From where I stand, the waters look deep and murky. Like floods, hostile takeovers are not good for anyone’s health especially if you have the misfortune of being in their path. In this case I am referring to the hostile takeover in our nation’s capital. But first, a less serious but telling impact.
To add insult to recent political injury, it was reported that our sitting president officially proclaimed February Black History. What? He’s 50 years too late to claim that one. And, he reportedly mentioned a few of his most favorite Black leaders in February as Frederick Douglass (Yes!), Harriet Tubman (Absolutely!), conservative Black economist Thomas Sowell (Hmm?), Justice Clarence Thomas (Really??!) and Tiger Woods (Mystery?!). It’s an insightful list nonetheless. I believe it speaks to his lack of knowledge of historical Black figures and to his preferred characteristics in others. I doubt seriously if he has ever read a word written by Fredrick Douglass or read about Harriet Tubman. It’s easy to imagine what he likes about Thomas Sowell but only a guess as to what he values in Tiger Woods aside from his infidelity?
By now we have had over a solid month of President Trump’s administration and his appointments of unelected and extremely wealthy friends. We have survived the “deer in the headlight” moment and are now paying the economic, physical and spiritual price of his takeover. Costs of things are at an all-time high while human relationships at home, north and south of our borders and abroad are at an all-time low. Mass deportations and detainments of our black and brown brothers and sisters are an everyday occurrence. It’s a gut-wrenching reminder of the age of white slave hunters. Black History Month is over and the groundhog saw its shadow. The waters are deep and murky and according to that groundhog we have six more weeks of winter!
Those leading this recent takeover are expecting us to put our heads down, to become numb, to shrink under their weight, to feel defeated and to die a spiritual/mental death. They should know better!
While I am not nearly the radical optimist I once was, I do believe that times like these offer us a unique opportunity to “get real.” Especially when it comes to those things that affect our mental, spiritual and physical wellness, we must find ways to stay strong and be intentionally consistent with our values. We need to double down on the things that matter to us most including caring for our families, supporting our close friends and especially, caring for those being targeted and impacted the most. We will continue to be tested daily on how far we are willing to go to protect and support one another – risking the possibility of witnessing a public modern-day crucifixion. Its far easier said than done, but we are here now because our ancestors knew how to survive their worst of times. They knew that both big and small things matter, and so must we.
In my study of history and with my 101-year-old mother as backup, our ancestors turned away from those things they could not change and focused on those things they could. They pushed back with:
- Slogans like, ‘I am a Man’, ‘We shall overcome’ ‘Black is Beautiful’ ‘Keep the faith’ and ‘Black Power!’
- They voiced their own black understanding of Jesus and those he calls us to love
- They marched, gathered in great numbers and at times protested in silence.
- Other times prayed out loud and sang freedom songs
- They were violent at times too
- They locked arms with others in solidarity not like themselves and stood united
- Religious leaders across faith traditions lead the way
- They launched a bus boycott from a single act of defiance that, in turn, launched the Civil Rights Movement
- They were intentional in where they spent their money
- The NAACP was at the forefront of their legal defense and fought and won in the lower courts and before the Supreme Court
- They showed up!
In summary: Pray. Resist. Act in solidarity. Show up for others. Invest in relationships. Support businesses that support us and avoid doing business with those that don’t.
Through our worst of times we must remember that putting our light under a basket or wilting on the vine is not in our nature. COURAGE IS!
Dr. Bartlett is a retired educator. He retired from Gonzaga University in 2007 and Eastern Washington University in 2020.