BELOVED COMMUNITY TOOL KIT
(by C. Anthony Hunt, Ph.D.)
I. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Beloved
Community
In
the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., at least seven features of beloved community
can be identified.
1.
Beloved community is shaped by a
recognition of racial (and other social) injustices. W.E.B. DuBois posited
in 1903 in the Souls of Black Folk that “the problem of the 20th
Century is the problem of the color line.”
In the years preceding and through the era of the Civil Rights movement,
race/racism remained the prevailing social concern of the time, as is reflected
in the title of sociologist Gunnar Myrdal’s 1944 study or race relations in
America – “The American Dilemma – The Negro Problem”.
2.
Beloved community is engaged in action
and reaction rooted in agapic love. Through
the practices of peace-making, community-building and nonviolence it offers alternatives
to established Church (or churches) orders that have placed the cultural idol of
religion over Christ.
3.
Beloved community provides Christians
the best chance walk with Christ in agapic love. The walk toward beloved
community requires that we walk in with genuine love, respect, and humility, so
that I may see a glimpse of the world someone else wants to share with us.
4. A separation of secular and religious
life in atmospheres that are inherently hostile to the Gospel is not possible,
necessitating the formation of beloved community. Instead of trying to prove others wrong,
it beckons us to clothe ourselves with the One who gave ultimate service and offer
people space where they can find a lived gospel experience.
5. Beloved community is sometimes the last
hope for a relationship between God and persons, the oppressors and the
oppressed. There exists in beloved
community a creative and holy tension, a commitment to remain in community even
when the ties that bind are stretched to snapping. We do this because we
understand that we cannot exist without one another. Our individual communities
will not survive without beloved community.
6.
Beloved community is not beholden to the
categories and limitations of earthly pressures, no matter how dire, because it
is contingent upon relationships based in unconditional love and upon God’s imperative.
In beloved community we, like those who
marched and sat-in with Dr. King, prepare ourselves for what may come. We learn
the laws of humankind, and where we feel that the Gospel requires us to take a
stand contrary to the law, we faithfully choose Christ’s example. When we see
human beings being treated unjustly, we, like King, defy whatever State mandate
that, in the following of it, renders us complicit.
7.
Beloved community is that which brings
together the totality of all persons, both individually and collectively, and
provides for them a genuine identity in a disingenuous world. We require some venue through which we can experience
and develop the integrated self and community. We understand, as Josiah Royce
argued, that the virtues of humankind cannot be perfected in solitude. Only in beloved community can we find
ourselves, to stop being individuals and to start being people.
II. Public Witness and Community Partnership
A Rule of Life for Martin Luther
King, Jr. and those who were a part of the Civil Rights movement:
- Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.
- Remember always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation, not victory.
- Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love.
- Pray daily to be used by God in order that all might be free.
- Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.
- Seek to perform regular service for others and the world.
- Refrain from violence of fist, tongue, or heart.
- Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
- Follow the directions of the movement and the captain of a demonstration.
(from
Marjorie Thompson’s Soul Feast. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press,
1995, 2005, p. 148)
Nonviolence played
a critical role in the thinking and practice of Martin Luther King, Jr., and
was integral to the Montgomery Movement.
This philosophy had several elements that King would continue to develop
throughout his life, and which were codified into a set of principles in his
book Stride Toward Freedom in
1958. An analysis of King’s thinking
indicates six general characteristics of nonviolent resistance as a means of
protest and community-building.
1. It
must be emphasized that nonviolent resistance is not a method for passive
cowards.
2. It
does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship
and
understanding.
understanding.
3. The
attack is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who
happen to be doing evil.
4. There
is a willingness to accept suffering without retaliation, to accept blows from
the opponent without striking back.
5. It
avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of the
spirit.
6. It
is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice.
Martin Luther
King, Jr. on the Criteria for Protest (Nonviolent Direct Action/Civil
Disobedience)
1. Is
there a just grievance?
2. Has
there been the use of every normal means to address the problem/injustice
through negotiation, petition, and appeals to authorities?
3. Having
found these channels useless/closed, is there a willingness by the protestors
to accept punishment?
4. Is
there a program to relieve injustice that does not inflict injustice on others?
Principles for Toward Beloved Community (based on
Gandhian and King principles of Non-violence/non-injury)
1. Imperative
2. Inspiration
3. Introspection
4. Imagination
5. Intentionality
6. Invitation
7. Innovation
8. Interaction
9. Interpretation
10. Integration
(Excerpted from “Blessed are the Peacemakers: An
Analysis of the Thought of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr., by C.
