"A SONG OF MYSELF"

 “A SONG OF MYSELF”

This Wednesday will be my 78th birthday – that is really hard to believe.  I am borrowing the title from Walt Whitman’s great poem and trying to celebrate myself in a gloomy time.  As we enter the Thanksgiving season and anticipate Advent and Christmas, I’m also mindful of the crap that is still to come from Donald Trump’s re-election as President.  I anticipate some really troubling actions and times, but perhaps we will all be called out to be witnesses against the horrific time that is coming.

I am grateful to have my latest book published this summer:  “She Made A Way:  Mother and Me in a Deep South World.’’ It has gotten good reviews and comments, so plan to get your copy – contact me or your local bookstore, or the publisher Wipf and Stock, or Thriftbooks or bookshop,org.  No Amazon orders, please, although it is available there too.

I’m also starting work on another book ( my 7th!).  Caroline has finally agreed to work with me on writing a manuscript on our pioneering ministry as a clergy couple.  We were the first clergy couple to work in a local church in the former PCUS Southern Presbyterian Church.  I’m just starting out on it, but the tentative title is “Better Togther: Pioneers and Partners in Ministry”.  Let me know your thoughts on that too.  And, if you have any stories or insights on our ministry as a clergy couple or individually, share them with us as we build this manuscript.  

I’m grateful to our longtime friend and colleague Inez Giles, who has given me a birthday party every year (except the Covid year of 2020) since 1996, when I turned 50.  We celebrated this past Saturday with  the Electric Slide at the party, and we sang Stevie Wonder’s version of “Happy Birthday.”  Many stories were shared, and I’ll share one of them here.  Ann Starks, an African-American member who was at Oakhurst before Caroline and I arrived there in 1983, told a story about my interaction with her adult nephew, David.  David has had many health challenges but has fought through them bravely, and I have been fortunate (through Ann) to accompany him through many of them. On one such occasion, I was visiting him in a rehab center, and he needed to return to the hospital.  As they were putting David into the ambulance, I climbed up into the van to have a prayer with him.  Later on, the attendants asked him: “Who was that short, little white man who got up into the ambulance with you?”  David responded:  “He’s not a little white man – he’s my pastor!”

And, of course, there was dancing, and I once again was voted best dancer, mainly because Inez’s daughter Angela came out on the dance floor to motivate me – she and I won the dance contest a couple of decades ago when Guyen Mata was singing.  I must admit, however, that Inez’s great-grandson Gabe (4 years old) gave me a run for the award.  

This is Thanksgiving week, and I hope that you will take time to give thanks for yourself.  We face difficult times ahead, but during this respite period, take time to sing a song of yourself.   This year I want to close with the familiar but ever powerful poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver.

Wild Geese | Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

"A DIFFERENT VIEW"

“A DIFFERENT VIEW””

    In light of the terrible election results, I am giving thanks that this is Native American Heritage Month.  And, I am remembering that we have had small victories.  In the fall of 2021, Dekalb County approved the removal of the “Indian Wars Cannon” that had been placed in the Decatur Square in 1906 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).   While some of us had been working on this for a long while, we give thanks for the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, which took up this cause and brought it to fruition.  They were also instrumental in getting the Confederate Monument removed from the Square in the summer of 2020, now replaced by a statue of John Lewis, which was dedicated this past August.

          We also give thanks for our friend, Dekalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, who was a powerful force behind the removals of both of these symbols of white supremacy.  As she put it in a statement when the cannon was removed:  “Dekalb County and the City of Decatur are places of love, not hate.  Of inclusion, not division.  And, so any sign that is divisive or is hurtful to others, or is a sign of oppression, we shouldn’t have in the county.” We give thanks for Mereda and Ted Terry who co-sponsored the resolution for removal.  Mereda is a long-time ally of justice causes, and she is the daughter-in-law of Christine Callier, longtime Oakhurst member.  She is also the spouse of Congressperson Hank Johnson.

The Indian Wars cannon memorialized the removal of Indigenous Peoples from this area following the Creek Indian War of 1836.  The war was rooted in the Indian Removal Act of 1830, supported and backed by President Andrew Jackson.  In 1821, the state of Georgia forced the sale of Creek (and Cherokee) land in Georgia, giving it at little cost to those who were classified as “white.”  The Creek and the Cherokee did not take this well, and violence broke out.   The Native Americans sued in federal court, and SCOTUS even ruled that their land should not be stolen in this manner, but President Jackson refused to enforce the SCOTUS ruling, saying infamously that if SCOTUS wanted its decision enforced, they should send their own soldiers to do it.  Under our Constitution, however, SCOTUS can have no soldiers.  The result was the horrifying Trail of Tears, removing many Indigenous People from their ancestral lands.  Since Trump is a fan of Andrew Jackson’s, we can expect these kinds of actions from him, although he now has a Trump friendly SCOTUS.

