A Year After - Barack Obama and Holding onto Hope

Ohio University, Chillicothe, OH
February 26, 2010

C. Anthony Hunt, D.Min., Ph.D.

A little more than a year after the election and inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, these continue to be days of tremendous change and challenge in our society. From the collapse of the economy that has affected all of us – to the wars that continue to be fought in at least two places in the Middle East – to the proliferation of violence that affects many of our urban communities - to the health care crisis that results in over 40 million Americans living without healthcare today, these are days of unprecedented change and challenge.

For many, Obama’s historic election as the first president of African descent renewed (or birthed) a sense of hope across the nation and the world. The election of Obama seemed to point - for many - to glimmers of hope that our society had somehow arrived at our ideals of “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many one), and the creed shared in our nation’s Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all (persons) are created equal.” Throughout his presidential campaign, Obama offered a framework for what he termed an audacity of hope amidst the challenges we face.

On November 1, 2008, three days prior to the election, I was invited by St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore to give a lecture dealing with the matter of the church, society and race relations over the past forty years, and I was invited to address the question of whether it is possible - or even desirable - for us to strive to become color-blind. In my reflections, I was drawn back to the recalling some of what was occurring in America in the late 1960’s. We recalled that it was a time of great racial tension in America. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968 spawned a proliferation of violence in cities across the United States. In cities like Detroit, Washington, DC and Baltimore, in the aftermath of King’s death, we witnessed communities turn upon themselves in acts of violence and destruction. The images of large business corridors, residential communities and places of worship being looted and burned are still vivid in many of our memories.

In 1968, the Kerner Commission Report, which President Lyndon B. Johnson had requested in light of riots that had broken out in several cities across the United States, summarized the state of race relations in America by noting that “America is a nation of two societies, one black and one white, separate and unequal.”

The Kerner Commission report is to be viewed against the backdrop of the history of racism in America. In 1903, African-American sociologist W. E. B. DuBois pronounced that the problem of the 20th century would be the problem of the color-line (The Souls of Black Folk). In 1944, Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal discussed the plight of African Americans within the context of what he referred to as an "American dilemma." (An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy).

Barack Obama’s historic election and his first year in office is also to be viewed against the backdrop of the history of racism in America. As for Barack Obama’s election, many seemed to sense (and hope) that it usher in an age of post-racism and post-racialism in America – and perhaps across the world. A year later, we discover that we as a nation are continuing to come to grips with the racial and racist realities that continue to afflict us.

In his book, The Audacity of Hope (2006), Obama in-fact, offered words of caution to America in thinking that we may have arrived at becoming “post racial” or that we already live in a color-blind society, and that we may be beyond the need for discourse and critical engagement as it regards racism and related forms of oppression and injustice. He wrote:

"To say that we are one people is not to suggest that race no longer matters – that the fight for equality has been won, or that the problems that minorities face in this country today are largely self-inflicted. We know the statistics: On almost every single socioeconomic indicator, from infant mortality to life expectancy to employment to home ownership, black and Latino Americans in particular lag far behind their white counterparts.[i]

We also recall, that Obama, in a major address entitled “A More Perfect Union” that he delivered during his presidential campaign, offered an analysis of the prevalence of racial tensions which continue to define the relationship between the black and white communities. Obama argued that to simply shelve anger 0r “wish it away” (the race problem in America) could prove to be completely detrimental. Unambiguously, Obama pointed to a belief that race factors into the opportunities provided to each American citizen.

To support his belief, he noted that the inferior school systems today are often the ones that we segregated fifty years ago. Obama shared that the history of racism in America is undeniably at the root of the lack of opportunities for African American today. In light of this, it is both achievable and necessary for all Americans to unite and battle racial prejudices. In order move to a more perfect union, people of all races must recognize the historically oppressive and tyrannical nature of racism and its impact on the black experience in America.

A year after President Obama’s historic election, several recent events have served to heighten awareness as to the ongoing problems of race and racism in America. Among these are the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Justice Sonia Sotomayor; the arrest of Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates at his home in Cambridge, MA; debate surrounding the president’s September speech to students returning to schools across the nation; the heckling by U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson (South Carolina) during a speech by President Obama to a joint session of the U.S. Congress; the ongoing debates surrounding the president’s efforts toward reforming our nation’s healthcare system; and the emergence of the Tea Party and other reactionary expressions toward so-called progressivism in the nation. During a visit – last summer - to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery AL - I and others who were a part of the visit were informed that there were over 800 hate related groups identified in 2008, and that this number is on the rise since Obama’s election as president.

