallace S. Hartsfield,
Jr. and city-wide community choir. Choir rehearsal is January 17, from
12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Second Baptist Church, 116 W. White Oak.
Everyone welcome.
- Other communities in the area that will have MLK services are Blue
Springs, Lee’s Summit and Kansas City.
Presidential Inauguration
Tuesday, January 20
Significance
 Barack
Obama was elected President of the United States of America on November 4, 2008.
He will become the 44th president of the United States and the first
African-American to hold this high office.
Inauguration Day - Order of Events
Participation
- All staff is invited to view this historic event in Theater 1 at the
Temple. The broadcast of C-SPAN will be presented from 10 a.m. to noon.
Tables will be available outside the theater if you wish to bring a snack to
share.
- In anticipation of increased Internet traffic on January 20, Technology
Support and Multimedia Production have created an internal webcast if you
would rather view the inauguration at your desk. Staff onsite at IHQ can
view the simulcast of C-SPAN from
http://www.cofchrist.org/broadcast/staffcast.asp. This will minimize
Internet traffic and keep systems such as e-mail operating as fast as
possible.
- Offer prayers for the new president, his wife and two children.
- Listen to his first address to the nation.
- Support and join with many others in America to strive to implement his
wise counsel—that we are ONE AMERICA. He cautioned us not to separate
ourselves by race, creed, age, sex, income level, etc., rather he asked us
to help build together ONE AMERICA.
For Further Exploration
“From
Reaction to Proaction?: African-Americans in the History of the Reorganized
Church”
by Mark A. Scherer, Community of Christ Historian,
The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 20 (2000):
111-32.
Scriptures to
Ponder
“Our Diverse Community” developed by the Community of Christ Diversity Action
Team, 2003.
www.PeaceSupportNetwork.org
We encourage everyone to join the Community of Christ Peace Support Network.
www.AmericanRhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream
Audio and video of Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech.
www.USConstitution.net/dream
The verbatim text from the recording of Dr. Martin Luther King’s I have a Dream
speech.
www.tolerance.org
Teaching Tolerance: A Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Provides
hundreds of ways to promote tolerance.
www.UnderstandingPrejudice.org
Provides more than 2,000 links and searchable databases for students, teachers,
and others interested in prejudice.
www.kcharmony.org
Building Inclusive Community…Harmony is a resource and catalyst for improving
race relations, increasing appreciation for cultural diversity and eliminating
intolerance.
Related Associations
Community of Christ Network Advocating Peace and Justice
Contact: David Mason
(Chair)
Jim Hannah (Secretary)
UN Peace Plaza on the International Headquarters property
Contact: Jim Everett, 816/313-6422
Independence Human Relations Commission
Two commissioners are members of the Community of Christ: Diane Kyser and
Roy Schaefer. They or other commission members are good resource people we can
work with.
Independence Ministerial Alliance
Available to any group to share dialogue, classes, and form partnerships on
issues such as race, culture and government.
Contact: President Reverend Pat Miller.
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