Hello Family 💜,
There is death in OUR camps.
Hemorrhaging in OUR communities.
Division in our nation. Pain in our pursuit of happiness, justice and liberation
The death in question is both spiritual and physical. While we rally in the streets for lives lost, sermons fall on deaf ears in the pews. Civic engagement is encouraged while the state of our nation continues to discourage voters.
Gen Z. We are seen as the “lost” generation. One that is all bark no bite. One that fights with our fingers instead of our fist and minds. The streets in OUR communities are filled with blood from bullet-hole wounds created by police who were sworn to protect us – making communal unity imperative.
May our anger not distract us from the memory of our ancestors. May our grief not distract us from the work we must do. May we not forget about the life in OUR camps while we wrestle with the weight of the death in OUR camps.
We ARE NOT a lost generation. We ARE a generation relentlessly finding new ways to give sound to our pain in pursuit of communal triumph.
WE ARE Gen Z -
xo AP
I remember Summer 2020 like it was yesterday. I don’t look upon that part of my past fondly. I’d argue that many people in Generation Z (1997 – 2012) found their radical voices during the pandemic. People were in the streets protesting. Many of my friends were marching up and down the streets of downtown Atlanta, GA. Others, like me, who weren’t allowed to leave the house per our parent’s instruction found ways to amplify the #BlackLivesMatter movement from home. We hopped on Instagram Lives, Zoom prayer calls, and discussed courses of action we’d take once returning to our college campus’ with our peers over the phone. We posted black screens on social media. We reached out to local representatives, challenging them to use their political power to promote legislation that could evoke positive change for POC, People of Color. We decided that silence was not the answer. We collectively found ways to amplify our voices.
The ‘Critical Memory’ of #BlackLivesMatter is one that can’t afford to be lost. A major part of communal unity is critical memory. “Say her name! Say his name! Say their names!” are statements we, as Black/African Americans, rush into the streets chanting following a tragic loss of another Black life. We memorialize the Black Lives lost through hashtags, nonviolent protests, and think pieces that we hope would erect revival –a desire for political action, communal activism, and nation-wide change. Leaders of all kinds show up in these revival-like spaces. Activist Justin Jones, elected official of the Tennessee House of Representatives for District 52, fights for equality and an end to racism in state-wide political spaces. Neighborhood hero Jeneisha C. Harris, activist and community organizer, developed ‘F.B.P.’, Free Breakfast Program, which continues the work of the Black Panther Party in Nashville by feeding school children in need. Liturgist Cole Arthur Riley, African American author of ‘Black Liturgies’, fights for justice by creating spiritual safe spaces for communal grief through her writing and oral presentations about the impact of racial injustice on the Black community.
Black leaders are not just born, instead they are formed by their experiences transforming their pain into passion while fiercely seeking to restore humanity to our communal gaze.
Activism and advocacy is not solely the work of the world; yet, it is the work of the church as well. Jesus, son of God and Savior of the world, is the same Jesus that flipped tables when people were buying and selling in a temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 21).
“He said to them, ‘It is written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer”;
but you are making it a den of robbers.’”
(Matthew 21:13 NRSV)
I do not intend to take this scripture out of content. So, I encourage you to read the chapter. I bring this verse to the forefront to highlight Jesus’ righteous indignation and pursuit for justice in this ecclesial space. Jesus also advocated for justice for a woman caught in adultery by responding to the pharisees and the scribes who wanted to stone her…
“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ 11 She said, ‘No one, sir.’And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’”
(John 8:7-11 NRSV)
I’d argue that righteous indignation is not solely intended for injustice that occurs in the church. I’d argue that righteous indignation should also arise when there is injustice anywhere. We limit God, putting The Divine into a box when we believe that God’s compassion ends where sin begins. Someone’s faith or the lack thereof shouldn’t constitute mistreatment. As a Christian, I am responsible to love people radically. I am responsible for using the ‘power of life and death in my tongue’ (Proverbs 18:21) to be loud about things that are impacting Black people, and others, who are and are not saved. Injustice is injustice. May we remember, in our pursuit of a “happy life”, that the people of God are discouraged from being complacent. Rather, the audacious courage of our predecessors and faith-filled family members have led us to a place where we can embody the power of God in a way that is capable of liberating generations to come.
You are not lost. There is hope. Be encouraged.
With love and hope,
Miss Ponder
***This message is memory of #SonyaMassey, #BreonnaTaylor, #SandraBland, #GeorgeFloyd, #PhilandoCastile, #TyreNichols and the countless other Black women and men who have died by way of police brutality. We will not forget you.***
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Citation
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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