"WHO IN THE HELL IS DIANE NASH?"

 WHO IN THE HELL IS DIANE NASH?

            No, it is not Donald Trump attacking another woman.  It was the question that Attorney General Robert Kennedy asked John Siegenthaler, his federal liaison in the South, in 1961.  Kennedy had heard that his carefully negotiated ending of the Freedom Rides was coming apart because this woman was sending volunteers from Nashville to “get on the bus.”  John Lewis and James Farmer and others had originated the Freedom Rides in DC, but their bus had been firebombed in Anniston, Alabama, and the other bus riders beaten severely in Birmingham.  Their offense?  They rode together as black and white folk on busses across the South.  Kennedy had negotiated with the governors of Alabama and Mississippi to prevent violence in exchange for delaying the Freedom Rides.  Diane Nash and others had different ideas – they did not look to the government for their moral centers.  They looked to themselves and to the community.  Students poured in to continue the rides, and many others did too, and it worked!  

            Who is Diane Nash?  It is a good question, because not many people have heard of her, but for almost a decade, she was one of the powerful and creative leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.  She was an African-American born in Chicago in 1938,  who came South to Fisk University in Nashville for college.  There she met Rev. James Lawson, John Lewis, Bernard Lafayette, Jim Bevel and others.  Although she was not necessarily non-violent, she attended Rev. Lawson’s sessions in Nashville and was surprisingly elected to head the group.  From there, she was one of the leaders of the student sit-ins in Nashville, the Freedom Rides, the Birmingham campaign in 1963, Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964, the Selma campaign in 1965.  There are many stories about her – she’s still living, so “google” her if you want more info on her (and I hope that you do!)  An excellent sourcebook for her and other women civil rights leaders is “Freedom’s Daughters” by Lynne Olson, and as always “Eyes on the Prize” by Juan Williams and Henry Hampton.

            Of the many stories about her, one stands out for me.  In 1962 she had been arrested in Mississippi for recruiting high school and college students to work in the model of non-violent mass protest against legal segregation.  She was convicted of encouraging the youth to violate the state’s segregation laws, and she was sentenced to two years in prison.  She appealed the sentence, but in the spring when she was 5 months pregnant, she announced to the judge that she would abandon her appeals and go to prison to affirm her previous “jail, no bail” policy.  She told the judge: “I can no longer cooperate with the evil and corrupt system of this state.  Since my child will be a Black child, born in Mississippi, whether I am in jail or not, he will be born in prison.”  Prescient words for the kindergarten-to-prison pipeline that continues to exist today.  The judge begged her to continue her appeal, but the reply came: “Judge, you don’t understand Christianity – all the early Christians went to jail.”  The judge replied: “Maybe so.  But they weren’t all pregnant and twenty-one.”  In the end, Diane Nash served only ten days.  The judge refused to implement the earlier sentence – he didn’t want any more martyrs.

            Who is Diane Nash?  Why was such a giant almost forgotten?  Well, it is complicated, but the bottom line is that most of the women leaders of the Civil Rights Movement were almost forgotten, even as Ida Wells was almost forgotten, because of the patriarchy that is in all of us.  But, thank goodness, the stories of her leadership and that of others are being revived.   Of the many lessons of her witness, here are three that are helpful in this time of growing injustice.  First, she did her homework.  She had not intended to become a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, but when she was confronted with injustice, she waded in to the fight.  She went to workshops; she learned non-violence; she found her voice.  Second, she believed in the power of community – no lone rangers allowed – the people must organize and work together.  Third, she did not wait on the patriarchy or the government or the powers that be – she listened to the cries of injustice and found allies and acted.  May we find our voices and get into action too.

If you want more info on the Nashville movement, a good place to start is “The Children” by David Halberstam.  More info on the Freedom Rides?  Start with “Freedom Riders” by Richard Arsenault.

