During this morning’s run, I was talking with my friend about the fear and frustration we’d both been feeling about Ferguson, Missouri, among other places. What can we do? we asked each other. If it came down to it, would we be able to stand against the so-called authorities armed with tear gas, guns, and hoses?
I told my friend about the only time I’d come close to anything like it. The KKK was marching in a little town a few miles east of my college campus, and a small group of us organized ourselves in protest. We brought in advisors to teach us how to remain calm in crisis. We knew our history; we’d seen the footage; we were afraid. We also knew that remaining silent wasn’t an option. We boarded the bus in silence, and when we got there, we linked arms and lined the street peacefully, waiting for the hate group to come streaming up the road. It was summer then, but I remember feeling a chill that raised gooseflesh on my arms.
A few minutes later a pathetic bunch of ragtag malcontents rounded the corner—the odd skinhead here, old grizzled men there, and bored teen goths sprinkled in—all spewing the tired epithets we’d heard before: “____ go home… .”
After our protest, we boarded the bus and headed back toward campus.
Once returned to the relative safety of familiar surroundings, we’d talk about how sad the hate group looked. Their outfits didn’t even match! we’d laugh. They weren’t even marching in step together! Weren’t they supposed to be organized better than that?
But this morning, we weren’t laughing.
Every time events like these erupt, I wonder what there is to do about it. Up to this point, I’ve signed petitions, I’ve written essays and articles, made calls, protested, volunteered, minded my business, went back to bed, wrung my hands, paced the floors, pumped my fists, prayed, held loved ones close, fundraised, danced, run, sung, and sweated for the cause. I’ve cried, fretted, and did it all again. And I’ll keep on doing it.
I recently turned to a memorial delivered by Dr. Howard Thurman in the aftermath of Dr. King’s murder. I was searching for words to articulate the frustration, pain and loss of another senseless killing and the ongoing struggle for equality and peace for so many in America. The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman remains painfully, powerfully, resonant today:
Tonight there is a vast temptation to strike out in pain, horror, and anger. Riding just under the surface, all the pent up fury, the accumulation of a generation’s cruelty and brutality. A way must be found to honor our feeling without dishonoring him whose sudden and meaningless end has called him forth. May we harness the energy of our bitterness and make it available to the unfinished work which Martin has left behind. It may be—it just may be—that what he was unable to bring to pass in his life, can be achieved by the act of his dying. For this there is eloquent precedence in human history. He was killed in one sense because mankind is not human yet. May he live because all of us in America are closer to becoming human than we ever were before.
I wish I could tell you of the tremendous love and worry I feel for my brothers, for my beautiful nephews, especially, and for the precious children of my friends.
Today, I’m open to new ideas—to whatever helps me keep my heart open, my love alive. It’s an imperative for me because I am the beneficiary of an irreducible truth, which is this: love is all there is.
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this resonates with me. i see things like what happened/is happening in ferguson, and i feel helpless and bewildered that people can behave this way. racism is a big problem, a real problem, that keeps on being a problem despite people trying to deny it or justify their actions. i wish that before anything else, people would always show each other kindness and respect and love.
thanks for this thoughtful post.
Like you, I also wish that we would default to lovingkindness in our response to others. It’s more than a notion, but well worth any effort to put it into practice, I think. We already know what the alternative gets us.
Thank you for reading and feeding back.
I have one disagreement with this well thought and written article. The historical moment in Ferguson (not just another event) was not like no other. This was a display of strength, perseverance and determination by a group of young people that I’ve been waiting to see for some time. For too long young people have not been willing to fight for the racial inequalities we continue to see these days. This time they brought attention to a situation that otherwise would have been swept under the rug and been business as usual.
Ferguson was not prepared for the opposition they faced. That’s why the National Guard was called in to assist. The young people of Ferguson realized that sometimes you have to be willing to go to the battle field to be heard. The young people of Ferguson took a stand during this moment, demanded we listen and the whole world took notice. The question now, what are we going to do to support their effort, sacrifice and determination. However you decide to participate in this movement is your choice, but my only hope is that we have the will to make it a life long journey. I guarantee that’s what it will take to move this mountain of inequality and injustice.
Hi, Wil. For as familiar as many events in Ferguson were to me, I absolutely agree it was unlike any other. I also believe the choices we make moment by moment will guide the steps we take along the uphill journey toward equality, justice, and peace. Thank you so much for sharing.
The human brain is an amazing thing. We can develop awe-inspiring technological gadgets (smartphones, google glass, incredibly loaded automobiles, organ replacement surgeries, etc) but some brains can’t get over ridiculous prejudice/ignorance. Some of these gadgets couldn’t be fathomed during my childhood. But the one simple ‘dream’ (a dream that has been shared by many for a lot longer) has yet to be fulfilled by the masses. Perhaps, we need to develop a technological gadget that will make mankind … kind.
Al, I certainly agree that our brains are amazing, and like you, I also hope that we learn to point them in the direction of kindness and compassion–preferably without the technological assist!
Thank you for comment.