In 1992 philosopher Cornel West published an important book entitled Race Matters. The book was written against the backdrop of the Los Angeles riots of April 1992, which followed the acquittal of the police officers charged in the beating of Rodney King, and the ensuing racial tensions in that city. In the book, West pointed to what he referred to as the “nihilism of Black America” – where a certain nothingness, meaninglessness, lovelessness, and hopelessness seems to have pervaded and permeated much of our society – particularly in the urban context. According to West at the time, race matters in America.

In one of his later sermons, "The Meaning of Hope," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. defined hope as that quality which is "necessary for life."[ii]

King asserted that hope was to be viewed as "animated and under girded by faith and love." In his mind, if you had hope, you had faith in something. Thus, hope shares the belief that "all reality hinges on moral foundations.”[iii]

For King, hope was the refusal to give up "despite overwhelming odds." This hope would beckon us to love everybody – both our enemies and allies. This hope would help us to see that we can resist giving up on one another because our lives together are animated by the belief that God is present in each and every one of us.

In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in our Nation’s Capital in the summer of 1963, King shared that a part of his dream was that we would be able “to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”

In his most recent book, Hope on a Tightrope (2008), Cornel West cautions against a false sense of security in hope, yet unborn. He points out that real hope is grounded in a particularly messy struggle and it can be betrayed by naïve projections of a better future that ignore the necessity of doing real work. For West, real hope is closely connected to attributes like courage, faith, freedom and wisdom. It comes out of a history of struggle, and points to a future filled with the possibilities of promise and progress.[iv]

A year after the historic election of President Barack Obama, it is evident that there remain significant challenges to the actualization of real hope in America. Further, it evident that race still matters in America, and that while we may be moving toward such real hope, it is a hope yet unborn in its fullness.


[i] Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006), 232.

[ii] King, sermon delivered on December 10, 1967, see Garth Baker-Fletcher, Somebodyness: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Theory of Dignity, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1993), 132.
[iii] Baker-Fletcher, 132.

[iv] Cornel West, Hope on a Tight Rope (New York: Smile Books, 2008), 6.

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost, Mountain Interval, 1920

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down on as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

Ans both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

(This poem by Robert Frost has served to encourage and challenge me at some of the more important junctures of my life.)

Christians

By Maya Angelou

When I say… “I’m a Christian”
I’m not shouting “I’m clean livin’.”
I’m whispering ‘I was lost.
Now I’m found and forgiven.”

When I say… “I’m a Christian”
I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble
And need Christ to be my guide.

When I say… “I’m a Christian”
I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak
And need His Strength to carry on.

When I say… “I’m a Christian”
I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say… “I’m a Christian”
I’m not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say… “I’m a Christian”
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say… “I’m a Christian”
I’m not holier than thou,
I’m just a simple sinner
Who received God’s good grace, somehow!

Beyond Afghanistan

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Reflections on the War and Peace

C. Anthony Hunt, Ph.D.

In this, the year of the 81st anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr., we pause to reflect on state of our nation and world, and the prospects of peace among us. On December 1, 2009 President Barack Obama shared with the nation his decision to increase American troop levels in Afghanistan by 30,000 over the next six months, with plans for the withdrawal of American troops by the end of 2011. President Obama, whose presidential ambitions were launched by his opposition to the war in Iraq, indicated that the rationale for the escalation of the war in Afghanistan was based on an increased sense of urgency to conclude the war begun in the immediate aftermath of terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001.

What would Martin Luther King have to say about the current war in Afghanistan – and President Obama’s decision? Perhaps the best indicator can be found in King’s comments on the War in Vietnam. On April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church in New York City – in a sermon entitled, “Beyond Vietnam” – King expressed in very vehement terms his opposition to the war in Vietnam. He stated, "The bombs in Vietnam explode at home, they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America… The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing 'clergy and laymen concerned' for the next generation... Now it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read "Vietnam."

In “Beyond Vietnam,” King intimated that there are real spiritual, moral and social costs that are born as a result of war. He said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood."