"LENT AND TRUMPISM"

 “LENT AND TRUMPISM”

The Season of Lent begins this week on Ash Wednesday, March 5.  It is a season of reflection, action and purpose as Christians prepare for the climactic events of Holy Week when Jesus of Nazareth is executed by the Roman empire because he was seen as a threat to their order.  It is a season when we are reminded of our captivity to the powers of racism, sexism, materialism, militarism,  homophobia, and others. 

This season can come none too soon for those of us in American society, where Trumpism culture seems to be in its triumphant mode.  The first six weeks of the second Trump administration have demonstrated that he means to be emperor this time, and that his minions will carry out his orders, which seek to drag us back to a time when everybody acknowledged what white men should be in charge of everything,  He has shown us his scorched earth policy, both literally in regard to the environment and figuratively in regard to human rights.  Though he is not yet the Roman emperor type, he aspires to be, and his policies seem hell-bent on destroying any small gains in terms of equity and inclusivity.

It is a very old story in American history, where we must always confront our original sin:  the development of the system of race in order to justify slavery, in order to justify the idea espoused by those classified as “white” – those classified as “colored”or “non-white” were not quite the human beings that “white” people are.  This split in the categories of humanity allowed the slavers to hold other human beings as slaves, all the while heralding the idea of equality and all the while calling ourselves “Christians.”  It allowed my generation in neo-slavey times to maintain an iron, oppressive hold on those classified as “Black.”  Many dedicated freedom fighters made it possible to destroy neo-slavery with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  But, whenever some progress is made in American history to move us towards the ideal of equality, there is a reaction among white people that calls out leaders and demagogues, who seek to take us back to the days of white supremacy.

We are in one of those reactive times now, though the Trumpster seems to bring an especially virulent strain of this deadly power.  In this season of Lent, we are asked – indeed, it is demanded – to find ways to resist this captivity, to resist this magnetic pull back towards white supremacy.  Most of the Lenten practices over history have emphasized giving up something in a fast for Lent.  I want to suggest that in this Lenten season in 2025, that we dedicate ourselves to at least five practices that will steel us and fire us for the hard days to come.

First, the season of Lent is a time of despair, a time when we are reminded of our deep captivity to sin, to powers like racism and sexism and materialism.  We are asked to face the Cross of Jesus straight on, with no filters.  The Trumpster takeover of American politics is one of the current incarnations of that captivity, and our despair is great.  I was reminded recently by one of my African-American friends that their history is what many white people are experiencing now – a deep sense of despair and oppression and loss.  They also reminded me that those of us classified as “white” need to learn from them and their experience:  in the midst of despair, find ways to express the deep pain, and then seek sources of hope and even joy.  So, our first step in this Lenten season is to express our pain, then seek to find sources of hope and joy in a depressing and oppressing time.

The second Lenten practice is more practical:  boycotting those businesses and industries that seem to be yielding or even trumpeting the Trumpster:  Walmart, Amazon, Target, Hobby Lobby, and many others.  The total boycott on February 28 was just a beginning step in this.  And, don’t forget to support businesses like Costco who are resisting the Trumpster.

The third Lenten practice is to participate in demonstrations and marches against the Trumpian capture of American culture.  Fortunately, there are many of those around, and the more prevalent they are, of course the more likely that the Trumpians will respond with threats and other actions.  These do make a difference, so find your place in them.

The fourth practice is to contact your political reps by email, letter and phone, especially by phone.  In the state of Georgia, we’ve heard that for state legislators, ten phone calls on any issue means that the house is on fire, and they must respond.  This is not a time to be silent and wait for the crisis to pass.

The fifth Lenten practice is to be in dialogue with others, and this works on two levels.  First, be in discussion with friends and allies about these issues, so that you can build a community of support that will sustain us all in these times.  Second, be in touch with Trump supporters, so that you can learn their discontents and learn their longings, which led them to support Trump in the first place.  There wiil be openings for movement, as Trump begins to alienate those supporters also.

