10 Jul 2017
by Visible Unity, Inc.
in Activist, America, Churches, Community Organizing, Diversity, Equity & Social Justice, Faith Communities, Hospitality, Minorities, Missions, Social Justice, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized, Working and Preparing, Workshops
Tags: Church, church leaders, cross-cultural, discipling, discrimination, diversity, harmony, Hospitality, Interconnected, missions, peace, Protest, racism, spiritual formation, unity, unjust killings
This past weekend Visible Unity, Inc. declared a ‘Weekend for Peace.’
Friday evening was ‘Prayers for Peace’ where we met at the Southwest Dallas Police Substation and engaged in prayer, singing and talking. Seeking to be fortified as we begin or continue in the work of bringing peace into our spheres of influence.
Saturday afternoon we gathered at the Meadows Conference Center for the I/Eye Perspective. We watched film clips from the movie, ‘I Am Not Your Negro’ and a clip of the self-introduction of ‘Tim Wise.’ We watched these clips with our eyes (Eye Perspective) and then had excellent discussion about race from each of our own personal perspectives (I).
Sunday morning (the most segregated hour) was the Integrated Hour of Worship, where a diverse group attended services at First United Methodist Church in downtown Dallas, Dr. Andy Stoker pastor.
We are in a war. Yes, a war is going on in our country. And with all wars people tend to forget that the enemy is also human and has family and friends who love them and who has hopes and dreams for the future. People also tend to focus on destroying the other. There is no desire to try and come together and talk things over. Hate is the focus, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to kill. Lastly, people tend to believe all the propaganda about the other side. That they are not human, good or worthy. They are a bane to society and so on. This provides the ammunition needed to keep the war going. It helps people to believe they are doing the right thing, the good and necessary thing.
In his sermon, Dr. Stoker remarked that we have a tendency to turn practice into truth. I would add that in the history of the US, there has been a practice of devaluing people of color and this practice has turned into a truth. A truth that has to be dismantled. A truth that is founded upon ignorance and mainly, fear. James Baldwin, when talking about the nature of the rage between Black and White, said that, ‘The root of the black man’s hatred is rage. Blacks don’t hate whites. It’s more rage; they just want them out of their way and more importantly, out of their children’s way. The root of the white man’s hatred is terror. A bottomless, unnameless terror which focuses on this dread figure and entity which lives only in his mind.’
The way past this terror and this unfounded truth is through relationships, relationships across cultures and divides, relationships across gender and economic divides, relationships across faiths. Visible Unity can help you with this. Contact us and join us in peace-building and relationship building.
05 Jul 2017
by Visible Unity, Inc.
in America, Churches, Community Organizing, Diversity, Equity & Social Justice, Faith Communities, Hospitality, Minorities, Missions, Social Justice, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized, Working and Preparing
Tags: Church, church leaders, cross-cultural, discipling, discrimination, diversity, harmony, Hospitality, Interconnected, peace, racism, spiritual formation, unity
For believers, independence should not be the goal. The definition of independent is ‘free from outside control; not depending on another’s authority or on another for livelihood or subsistence.’ No, we should strive for co-dependency; a word often used in psychological analysis around addiction. However, for true followers of Christ, it is appropriate. We depend upon the Triune God for our subsistence and our addiction is to Them alone. We also depend upon our fellow sojourners for support, accountability and to be brothers and sisters in the struggle together. We are not intended to be in this journey alone and to do ministry by ourselves. The entire body of believers are to work together regardless of race, age, gender, faith and any other things we use to divide ourselves and keep us from collectively working together for the kingdom.
I encourage you today, having just celebrated America’s Independence Day, to break from the individualism of the US and seek unity amongst as many diverse people that are in your midst. Seek out those different from you in your community and strive to build relationships; relationships of peace and unity. We have gotten off track. Let us move back towards the model of the Trinity; distinct yet equal, separate yet unified. If you need help getting started, give me a call or shoot me an email.
