I had some time to think over the past week with the unrest going on in the United States. I have a few questions to bring up for my fellow African Americans and Black people in America as we continue into this season:
What is our purpose?
There will always be Martin Luther Kings and there will always be Malcolm X’s. Meaning that we will not always agree on how to best achieve the results we are looking for as a people. However, I believe it’s important that we need to be unified on the purpose of our outcry and response to police brutality and overall racism.
From what it seems in this particular case, I think we can all agree that we want:
- Accountability and justice when police officers/law enforcement abuse their power to unjustly harm/murder Black women, men, and children,
- For our non-Black colleagues to respect humanity and upend the disenfranchisement of Black people in America because their participation matters in this ongoing fight against racism,
- To acquire resources and jobs for Black communities,
- And to bring an end to systematic racism, especially in the areas of the justice, political, and economic systems in America.
What is your role/purpose in achieving this? You are not obligated to do the same method of protesting as others. There is way more than one way to protest and speak out. Choose that lane and thrive in it in this season—we need you to show up in your most authentic way.
What is our direction?
Being emotionally driven in our reactions is not enough to carry us in the long run. It leads to short term solutions that serve as a catharsis, but without a thorough and persistent plan, we will miss the opportunity to see the changes happen that we want to see. Where are we going after a week from now? Are we going to keep the momentum up? What is going to be our compass on this journey toward those goals?
What is it going to take?
We need to have sober, vigilant minds to do the hard work that will be required of us all in this new season. With so much attention on the negative, distracting arguments on our timelines and messages of fear promoted by the mass media, remember what you have to focus on during this time.
It’s going to take humility to sit down with people who don’t look like us and have those conversations that everyone says needs to be had, even though it’s uncomfortable to have them.
It’s going to take some patience and care to clean up and rebuild our communities.
It’s going to take organization. Thank God for technology in this day that can help serve as a tool and container of receipts for later.
It’s going to take God’s peace and love to overlook offense. Offenses will come, but it’s not something we have to carry on our shoulders. Push past it and address the source of the issue (spiritually and naturally).
It has to take studying to show ourselves approved. The reason why there’s so much confusion and misinformation running rampant is that we are sharing things without full context (case in point, the June 2nd #BlackoutTuesday movement on social media). We need to take the time to research so we are not blindly sharing information.
It’s going to take strategy and leadership. There are plenty of people willing to follow, but we need servant leaders to step up to serve as much as they lead. Be respectful of the leaders in their particular places of influence and expertise.
It’s going to take wisdom, knowledge, and understanding from God. I’m reading Proverbs this month and it’s hitting my spirit differently in this season. God has given us the keys a long time ago; we can’t miss Him trying to go after our enemy—we will only lose that way.
It’s going to take prayer. Pray for our country, pray for direction, pray for deliverance, and eradication of the spirit of fear, rejection, and racism. Fall out of agreement with the lies of the enemy that suggest that you’re less than. Remind yourself through the Lord’s word that you are rooted in Him above any other identifier.
We have more resources than ever to keep this fight for justice and equality going; don’t lose hope in what is possible. Yes, we are definitely fed up, but we must not give up on doing all that we can from here on out.