In this particular season of American history, it is much easier to understand the season of Lent.  Lent is a time when we are asked to remember our captivity to sin, and in our current political situation, that captivity is front and center.  It is what nailed Jesus to the Cross.  Let us keep that before us in the days of this Lenten season.

"A FIRE IN MY BONES"

 “A FIRE IN MY BONES”

Fred Shuttlesworth was born in Alabama in 1922, and though he was raised Methodist, he became a Baptist preacher.  He was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, especially in Alabama, and he was driven to establish justice.  These words from the prophet Jeremiah describe his burning for justice:  “But if I say I'll never mention the LORD or speak in God’s name, the Word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in!” (Jer. 20:9)

He became pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1953, and he was a member of the NAACP until the state of Alabama outlawed it i 1956.  He then helped to found the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights as a response to Alabama’s actions.  He became a leader in Birmingham in pushing for racial justice.  On December 25, 1956, an attempt was made on Shuttlesworth's life by placing sixteen sticks of dynamite under his bedroom window. He escaped unhurt although his house was heavily damaged. A police officer, who also belonged to the KKK, told Shuttlesworth as he came out of his home, "If I were you I'd get out of town as quick as I could". Shuttlesworth told him to tell the Klan that he was not leaving, and "I wasn't raised to run." 

    In 1957, after he and his wife Ruby attempted to enroll their daughters at a recently integrated public school, Reverend Shuttlesworth was assaulted by an angry mob that set upon him with chains and baseball bats. But when he was taken to the hospital – beaten and bloodied – his doctors were astonished to find that not a single bone was broken. In fact, he didn’t even have a concussion.  At the time, he explained, “The Lord knew I lived in a hard town, so He gave me a hard head.”

He worked with Martin Luther King and others in seeking to move Alabama and other Southern states toward racial justice.  He joined the central cadre of Alabama preachers (King, Abernethy, Lowery) to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957.  He became a leader in the Freedom Rides in 1961, although he did not agree with their approach.  The Riders were badly beaten in Anniston and Birmingham, and. Shuttlesworth mobilized some of his fellow clergy to assist the rides. After the Riders were badly beaten and nearly killed in Birmingham and Anniston during the Rides, he sent deacons to pick up the Riders from a hospital in Anniston. He told his deacons to take their shotguns with them and to use them if necessary.  The legendary Diane Nash had these words to say about Shuttlesworth’s leadership:

“ Fred was practically a legend. I think it was important – for me, definitely, and for a city of people who were carrying on a movement – for there to be somebody that really represented strength, and that's certainly what Fred did. He would not back down, and you could count on it. He would not sell out, you could count on that.”

Shuttlesworth worked hard to get MLK and SCLC to come to Birmingham to work for racial justice, and finally in 1963, SCLC came to Birmingham to get into the fray that Shuttlesworth had started.  The Birmingham campaign became an important cog in the Movement, from MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to the infamous but powerful “Children’s Campaign,” a campaign that Shuttlesworth had helped to carry out with Jim Bevel.  He was also a leader in the Selma campaign, which eventually led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, a law that ended neo-slavery in the South.

    Shuttlesworth embraced the philosophy of non-violence, even though his own personality was combative, headstrong and sometimes blunt-spoken.  He was not shy in asking King to take a more active role in leading the fight against segregation and warning that history would not look kindly on those who gave "flowery speeches" but did not act on them.  He was a visionary leader with a fire in his bones, even up until his death in 2011.

    Under the presidency of Donald Trump, we are heading back to the kind of oppressive days in which Shuttlesworth lived.  The spirits of George Wallace, Ross Barnett, Orval Faubus, Gene Talmadge, Joe McCarthy and other demonic powers are all rising now to seek to find their places in our lives.  In these days, we are called to find that fire in our own bones, so that we too can be witnesses for justice in our time.  Let us find our place and our voices in these days.