The UDC placed the cannon in Decatur Square in 1906, even before they had the Confederate monument installed in 1908.  Why this connection of the “Indian Wars” cannon to the Lost Cause?  Because both are monuments to white supremacy, and they are a reminder that most of us who are classified as “white” feel threatened by the presence of anyone categorized as “non-white,” most especially those seen as Black or Indigenous.  In this sense, Trump’s victory in the recent election should not be surprising at all.  He ran to “make America great again,” code for taking us back to the time when everyone agreed that white men should be in charge. 

The election results are a reminder of the danger in which we live, as white supremacy regains its strength.  But, we should also remember other visions.  In 1854, Chief Seattle, after whom the city is named, gave a powerful speech of lament about the taking of their lands (and ancestors) by those classified as ‘white.”  He added these words of warning and prophecy about the necessity of seeing one another as siblings rather than enemies:  “Even the white man, whose God walked and talked with him, as friend to friend, is not exempt from the common destiny.  We may be {brothers} after all.  We shall see.”

We may be siblings after all – that is a powerful phrase and a powerful thought.  In these days of growing danger, let us be watchful, but let us always remember this vision and seek to be guided by it.  We may be siblings after all.  We are siblings after, and even before, all is said and done.  We have a common ancestry and a common destiny.  We belong to one another.  We are all about to witness terrible reminders of the destructive powers of white supremacy.  As we experience and resist them, let us remember the powerful words of Chief Seattle:  “We may be siblings {brothers} after all.” And, let us seek to live them out.

"TRUMP SETTLES THE ARGUMENTS OF THE 1960'S - FOR NOW"

 “TRUMP SETTLES THE ARGUMENTS OF THE 60’S – FOR NOW”

First of all, on this Veterans’ Day, we give thanks for all those who have served our country, especially those who gave their lives or suffered grievous injuries.  I also give thanks for all those conscientious objectors, like myself, who served our country while refusing to kill someone else.  

I’ve been reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s fine book “Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960’s,”  given to us by our good and longtime friends, Jane and John Skelly,  for our 50th anniversary.   In this book,  she reviews the 1960’s through the lens of her marriage to Richard (Dick) Goodwin, who was a chief speechwriter for JFK, LBJ, Bobby Kennedy, and Eugene McCarthy.  Perhaps because of this book – and because the 1960’s were a decade that changed my life – I have been thinking of the electoral triumph of Donald Trump in terms of this turbulent yet consequential decade.  Also, because two of the main actors in the recent election were children of the 1960’s:  Joe Biden and Donald Trump.  

I was 13 years old at the beginning of the 1960’s, and I lived and breathed in the world of white, male supremacy.  At the beginning of the 1960’s, we lived in neo-slavery (I no longer use the misnomer “Jim Crow), in which Black people were denied fundamental freedoms.  Though the interstate bus system had been desegregated, lunch counters and businesses had not been, and voting rights for Black people in the South were non-existent.  In 1960, women could not have credit cards or bank accounts in their own names, nor could they serve on juries.  People who loved people of the same gender were not even on the public radar.  In other words, white, male supremacy still maintained a strong hold on the fabric and the consciousness of the country.  

    During the 1960’s, courageous people - especially Black people and women – were energized to seek changes in this oppressive system.  It made for a turbulent decade, but it also was a decade when many strides were made towards equality and justice.  Because of the powerful Civil Rights Movement, and because of the vision of JFK and the political skills of LBJ,  the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, and the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965.  The Voting Rights Act effectively ended neo-slavery after 100 years, not to mention the previous 300 years of outright slavery. This energy for equality that Black people brought to our country was infectious – women began to hear that they might be able to fight for equality also.  Gay and lesbian people began to hear the public call to step up for equality – the Stonewall outbreak in New York City in 1969 was the beginning of a movement that is still reverberating today.  Migrant farmworkers and sanitation workers began to hear that they might have rights too.  There were many changes in the 1960’s for expanding the great American vision of equality – we all might be equal after all.

