Faith in Action

Tuesday I watched youtube videos of Dr. Jeremiah Wright’s presentation at the National Press Club kicking off the Legislative Days of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Pastor’s Conference. After watching them and Wright’s presentation live on CNN Sunday night at the Detroit NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet, I must say that he did a fantastic job of carefully explaining the particulars of Black Liberation Theology and the prophetic tradition in America. I especially appreciated his NAACP presentation Sunday night where he spoke masterfully about differences being just that - differences, not deficiencies. For the past few days, White America has been exposed to a fabric of Black Religious Life that it rarely, if ever, sees. As Dr. Wright said, the Black Church is much like Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man - mainstream culture is trained not to see it and when glimpses of it appear, the conclusion is that it is something backward, loud, and uncouth.

While I’m sure that White America brought its own biases to Wright’s presentation (mainly because of corporate-controlled fascist media’s mission to control and shape the thoughts of the masses), those who came with an open mind saw a different (not deficient) line of thought, life, and belief that all too often flows in the undercurrent of mainstream America.

While I agree with others who have expressed appreciation of Wright’s words, it’s interesting to see how, White America aside, some African Americans are expressing radically different sentiments about the Reverend’s presentation.

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This past Sunday during one of the sermons I preached I talked about how sometimes even trouble has a way of ushering in an unexpected blessing. While many times it’s hard to see, acknowledge, or fully appreciate during the height of the storm; as the winds die down the presence of some small glimmer of hope and goodness after such a downpour provides a morsel of meaning that helps in a very small way to help survivors see the possibility of a better day.

Since the miscarriage of justice which was the Sean Bell verdict, I have been searching for some silver lining somewhere that might point to Divine Activity even if on the periphery of the pain. As Dr. Raymond Winbush points out, we’ve seen this movie before…many times over! Something is needed to give fuel to our faith that a brighter day is coming…even after dark days like this.

Then I found it. Though only 4:52 seconds long, it encouraged my soul to see it. A sign and symbol that the spirit of unity was being reborn like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I share this small sliver of hope with you as well as a testament that we will make it!