"THE STREAMS OF BLACK HISTORY"

 “The Streams of Black History”

As we enter a very difficult period in American history, we would do well to remember and learn from those who have found life and fought for freedom in more difficult times.  It is one of the gifts of Black History Month which calls us to remember the ancestors and learn from their witness.  

    Charlotte Forten was born in Philadelphia in 1837 as a free Black person, one of the granddaughters of one of the Black wealthiest men in America, James Forten.  She was educated by private tutors, and she became a well-educated woman and a poet.  In the 1850’s, she became involved in the abolitionist movement, penning poems about freedom that William Lloyd Garrison published in “The Liberator,” and that Frederick Douglass published in “North Star.”

After the Civil War broke out in 1861, the Union forces moved to cut off sea lanes from the South.  Early on, they took possession of the Sea Islands near Beaufort, South Carolina, and all the white plantation owners fled the Islands.  In order to prepare for the aftermath of the Civil War, the War Department decided to start schools for Black people  on the Sea Islands, seeking to ascertain what kind of education would be needed by those who were formerly enslaved.  

    This project was called “The Port Royal Experiment,” and many white teachers came down to teach the formerly enslaved people to read and write.  Charlotte Forten had been teaching in the North already, and though she encountered some resistance among the white leadership, she decided to come down to St. Helena Island to teach in the Penn School, as part of the Port Royal Experiment.  She was the first Black teacher there.  She taught there until the end of the Civil War.

After the Civil War, she taught in Massachusetts and back in Charleston, SC, until she moved to DC in 1872 to teach.  There she met the Rev. Francis Grimke, and they were married in 1878. In that marriage, she stepped into another stream of Black history.  Francis Grimke was the nephew of Angelina and Sarah Grimke, two white South Carolina sisters who were anti-slavery and who left the South before the Civil War.  They became famous abolitionists and feminists. 

     Also before the Civil War, the Grimke sisters discovered that their brother Henry Grimke had a relationship with one of his enslaved women, Nancy Weston.  Out of this union came three sons, one of whom was Francis Grimke.  Francis and his brother Archibald escaped from slavery, and they made contact with their aunts. The Grimke sisters helped to finance Francis’s seminary education at Princeton, and they generally supported Francis and his brother Archibald.  Francis later became pastor at Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in DC, where he served for almost 50 years.   He helped to found the Niagara Movement with WEB Dubois and later the NAACP.  

    He and Charlotte Forten made a formidable team fo justice, service, and equity.  She wrote a famous journal about her experiences in the Port Royal Experiment and in the white world. Charlotte Forten and Francis Grimke were one of several streams of Black history that came together and improved life for all of us.  May we find our place in those same streams now, because the water will be getting rougher for the next few years.

"A WITNESS FOR OUR TIME"

 “A WITNESS FOR OUR TIME”

    In 2019, Dr. Catherine Meeks and I wrote a book on Ida B. Wells, entitled “Passionate for Justice: Ida Wells as Prophet for Our Time.” We celebrated the life of Ida B., as well as lifting her up as a model for witness in our time. With the ascension of Donald Trump to the presidency and with all the chaos that he has already sown, Wells steps forward as a model for us to contemplate and for us to follow. She had direct engagements with two Presidents, William McKinley and Woodrow Wilson. In both of them, she took them to task: for McKinley’s mild response to a lynching in South Carolina, and for Wilson’s overt racism. 

    Though most of us are not in Wells’ league, Catherine and I suggested that we can draw strength from Wells, as seek to find our way to be a witness for justice and a resister of the reestablishment of white supremacy as the norm in American life.  Wells had been born in Mississippi in slavery in 1862, but she grew up with the legal shackles of slavery broken by the defeat of the South in the Civil War. Her parents had taught her that she was an equal to any person, and she sought to live that idea throughout her life. So, Wells’ first gift to us is to remember who each of us and all of us are: children created with equal dignity by God.

