September 11th: A day for PEACE. A day for COMMUNITY.
On September 11th, I was blessed to commemorate an unforgettable day in America’s history by making a radical statement in a public demonstration – I answered the call made by Women in Black to stand for PEACE on Charles Street. For the past few years, WIB has organized this peace witness by encouraging people to line up along Charles Street from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor all the way out to the 695 Beltway. The effort is an expression of our desire for a world without violence and bloodshed.
I announced in the pulpit on the previous Sunday at church that I would be standing with WIB and others committed to peace along Charles Street. I invited the entire congregation to join me.
No one did, but a few of the church members drove by and saw their pastor on the street holding a sign that said, “Blessed are the Peacemakers!” I pray that leading by example will help those congregants who are unaccustomed to nontraditional Christian witness to start living our their Faith in intentionally, public ways.
I was standing with the Sisters of Notre Dame out front of the Cathedral of Mary our Queen and of course mine was the only Brown face in the crowd. I had a great time with the Sisters and next year we pledged to come together again with my church in tow so we could stand shoulder to shoulder along our portion of Charles Street. What a sight that would be!
Partners for Peace stand in unity on 9/11
Will this type of action change the world? Probably not, but it’s a step in the direction of promoting what I believe to be a divine principle and finding common ground with those whom I don’t encounter in my regular routine of daily life.
I was communicating with a White man who is a part of a social group that in his words is “too white.” They wanted to connect more with members of the African American community and have attempted to do this primarily by meeting with people who they deem “leaders in the Black community.” I guess someone fooled them into believing that I was a leader (a term that I am uncomfortable with – I like servant much better). We met and after noticing how ignorant they are to Black Culture and the Black Community, I invited them to traffic in Black Baltimore a bit. They made some attempts that weren’t successful and now have pretty much given up on building that bridge. Their interest in connecting has now soured and turned into a disdain for a Black Community that has “no moral courage to confront its own demons.” (Well, if Black folk didn’t want to meet them before, I’m sure that after that descriptor they’ll bust down the door to sit at the feet of these White paragons of moral virtue.)
They are puzzled why I continue to insist that they enter a world – a culture – a community that they know very little about aside from the nightly news, sports, and music videos. It is because I know that finding COMMON GROUND ideologically is better served when you’re on COMMON GROUND LITERALLY! Oh it’s easy to stand across the street and shout proclamations of partnership hoping that someone will come to you, but what if you crossed the street, left your agenda behind, and purposed to establish real relationships with those who are largely invisible in your daily life?
That’s why I’m thankful for the 2 hours I spent with elderly white women on a Thursday evening. We had a great time talking with one another, learning about each other, and as we gathered, high school students from the Friends School came to commune with us with their larger than life “peace puppet.” It was a beautiful glimpse of the Beloved Community – people who tore down the social dividers, got on common ground around a shared concern and in the process saw God in the eyes of another.
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In the photograph and just to the left of Reverend Brown, is that Sarah Palin holding up the caricature and helping out with community organization?
This is awesome what is depicted here and to represents the kind of dynamism that is needed to turn this nation around. Someone once wrote that: a thousand mile journey begins with one step. America assisted in helping to bring down the Berlin Wall, and slowly but surely America’s version of the Berlin Wall is coming down more and more each and everyday with efforts like this!