Anthony Hunt, 2005)
Gary
Gunderson in The Leading Causes of Life identifies Five Leading Causes
of Life:
(1) Connection
(2) Coherency
(3) Agency
(4) Blessing
(5) Hope
Robert Franklin,
in Crisis in the Village, offers that
several strategic steps must be employed in order for the village to be renewed
and restored. These include:
(1) Focused
Conversation
(2) Collaborative
Leadership
(3) Vision
and Planning
(4) Accountability
and Action
(5) Sustaining
and Fundraising
(6) Documenting
and Celebrating Progress
III. The Search for Beloved Community (Beloved Community Defined)
His singular
vision was for the realization of Beloved
Community. Kenneth Smith and Ira
Zepp, Jr. in their seminal 1974 work entitled, Search for the Beloved Community, suggest that King’s
perspective on the Christian love-ethic provides critical insight into understanding his persistent
search for the Beloved Community. For King, it was rooted in the biblical notion of Agape (God’s
unconditional love), and was the ultimate goal for society.[i]
In King’s
conception of Beloved Community,
faith and action were interrelated. In
this regard, theology and ethics were inextricably connected. Theology – what we believe and comprehend
about God (how we talk about God), could not be separated from ethics – how we
behave as the human family. Our creed
and our deed have to be in concert. Our
talk and our walk have to correspond.
This faith-action
(creed-deed) dialectic found its ultimate expression in the notion of Beloved Community. For King, there were two steps involved
in the movement towards Beloved Community. First, desegregation
would lead to the removal of legal barriers to equality. But desegregation was a short-term goal – and
it alone was not enough. Desegregation
had to be followed by integration. Integration
advocated and facilitated the inclusion of all persons in a just
society. King defined integration as
genuine inter-group, interpersonal living.
Integration was the long-term goal as a means toward realizing the
vision of Beloved Community.
King asserted that
“all life is interrelated.” One of his
fundamental beliefs was in the kinship of all persons. He believed all life is part of a single
process; all living things are interrelated; and all persons are sisters and
brothers. All have a place in the Beloved Community. Because all are interrelated, one cannot harm
another without harming oneself. King
said:
To the degree that I harm my brother, no
matter what he is doing to me, to that extent I am harming myself. For example, white men often refuse federal
aid to education in order to avoid giving the Negro his rights; but because all
men are brothers they cannot deny Negro children without harming
themselves. Why is this? Because all men are brothers. If you harm me, you harm yourself. Love,
agape, is the only cement that can hold this broken community
together. When I am commanded to love, I
am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice, and to meet the needs
of my brothers.[ii]
When the
Montgomery Bus Boycott ended, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at a victory rally
on December 3, 1956. He spoke words of
hope for the future. He pointed out that
the goal of the boycott had not been to defeat other persons, but to awaken the
conscience of others to challenge the false sense of superiority that persons
might harbor. Now that victory had been
achieved, King said, it was time for reconciliation. “The end is reconciliation; the end is the
creation of Beloved Community.”
The
Beloved Community was to be an
integrated community in which persons of all races and creeds lived together
harmoniously as sisters and brothers in peace.
It was the Kingdom of God on earth.
King stated, “I do not think of political power as an end. Neither do I think of economic power as an
end. They are ingredients in the
objective we seek in life. And I think that
end, that objective, is a truly brotherly society, the creation of Beloved Community.”[iii]
IV. (Often
unobserved) Observations about the Civil Rights Movement
1. Urban
– The movement was largely based in cities of the south undergirded by a vision
of the “New South” (Examples are Montgomery, AL, Birmingham, AL, Albany, GA,
Jackson, MS, Atlanta, GA)
2. Young Adult and Youth Leadership
– Many of the key visionaries and leaders of the Civil Rights movement were youth and young adults as the time of their emergence as leaders.
(Examples are Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, Andrew Young, Dianna Nash, Wyatt T.
Walker, James Lawson, and Stokely Carmichael)
3. Women
– Woman played key roles in leadership, administration, organization, education
and fund-raising over the course of the movement (Examples are Fannie Lou
Hamer, Rosa Parks, Jo Ann Robinson, Septima Clark, Ella Baker, Diane Nash,
Amelia Boynton)
4. Smaller Churches –
Smaller churches played prominent roles throughout the movement. (Examples are Dexter Avenue, Brown Chapel,
Sixteenth Street, Bethel Baptist Church)
5. Interfaith/Interdenominational Engagement – The movement was marked by
interfaith/interdenominational (ecumenical) engagement throughout, with significant
Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim involvement, along with persons from numerous
other faith traditions.
6. Interracial Involvement
- Although rooted in the Black community/church, there was significant
involvement and engagement across races.
For instance, Stanley Levison was a key advisor to Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Rev. Robert Graetz participated in
protests marches, and Viola Liuzzo, James Reeb, Andrew Godman, and Michael
Schwerner were murdered while participating in the movement.