    As neo-slavery began to regain its strength after the Civil War (it is often called “Jim Crow,” but that is a misnomer), Wells began to experience a sense of anger and disgust that white supremacy was seeking to tell her and other Black people that they were inferior. She was outraged that neo-slavery sought to re-establish itself through violence and intimidation, including lynchings.  Wells responded with strength to engage the strength of the return of white supremacy. She would not be defined by white supremacy, and she fought hard to help others find the strength to resist this movement. So, as Trump seeks to re-establish white supremacy in our time, let us remember the deep resistance that Wells demonstrated, and let us find some of that same strength that Wells showed us. We must find ways to resist this Trumpist, white supremacist movement. 

    Second, Wells was not afraid to go public with her resistance. After several Black friends were lynched in Memphis in 1892, she decided to do a study of all the lynchings in the South in the 1880’s-1890’s. The rationale given by white people for the lynchings was that Black men were ravenous for white women, and that these Black men must be put back in their places. In her definitive study published in 1892, she exposed this rationale as totally false and as an excuse to terrorize Black people. Her public stance was both educational and dangerous. Black leaders like Frederick Douglass told her how much her study had helped them. White leaders in Memphis, where she lived at the time of this work, blew up her offices and put a bounty on her head. She was out of town when the terroristic attack happened, and she did not return South for 30 years.

    Third, Wells refused to let white people or men of any racial category define her. Even strong white women like Susan B. Anthony tried to direct her life, and Alice Paul refused Wells’ request to march in the front of the line at the Women’s March for the Vote in DC in 1913.  Undeterred by Paul’s racism, Wells found a way to step into the front of the line in the March.  We do Wells and ourselves a disservice by lifting her high above us, saying that she was so great or so exceptional that we cannot match her work.  While that is true on one level – Wells was truly exceptional – Wells herself would tell us that it is now our tine to step into the March.  The forces of oppression and suppression are gaining strength, and we must speak up and act out.  

"WHERE THE WHITE MAN DOES AS HE PLEASES"

 “WHERE THE WHITE MAN DOES AS HE PLEASES”

During this past week, I was cleaning up in my upstairs office (a never-ending task), and to help pass the time, I was listening to Nanci Griffith’s wonderful CD “One Fair Summer Evening.”  Griffith died three years ago – a big loss to us all.  One of the songs on this CD was “Deadwood, South Dakota,” written by her former husband Eric Taylor.  It is about the westward expansion of those classified as “white,” and the chorus of the song is powerful and could be describing our time right now:

“And the gold she lay cold in their pockets

And the sun she sets down on the trees

And they thank the Lord

For the land that they live in

Where the white man does as he pleases”

Many of Donald Trump’s followers are fueled by this chorus – hoping to regain a world where “the white man does as he pleases.”  All the attacks on DEI, critical race theory, Black history, and teaching about the history of racism are lodged in this complaint by white men:  we want to make America again, to make America white again, to have the white man do as he pleases.  This is why white people elected Trump:  we want to live in a land where the white man can do as he pleases.

The interesting part, of course, is that Trump is not driven by ideology but rather by a deep anxiety and anger about being held accountable.  His insistence on DEI being the cause of the DC plane crash is a bone to his base, but it is also something much deeper.  Three of the five prosecutions of Trump were led by Black people:  Alvin Bragg, Letitia James, and Fani Willis.  Trump is toxic because he wants to blow up the government that has sought to hold him accountable, that has bound him, prosecuted him, convicted him.   And, the real reason for the DC crash is that Republicans have savaged the FAA flight controller budgets for decades, beginning with Reagan’s smashing of the flight controller’s union over 40 years ago.  And, it is a terrible thing to say about the tragic loss of lives in DC and now Philadelphia, but it is the chickens coming home to roost.  We are fortunate that we have dedicated and competent flight controllers, who have prevented many more crashes, but the volume is starting to overwhelm them.