In April 2003 I published an essay entitled, “Counting the Costs: Reflections on the Church and Just War,” on the brink of the decision of the Bush administration to engage in war with Iraq. I wrote that it seems appropriate for the church to continue to consider (and reconsider) the matter of the justice of war from both philosophical and Christian perspectives. In terms of the morality of war, those who have thought, written, and acted on such matters, have historically raised particular questions as to the determinants of when war might be justified. In the fifth century, St. Augustine, the Christian philosopher, was instrumental in the development of seven criteria for determining whether or not a war is “just.” First, there must exist a just cause. The war must confront an unquestioned danger. Second, competent authority must exist. The leader committing a nation to war must be acting on behalf of his/her people. Third, there should be right intention. The reasons set forth should be the actual objectives, and retaliation must not be the aim. Fourth, war should be the last resort. All peaceful alternatives must have been exhausted. Fifth, there needs to be the probability of success. Sixth, discrimination requires the immunity of noncombatants from direct attack. And seventh, the good that will be achieved by war cannot be outweighed by the harm that is done.

In light of the general philosophical criteria outlined here, particular concerns exist as to how these can be applied to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Specifically, have the alleged atrocities of Saddam Hussein (in Iraq) and the Taliban (in Afghanistan) warranted – over the past 8 years - the killing and maiming of countless innocent women, men and children? This is not to speak of the annihilation of an untold number of Iraqi and Afghani buildings, homes, shopping malls, factories, schools, and places of worship.

I wrote in 2003 that for those of us who are Christians, it seems that ours are not only philosophical concerns about whether or not a particular war is just, but our concerns center on what it means to live as disciples of Jesus Christ. And the matter of our attitudes and actions in Christ do not stop with asking the popular question, “What would Jesus do?” For it seems to be clear that Jesus did not - and would not - engage in such atrocities as the war in Iraq (or Afghanistan). The critical question for the church is also “What is Jesus doing in the lives of Christians today, and how does this lead us to respond?”

In the midst of the war in Vietnam, King stated in 1967 that, "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, rather it is the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."

And so in these times where war persists in our midst, it is my sense that King would call the church yet again to reclaim its prophetic voice, and remind us that “true peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice.”

Crisis and Opportunity

The Chinese symbol of crisis is also the symbol for opportunity. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. intimated that the true measure of a person is not how one acts in times of comfort and convenience, but how one acts in times of challenge and controversy. What are the opportunities and possibilities that you find in the crises and challlenges that you confront?

What Are You Afraid Of?

From Marianne Williamson in A Return to Love

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves,” Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? “ Actually, who are we not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Blog Alert on Community of Shalom in Haiti

Over 3 million people have been affected by the devastaing earthquake in Haiti. Communities of Shalom seeks to help with emergency needs while focusing on longer term rebuilding and community development in Mizak, Haiti. Once logistical challenges are met, we hope to see food security, temporary shelter and humanitarian aid flow and restore some community stability...so that the Shalom Zone Training for the long run can take place this summer. For more information, go to http://michael-christensen.blogspot.com/search/label/shalom%20zone.

What Martin Luther King Would Say About Haiti on His Birthday

Casey Gane-McCalla is a writer, editor, rapper, producer and actor. He is a Columbia University Graduate and previously worked in the non-profit sector.

January 15, 2010

Today is Martin Luther King's birthday. Today a horrific tragedy is going on in Haiti. While some men of the cloth are using the incident to spread their twisted world views, Martin surely would've used the occasion to spread wisdom and good will and encourage his fellow man to help out our Haitian brothers and sisters in need. But still what happened in Haiti is deeper than that.
For King, giving money to Haiti would not be enough. In order to be good citizens of the world, it is not good enough to just to give money, we must make sure to end the economic and social climate that led to the disaster. Here's an excerpt from his speech "Beyond Vietnam.

"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. "

King goes on, addressing America's foreign policy and how it is destructive to the Third World.

"With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just."

King also condemns countries that spend more money on wars than social program. The USA has pledged $100 million in aid to Haiti, while pledging upwards of $30 billion to add 30,000 troops in Afghanistan.

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood."

So on Martin Luther King's birthday, let us reflect on our fellow human beings in Haiti. Let us help them out with our donations, but also let's fight so third world people do not have to suffer through the poverty that has inflamed this natural disaster. Let us be reminded of how what goes on in our own country affects the rest of the world.

[reprinted with out permission. If anyone has the author's contact information please pass it on to http://www.newurbanministry.blogspot.com/.]

Huge Interfaith Crowd Gathers for Baltimore Vigil against Violence

A crowd of over a thousand at Cathederal of Mary Our Queen. Photo by Elizabeth Suman

By FERN SHEN and ELIZABETH SUMAN, in Baltimore Brew

January 25, 2010

What can religion do to fight violence in Baltimore?