7.
Collaboration
– There
was a general insistence and practice of collaboration across organizations
such as the NAACP, SCLC, CORE, SNCC .
V. Ten Ways to Build the Beloved Community
C.
Anthony Hunt
A
universal human striving is for authentic community. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was among those
who framed the conception of community in what he termed the Beloved Community. King asserted that “all life is
interrelated.” This interrelatedness was
rooted, for King, in the fundamental belief in the kinship of all persons. He believed that all life is part of a single
process; all persons are sisters and brothers, and that we all have a place in
the Beloved Community. Because all of us are interrelated, one
cannot harm another without harming oneself.
King
also said “everyone could be great because everyone could serve.” In these uncertain times, churches and our
broader society must make a sincere commitment to engaging in acts of
compassion and justice as means of living out our faith and loving our
neighbors. Individuals, churches,
groups, organizations, institutions and even governments can continue to pursue
Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved
Community by making a sincere commitment to community-building and social
engagement.
Here
are ten ways that individuals, churches, and other organizations can promote
peace with justice.
1. Support
and develop community-wide plans aimed at expanding economic opportunities for
racial-ethnic persons and women specifically in the areas of housing, banking, and
employment practices.
2. Actively participate in programs that reach out to help
those in the most need – the hungry, the racial-ethnic persons and women specifically in the areas of housing, banking, and
employment practices.
homeless, and the unemployed.
3. Do your part to assure that every inner city and rural young person can look forward to an
adequate education. Adopt an inner-city or rural school. Offer your skills where appropriate.
4. Encourage schools, colleges, and universities in your area to include the teachings of Dr. King
and other freedom fighters in their curricula and programs.
5. Take specific actions to deal with the problems of drugs, alcohol dependency, teenage
pregnancy, and family violence in your community.
6. Advocate for the removal of all weapons from our streets, homes, and schools. Support causes
that promote freedom, justice, and peace abroad.
7. Help extend human rights, dignity, health, and economic well-being to all persons.
8. Actively oppose groups that promote hatred and violence. Vigilantly oppose racism,
homophobia, xenophobia, and other forms of hatred in our communities.
9. Sponsor and participate in programs that encourage interracial, intercultural, and inter-religious
goodwill and unity.
10. Read the Social Principles of your denomination and strive to make them an integral part of
your life and the life of your church and community.
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
TEN PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPIING
THE BELOVED COMMUNITY
* IMPERATIVE
* INSPIRATION
*INTROPECTION
* IMAGINATION
* INTENTIONALITY
*INVITATION
* INNOVATION
* INTERACTION
* INTERPRETATION
* INTEGRATION
(These 10 Principles are developed
and explicated in Blessed are the
Peacemakers: A Theological Analysis of the Thought of Howard Thurman and Martin
Luther King, Jr., by C. Anthony Hunt, Wyndham Hall Press, 2005.)
©C. ANTHONY HUNT, PH.D., BEL AIR, MD, 2001
VII. 25 Traits of The Beloved Community
“Power without love is
reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power
at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its
best is power correcting everything that stands against love.” Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King’s beloved
community exhibits agape love, which, as the love of God operating in the
human heart, seeks to “preserve and create community.” Christ’s mature
followers love each other as well as those who persecute or do evil against
them. Christians confront hate with love because agape love derives its essence
from the cross of Christ, which brings redemptive power. This love does not
accept injustice or evil as acceptable. Rather, it loves by way of justice,
which ensures equity in access, participation, and flourishing for everyone.
Some Christians might
view the beloved community as a euphemism for the Kin-dom of God. In
this way, people interpret the beloved community as something that is
achieved in the future, but Dr. King’s words were for the present age, both
national and global. For him, the human community meeting the basic needs of
every person becomes beloved. Comprehensive healthcare, safe streets,
affordable housing, nutritious food, strong schools, access to jobs, and
meaningful employment are necessary for the beloved community. God
prompts us to remake our hostility-filled communities into those where justice
and love reign true. This also applies to the the Church. What would the United
Methodist Church look like, feel like, and be like if the beloved community
became real for us? What would your local church be like?