I’m also thinking about the despicable “immigration” raids now being carried out by ICE under Trump’s orders.  There are undoubtedly some immigrants who need to be deported, but now the “shock and awe” approach is stunning.  Many of those being arrested and detained and deported are law-abiding folks, and some of them are here legally.  The desire for white men to do as we please is overwhelming, however, and it is a travesty and a tragedy.  It is reminiscent of the 1850's when "slavecatchers" went North to round up people who had escaped from slavery - not only were people formerly held as slaves terrified and tortured, but many free Black people were also treated in the same despicable manner.  We are that country, whether it is Dixie, or the USA.

So, it is now time to speak up and act out.  Join with other human rights groups, or form your own.  Let your legislators know your opinions.  Donate to groups who are opposing the Trumpster agenda. Go to demonstrations, but also get ready to participate in acts of resistance.  If we fail on this, we will return to the land where the white man does as he pleases, where women are pushed back and where people of color are once again seen legally as second-class persons. 

"DAVID STROUPE!"

 “DAVID STROUPE!”

Our son David Stroupe was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on a snowy evening 45 years ago on January 31, 1980.  He has been a great gift to us and to so many others in this crazy world.  He currently teaches science education at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, after a long stint at Michigan State.

This year is the year of the Snake on the Chinese zodiac, and in that system, the snake symbolizes wisdom, elegance, and intuition.  David is a snake guy, so this is his year.  He is wise and has great intuition, but elegance is not one of his main qualities.  Indeed, when he was a graduate student at the University of Washington, getting his PhD in science education, his adviser and mentor Dr. Mark Windschitl    indicated that he was impressed with David’s intelligence and work habits.  Dr.  Windschitl told David that he would like to take David to some Congressional hearings, where he sometimes testified before Congressional committees.  He told David, however, that before he would consider taking him, that David would have to get one good pair of shoes – the shoes that he had seen David wearing did not fit that category.  We ended up helping pick out and pay for a “good pair of shoes.”

    As I said, David became a snake guy.  I’m not sure when exactly he crossed over to the world of herpetology, but he learned a lot of it in the creek in front of our house on Kirk Road in Decatur.  He went to Davidson College and was a biology major there.  He was an assistant in herpetology there, and I remember him calling me early in his snake career saying:  “Dad, I caught a snake today, and it bit me 5 times, but don’t tell Mom!”  I replied:  “Well, I hope that it wasn’t a poisonous snake,” and his retort was:  “Dad, I’d never pick up a poisonous snake.”  But, of course he did, as I found out later.

    He became known there as ‘The Snake Guy” because he was often the “go to” guy in what was then a small town – if you had snakes in your house, he would remove them for you.  He also did demonstrations on reptiles and amphibians with church and school groups.  In those demonstrations, it was clear that he was a natural teacher, and that is what he ended up doing.

We had a great time with him and Susan and Erin and Emma and Zoe at our 50th wedding anniversary this summer.  He and Susan organized it and were the emcees for it. Of course, there was dancing, where I once again was recognized as best male dancer.  At the end of the occasion, David and Susan announced that they had arranged for the City of Decatur to install a bench in Harmony Park in the Oakhurst neighborhood, where we labored and did ministry for over 30 years.  The plaque for that bench is in the photograph – if you live in the area, go see it sometime! Harmony Park is located on land where Caroline and I used to lead the Easter parade after Oakhurst worship for singing and proclamation.  It is also a park where we pushed the city of Decatur to establish safe space where Black youth could hang out without being harassed by the gentrifying businesses in the changing neighborhood.  So, we were glad for David and Susan to work this out for this space.

    David has written two books for Harvard University Press and edited others, and this year he is starting a term as editor of the journal “Science Education.”  We are so proud of him, but we are most proud that he has a wide heart and a keen mind– even for snakes.  These qualities make him such a great son, dad, husband, teacher, mentor, friend, and human being.  So many memories, so many stories to tell, so many stories to come!  We give thanks for him being in our lives!  Happy Birthday, David!