An interfaith group of well over a thousand people came together last night to answer that question — an array of religious leaders and citizens of all ages and races, wearing saris and sweatshirts, blowing the shofar and chanting Vedic calls, reading from the Bible and from the Koran.

The size and diversity of the crowd assembled in the cavernous Cathedral of Mary Our Queen for the Baltimore Interfaith Coalition’s “Vigil Against Violence” — among them mayor-to-be- Stephanie Rawlings-Blake — made the moment feel as historic as speakers said it was.

“We have not seen the likes of this size of interfaith gathering since the civil rights movement,” said Eugene Taylor Sutton, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

Crowd gathered at the interfaith "Vigil Against Violence" (Photo by Elizabeth Suman.)
The event was organized by the Baltimore Interfaith Coalition, a group of religious and civic leaders who joined forces in 2009, the program said, “to bring hope to a hurting city.” The latest homicide statistics bear witness to that pain.

Baltimore City reported 238 murders in 2009, upping the number of homicides by four since 2008. These numbers are below those reached regularly in the 1980s, when the death toll topped 300. Still, Baltimore’s current murder rate is the second-highest in the United States in a city with a population over 500,000, second only to Detroit.

Several of last night’s speakers said combatting violence must start with a change in attitudes. Rabbi Stephen Fink chastised Baltimoreans who live close to each other but don’t interact or feel a connection to each other. “Residents of crime-ridden neighborhoods are looked upon as statistics,” said Fink, Rabbi of Temple Oheb Shalom.

Sutton said complacency or resignation about Baltimore’s street violence has to end: “This is the year where Baltimore says ‘enough.’” “Anyone who has been killed is my brother,” Sutton said.
Other speakers stressed that people need to take action to stop violence, not just talk about it. As Heber M. Brown III, pastor of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church, put it: “Be a thermostat not a thermometer.”

We’re at a crossroads, we have two choices, Brown said, “you can pat yourself on the back for a nice quaint prayer vigil . . . or we can be headlights. . . and choose a better way.” Brown urged his audience to adopt a school or mentor a young person.

The call-to-action comes at a potent political juncture for Baltimore, as the new administration of City Council President Rawlings-Blake takes charge of the violence-plagued city. Rawlings-Blake, standing with police department brass, bowed her head as the crowd prayed for her and other civic leaders.

Among the civic and religious groups represented in the Coalition are: Johns Hopkins University, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Baltimore Board of Rabbis, the Muslim Community Cultural Center of Baltimore and the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence.
Everyone left on a rousing note, with the whole crowd holding hands and singing “We Shall Overcome.”

Meanwhile, outside, all their obstacles remained, including deep skepticism and cynicism from a crime-weary city.

EXTRAVAGANT GENEROSITY

The weekend of ROCK is one many of us look toward each year. For our youth and those of us who are older, this is always a wonderful time of celebration, connecting and sharing in the joy of Christ. With ROCK, it is easy to sense the hope that is the church, and the possibilities that we share.

As we gather each year in Ocean City at the end of January - among the many highlights of the weekend – the proclamation of the word, joyful praise, young people rushing to the front of the Convention Center, persons committing (and recommitting) their lives to Christ, sharing in communion – one that is always special is the offering that is taken at the final worship celebration. This year’s offering had particular significance as it is to go toward support the relief efforts of the United Methodist Committee on Relief in Haiti.

Over the past three weeks, people of faith have joined in prayer and support for the people of Haiti as they have dealt with the catastrophic earthquake that struck the country on January 12th. In this, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the loss, grief and distress caused by this disaster adds to the tremendous forces of poverty with which the people already struggle.

This year, the offering received at ROCK totaled over $28,000, a sign of extravagant generosity. Acts of extravagant generosity continue as many of our churches continue to make contributions to UMCOR and other relief organizations, and prepare health kits to aid our sisters and brothers in need in Haiti. In these days of tremendous need for many among us, we continue to see signs of extravagant generosity in our midst.

The apostle Paul wrote to encourage the church at Corinth, “You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity.” (2 Cor. 9:11) Bishop Robert Schnase, his the book The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, shares that “extravagant generosity describes practices of sharing and giving that exceed all expectations and extend to unexpected measures. It describes lavish sharing, sacrifice, and giving in service to God and neighbor. “

Thanks be to God for our shared ministry, and the ways that we continue to engage in extravagant generosity both locally and globally

May the Lord, in whom we live and move and have our being, bless you in the days ahead, and may heaven’s face continue to shine upon us.