Blessings
Pam
01 Apr 2017
by Visible Unity, Inc.
in Activist, America, Churches, Community Organizing, Diversity, Equity & Social Justice, Faith Communities, Minorities, Missions, Social Justice, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized, Working and Preparing
Tags: church leaders, cross-cultural, discrimination, diversity, harmony, Hospitality, Interconnected, missions, peace, Protest, racism, spiritual formation, unity
I was reading a book by Daria Roithmayr, Reproducing Racism: How Everyday Choices Lock In White Advantage, and she equates the way white people have systematically oppressed people of color as a cartel. Whites engaged in “cartel conduct” utilize “economic coercion, violence and harassment” to give whites an advantage. In posing suggestions for a political and legal fix, she uses the example of the government saying Microsoft was a monopoly and needed to be split up so that fair competition can occur. “Restoring competition in the operating systems market required significant and dramatic legal intervention, in order to eliminate the barrier to entry created by increasing returns.” I would add that fair competition leads to greater diversity and creativity and benefits everyone. When we don’t diversify, we don’t expand our thinking, actions or products; whether those products are tangible or intangible. Roithmayr also recognizes that there needs to be work done in our social networks and interactions as well as more integration in a variety of ways.
My final thoughts about her work is something I will try to incorporate in the work I do. She resets racial discrimination as anticompetitive and antidiscrimination as antitrust.
Anticompetitive – emphasis on the economic costs and historical benefits of racial discrimination
Antitrust – emphasis on the unfairness of white advantage
Let’s all do what we can in the areas we are in to level the field. Blessings
Pam
12 Feb 2017
by Visible Unity, Inc.
in Activist, America, Churches, Community Organizing, Diversity, Equity & Social Justice, Faith Communities, Minorities, Missions, Social Justice, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized, Working and Preparing
Tags: Church, church leaders, cross-cultural, discrimination, diversity, harmony, Hospitality, Interconnected, missions, peace, Protest, racism, unity
Benjamin Franklin said that ‘Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.’ This could apply not only to justice but also discrimination, racial targeting, and oppression. This past year and moving through the next four years, we will be seeing more and more unaffected people become outraged. For America, this is a bad time not only for all Americans but also for the world. However, we cannot afford to allow this time of grief, pain and sorrow to be in vain. We must take advantage during these times to regroup, re-gather and remobilize so that we can usher in healing, relationship building, renewed and comprehensive strategizing, and reenergized and informed mobilization. There are many groups, some already formed and some forming, already working in one or more of these areas.
Now is the time to get involved. Do something to truly make America great and to help make the world great. This is only possible with collective effort. Make sure your organization is talking with, partnering with and/or collaborating with other organizations. This is not a time for territorial/kingdom building fighting. Let’s all come together. If you are a philanthropist, give money to those organizations who are not working in silos, who realize ‘it takes a village’ or in this instance several communities.
God bless and see you in the trenches.
Pam
08 Jan 2017
by Visible Unity, Inc.
in Activist, America, Churches, Community Organizing, Diversity, Equity & Social Justice, Faith Communities, Minorities, Missions, Social Justice, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized, Working and Preparing
Tags: Church, church leaders, cross-cultural, discipling, discrimination, diversity, harmony, Interconnected, missions, peace, Protest, racism, spiritual formation, unity, unjust killings
As we prepare to brace for impact and then move forward in the next several years, I pray we can begin to develop a more concerted movement. A concerted movement as opposed to individual groups and organizations doing a variety of things is preferable and will have more impact. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the adjective “concerted” as meaning “arranged by mutual agreement; agreed upon, pre-arranged; planned, contrived; done in concert.” Let’s meet, talk, plan and then do.
- As suggestions, I believe we need at least:
- An Active front
- A Peaceful Protest front
- A Political front
- A Relationship Building front
- An Education front
No one front is more valuable or necessary than the other but collectively will yield a truly transformed society not merely just outward changes. A truly transformed society will benefit everyone and our country will thrive and grow.