The beloved
community manifests and protects agape love as its guiding principle and is
expressed in the following ways:
1. Offers radial hospitality to everyone; an inclusive family
rather than exclusive club;
2. Recognizes and honors the image of God in every human being;
3. Exhibits personal authenticity, true respect, and validation of
others;
4. Recognition and affirmation, not eradication, of differences;
5. Listens emotionally (i.e., with the heart) – fosters empathy and
compassion for others;
6. Tolerates ambiguity – realizes that sometimes a clear-cut answer
is not readily available;
7. Builds increasing levels of trust and works to avoid fear of
difference and others;
8. Acknowledges limitations, lack of knowledge, or understanding –
and seeks to learn;
9. Acknowledges conflict or pain in order to work on difficult
issues;
10. Speaks truth in love, always considering ways to be
compassionate with one another;
11. Avoids physical aggression and verbal abuse;
12. Resolves conflicts peacefully, without violence, recognizing
that peacefully doesn’t always mean comfortably for everybody;
13. Releases resentment and bitterness through self-purification
(i.e., avoidance of internal violence through spiritual, physical, and
psychological care);
14. Focuses energy on removing evil forces (unjust systems), not
destroying persons;
15. Unyielding persistence and unwavering commitment to justice;
16. Achieves friendship and understanding through negotiation,
compromise, or consensus – considering each circumstance to discern which will
be most helpful;
17. Righteously opposes and takes direct action against poverty,
hunger, and homelessness;
18. Advocates thoroughgoing, extensive neighborhood revitalization
without displacement (this also applies to the Church – working toward
responsible and equitable growth, discipleship, and worship);
19. Blends faith and action to generate a commitment to defeating
injustice (not forgetting that injustice can also be found within the
Church);
20. Encourages and embraces artistic expressions of faith from
diverse perspectives;
21. Fosters dynamic and active spirituality – recognizes that we
serve a dynamic God who is not left behind by a changing world or people, and
that a passive approach will not work;
22. Gathers together regularly for table fellowship, and meets the
needs of everyone in the community;
23. Relies on scripture reading, prayer, and corporate worship for
inner strength;
24. Promotes human rights and works to create a non-racist society;
25. Shares power and acknowledges the inescapable network of
mutuality among the human family.
This resource is
written by Dr. Arthuree Wright
VIII. Social Justice Reading List
The
New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander
Rules
for Radicals – Saul Alinsky
Dirty
Hands: Christian Ethics in a Morally Ambiguous World -
Garth Baker-Fletcher
God
of the Rahtid – Robert Beckford
The
Cost of Discipleship – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Manchild
in a Promised Land – Claude Brown
Katie’s
Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the of the Black Community -
Katie Cannon
Between
the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
God
of the Oppressed – James Cone
A
Black Theology of Liberation – James Cone
The
Cross and the Lynching Tree – James Cone
Freedom
is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine and the Foundations of a Movement
Angela
Davis
The
Souls of Black Folk – W.E.B Dubois
Come
Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster - Michael
Eric Dyson
The
Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America Michael Eric Dyson
Ferguson
and Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community -
Leah Gunning Francis
Pedagogy
of the Oppressed – Paulo Freire
Hope
and History: Why We Must Share the Story of the Movement - Vincent Harding
The
Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus’
Teachings and How they have been Corrupted – Obery Hendricks
Blessed
are the Peacemakers: A Theological Analysis of the Thought of Howard
Thurman and Martin Luther
King, Jr. – C. Anthony Hunt
My
Hope is Built: Essays, Sermons and Prayers on Religion and Race
C.
Anthony Hunt
Doing
Justice: Congregations and Community Organizing - Dennis
Jacobson
Race,
Religion and Resilience in the Neoliberal Age – Cedric
Johnson
Is
God a White Racist? – William R. Jones
Justice
in an Unjust World – Karen Lebacqz
Racism
and the Christian Understanding of Man – George Kelsey
Why
We Can’t Wait – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Where
do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? – Martin Luther King,
Jr.
The
Autobiography of Malcolm X – Malcom X
Where
have all the Prophets Gone?: Redeeming Prophetic Preaching in America
Marvin
McMickle
Pulpit
and Politics: Separation of Church and State in the Black Church
Marvin
McMickle
Jesus
Weeps: Global Encounters on Our Doorstep – Harold Recinos
A
Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering - Emilie
Townes
Jesus
and the Disinherited – Howard Thurman
The
Luminous Darkness: A Personal Interpretation of the Anatomy of Segregation and the Ground of Hope – Howard Thurman
America’s
Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America
Jim
Wallis
Prophecy
Deliverance – Cornel West
Race
Matters – Cornel West
Bonhoeffer’s
Back Jesus: Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance
Reggie
Williams
No
Difference in the Fare: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Problem of Racism
Josiah U. Young
[i]
Kenneth Smith and Ira Zepp, Jr., Search
for the Beloved Community (Valley
Forge, PA: Judson
Press), see pp. 129-156.
[ii] Martin Luther
King, Jr., “Loving Your Enemies,” Strength
to Love (New York: York: Harper, 1963), pp. 41-50.
[iii] Martin Luther King, Jr., “Suffering and Faith”
in The Christian Century (Chicago,
IL: Christian Century, July 13, 1966).
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