    There was also great resistance to this movement for equality.  Many people were jailed, tortured, and killed in response to the Civil Rights Movement.  JFK was assassinated in 1963.  Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965.  MLK was assassinated in 1968, as was Bobby Kennedy two months after King.  The power of white, male supremacy would not yield easily.  By the end of the decade, a President arose who was elected on the foundation of what he called “the Southern Strategy.”  Richard Nixon understood the depth of the resentment and grievance of white people, especially white men, and he rode it to victory in 1968.  He never named it, of course, but it was a powerful force, as it always has been in American history.  Currently, it goes by the name of “MAGA.”

    These two forces – the longing for equality and the depth of white, male supremacy – have been in battle in American history since the Declaration of Independence was adopted.  They were especially engaged in the 1960’s, when mass media like television carried the images of stark inequality to American homes.  The 1960’s reminded us that we are always wrestling with these two forces in our collective history as a people.  Neither will go away for long.  

    Donald Trump, like Richard Nixon before him (and many others) correctly gauged the depth of white grievance and resentment of the continuing struggle to expand the idea of equality.  He has ridden this rising wave of resentment by those classified as “white”  and is now taking office with the intentions of “making America great again.”  By that, he means that he wants to return us to a time when everyone recognized that white males must be in charge.  Many of his actions will be the desire to roll back the gains of equality and to re-establish the hierarchy that was firmly put in place in the 1890’s.  One key difference between Nixon and Trump – Nixon still believed in American democracy, while Trump believes that only he can rule wisely.  Trump might even declare martial law on his first day in office, so that he can use the American military to enforce the law as he wants.  So, we are in for rough times, and we all will be called upon to protest, strategize, and organize in order to resist this movement back to the idea that white men should be in charge.  For now, Trump has settled the arguments  of the 1960’s.  

    One caveat to this – and a small sign of hope.  Lyndon Johnson was elected president in 1964 with one of the largest election victories ever, and he seemed unstoppable.  Only two years later, the Johnsonian order was beginning to crumble under the weight of the Vietnam War.  By the end of March, 1968, LBJ had given up in defeat and decided not to run for re-election as President.  Though Trump cannot run for re-election (at least not as the law stands now), let us hope that the power of the idea of equality that drove the 1960’s will make its presence known soon, in ways that we cannot now imagine, because of our shock and sorrow at the results of the election.

"THE MOMENT HAS ARRIVED"

 “THE MOMENT HAS ARRIVED”

Tuesday marks the end of the national election period, and the future of the USA depends on the outcome.   No matter who wins the presidential election,  we will all be in hell for a while.  If Trump wins, we are going to hell.   If Harris wins, then Trump will make our lives hell for two months before the vote is certified on January 6.  Fortunately, President Biden will control the military this time, rather than Trump controlling it.  If Harris is the winner (and I believe and hope that she will be), the certification process on January 6 will take focus.  

If he loses, Trump will seek to challenge the swing states that he lost.  Georgia is solid, so that will go nowhere here.  Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania all have Democratic governors, who will not be calling special sessions of the legislature to dispute those Harris wins.  Trump’s strategy will be to deny enough states that he lost, so that the election will be thrown to the House to decide it.  I am hoping that the Democrats will win the House, so that they will have the votes to certify the election.  If they do not win the House, we may be in for a rough time.  If a Republican House majority refuses to certify the election, then the election will be decided by the House.  And, if that happens, Trump will likely win because at that point, the House votes by states, rather than by congressional districts.  If that is the case, we will be right back to 1876, when Rutherford Hayes made a deal with the Southern states to end the military occupation by Union soldiers.  At that point America was “made great again” by allowing slavery to make its return as neo-slavery (often known as Jim Crow.)  Trump and the MAGA movement have those intentions also.  

So, there is a lot to think about (and pray over).  In 2020, it was Saturday after the election before Pennsylvania was called for Biden, giving him the Presidency.  That same scenario may play out in 2024, although I am hoping that Harris’ victory will be clear before then.  We know that Trump will declare victory sometime on the evening of election night, so that he can once again say the election was stolen from him.  It would be so nice for Harris to win out clearly and to send Trump back to the November sentencing and other court cases waiting for him.

We do face a stark contrast and momentous decision in this election.  Harris represents a new generation, seeking to take the mantle of leadership from my Boomer generation.  She also represents the multiracial culture that is emerging in the USA, a culture that will determine much of our country’s future.  Trump represents the old, white male culture that has held power since the beginning of this nation’s history.  And, if we elect Trump, we will be deserving of him – seeking to return us to the toxic masculinity, greed, and white grievance which are his driving forces.  Which way will we go?  We’ll know sometime next week.  AND, don’t forget to vote – it is at the heart of our lives together.