If you’re not involved in any of these fronts, I suggest you:
- Figure out what fits best with your personality, skills and status
- Know it will be challenging no matter which one you choose
- Get off the sidelines, quit just praying and do the work you feel called to perform
Figure out what fits – Pray about it. Also, you will want to consult with those who know you personally and professionally. They can help you assess personality, skills and especially status. We often undervalue our status in relation to our ability to influence others and connect with others.
Know it will be challenging – We are not just talking about making things better, we are talking about transformation. Transformation is a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance. The processes for this to occur will necessarily be challenging and depending upon your previous experiences, the challenges will increase or decrease. You will want to surround yourself with a support system that will be encouraging, sympathetic, affirming and relentless in not allowing you to quit.
Get off the sidelines – Too many people (in particular religious people) hide behind their religious veil rather than being and doing. I am not saying that we don’t need people to be in prayer. We need more people earnestly praying now more than ever. However, your prayer needs to be coupled with work. Faith in action or as the title of a book suggests – Faith is a Verb[1] – is required. Pray about where you fit, who you fit with (which organization) and then start the work.
Visible Unity, Inc. (the organization I started) does relationship building and just a little bit of education. Contact me if this is where you fit. If you just want direction, support or anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am trying to connect with other organizations in the Dallas area working on a variety of these fronts. I am already connected with several but any names of organizations, groups or churches you know of would be great.
Blessings
Pam
[1]Stokes, Kenneth, 1989
09 Nov 2016
by Visible Unity, Inc.
in America, Churches, Diversity, Equity & Social Justice, Faith Communities, Hospitality, Minorities, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized, Working and Preparing, Workshops
Tags: Church, church leaders, cross-cultural, discrimination, diversity, harmony, Interconnected, peace, Protest, racism, spiritual formation, unity, unjust killings
I could spout out all kinds of words, scriptures, etc. today but I choose instead to quote from an older, white, Christian man who offers two suggestions on how we move forward.
“Where must we start as Christians and faithful churches after such a devastating election that brings the most dangerous man to the White House that we have seen in our lifetimes?
First, we must reach out in solidarity and protection to those who feel and are most vulnerable — undocumented immigrants, young black and brown Americans, and Muslims.
Second, we must make very public and very clear: Honest and prophetic truth-telling about race in America will be needed as never before in our time — especially from white Christians, who must call for the replacement of white identity politics with faith identity politics. Whiteness is an idol that has separated white Christians from God. Nothing less than biblical repentance from the white identity politics that dominated this election, and even most white churches, is now required from all of us white people in America who call ourselves Christian.
Solidarity must be very practical: Churches may need to open themselves up as sanctuaries taking in the undocumented immigrants whom Donald Trump has pledged to deport. Massive civil disobedience may be called for. And if the federal government and its agencies will not protect young people of color from the violence of racial profiling, religious communities, denominational leaders, local pastors, and congregations will have to. Meetings that insist on dialogue and accountability with local sheriffs and law enforcement officials will be necessary. And Christians in particular will have to defend and protect the religious liberty of Muslims in America.
All this will be risky and costly. Thus, it will be important that our first call is to go deeper into our faith, to find the courage to act, stand alongside our brothers and sisters under attack, and to confront the “principalities and powers.” Perhaps the most encouraging calls to me since the election results last night have come from young people of all ethnicities — many of whom I know well and have mentored. Several have independently said, “I just wanted you to know that I AM IN for whatever this will require of us.””
(Jim Wallis is president of Sojourners. His book, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, is available now. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.)
For his full article and a very quick and good read, click here.
If you’re not sure how to do this, contact me. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, contact me. If you’re not sure you understand all the issues, contact me. If you just want to complain and say you feel bad but don’t want to do anything, then don’t contact me. I’ll pray for you.
Lord God, please bless all of the people in America.
Pam
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