Leroy, what is the #NFLkneeldown?

NFL Kneeldown has been a series of peaceful actions, where supporters gather outside of football stadiums to kneel during the national anthem.

NFL Kneeldown was my attempt, as a football fan, to voice my solidarity with the message that Colin Kaepernick was communicating: the lives of black people and people of color are not honored fully in this country. This has been evidenced most recently by police shootings, mass incarceration, underemployment, immigrant deportations, and a pipeline—that was rejected by white communities, because of its environmental dangers—that was allowed to be built on native lands.

Can you share more about what precipitated your #NFLkneeldown action?

Last year, Kaepernick took a stand for black lives when he knelt during the national anthem being played at NFL games. His purpose was to heighten awareness that many black Americans are not getting the full benefits that the flag of the United States represents. Others joined him, bringing more attention to the message. There was no NFL rule requiring players to stand for the national anthem and Kaepernick, who was peacefully protesting, broke no rules.

But his action also elicited the voices of those who were adamantly opposed to the protest Colin began. He was labeled as “anti-American,” “disruptive,” and “dishonoring to Veterans.” Unfortunately, these narratives are skirting the real issue of black lives in this country.

When the season ended Colin had the choice to exercise an option on his contract or opt out. He chose to opt out to test the free agent market. He was not signed to a team for the 2017 season. Those who disagree with Colin claim that he’s responsible for the fact that he is not playing this year, although his General Manager is on record saying he would have been cut anyway. Those of us who support Colin believe that he’s been blackballed from the league.

Some folks say it’s not political. That his career is over for other reasons. What do you think?

When Colin didn’t get signed, some fans, like me, began to voice our displeasure. The excuses we heard included: “He’s not good enough to be signed,” “He is a distraction,” and “He is a rule breaker.” All of these excluded the possibility that not being signed could have been related to race or Colin’s protest.

But these arguments began to lose steam as we watched players signed who hadn’t played for years, as well as players who weren’t as talented as Kaepernick, such as Ryan Fitzpatrick. We began to hear football analysts state unequivocally that Colin deserved to be signed. We began to see players like Miami’s Jay Cutler, with a history of not being a team player and being a distraction in the locker room, being signed.

Who is #NFLkneeldown for?

NFL Kneeldown has been an appeal to deeply committed football fans, asking them to consider what the league we support is doing to a player for exercising his right to protest peacefully. If we didn’t get football fans, we knew it wouldn’t work. We needed people, like myself, who follow the signings from high school, watch the draft, await the schedule, attend many games a year, pay for tickets, and spend money on merchandise all year long.

That’s who is kneeling, and that’s what’s making the difference.

We need everyone involved, but football fans are key. We also knew we needed to appeal to women who now make up half the NFL fans. Any campaign that only appeals to men would be shortsighted.

How and when did you launch #NFLkneeldown?

I told my story, and it connected. Over 3 million people have seen it, 50,000 folks have shared it, and over 25,000 people have engaged with comments. The response tells me we’ve hit a nerve with America.

For diehard football fans, football doesn’t begin when the season starts. So we launched at the beginning of July. To date we’ve done four official #NFLkneeldown actions: One in Canton, OH for the Hall of Fame game, one in Dallas, one in Seattle, and, most recently, one in Detroit. Each one has looked different. We’ve been booed, cursed, and moved along by the police.

We’re not alone. There have been other actions in New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Tampa, as well as other boycott campaigns that we celebrate.

And who’s coming out for these actions?

Folks from all walks of life have come: families, pastors, old, young and everyone in between. It has truly been a collective effort.

What critiques have people lodged, and what do you say to those?

Some of the greatest criticism has come from those who say we are dishonoring veterans and the United States. This is false.

I’m upset by how many Americans disregard our right to freedom of speech that this protests represents. Our nation began with a protest: throwing tea into a harbor! What makes our nation distinct is that we can disagree with power without the fear of facing penalty or death.

The problem is that our vision is skewed when it comes to people of color exercising these rights. This has been a problem for us, historically, and it draws us back to why we’re kneeling in the first place: to show that all people are not treated equally.

You’ve been devoted to the NFL for a lifetime! What has this “fast” from football done for you?

For decades, millions of children have wanted, one day, to be a part of the NFL in some way. It captures our imaginations and links our dreams to its bigger-than-life storyline. I admit, I’ve bought hook, line, and sinker. Today, though, the league that poor kids dream of, as a way out, has begun to exploit them in ways we must question.

This year, as I’ve stepped back, I’ve begun to question what they’ve sold me and so many others. The NFL is proving to be something different than what my dreams had led me to believe. It is foremost a business where wealthy white men play and live out their dreams. It’s become a place that the government has now used to push its message of nationalism, demanding we all get in line. The clear message is that if you don’t get in line and behave yourself, your patriotism is questioned. In my opinion, this is diabolical.

I’ve also seen how questions about the league’s understanding of, and knowledge of, brain injuries have gone unanswered and been swept under the rug.

Countless women who have been abused at the hands of players have been ignored.

Stepping back has given me space to ask a lot of questions. This week, ESPN has suspended a black female journalist for offering her personal opinion on Twitter. This isn’t unrelated to the 15.1 billion-dollar contract ESPN has with the NFL. POTUS and the Vice President are calling for and staging walkouts.

I’ve seen it all so much differently as I’ve boycotted.

What has been most encouraging to you in this action?

The solidarity with all kinds of people from all walks of life. The picture I got from a 97 year-old white veteran kneeling was profound. Or take the story of the woman, a sports agent, whose dad is dying. NFL football is a way she and her father connected throughout her entire life. Because of what’s happening with black lives, and although this could be the last season she can watch with her dad, she is boycotting.

What has been the most discouraging part of this for you?

I am getting my share of hate mail and threats. I am saddened to see that I’m hated because I want to stand up for equity, support a man who lost his job because of this, and protest peacefully. I am trying to figure out how—according to one critic—that makes me a “nigger worth hanging.” I’ve been reminded how racism and supremacy are so deeply imbedded in our nation’s consciousness because when I resist, when I go against the flow, I am identified as “a nigger.” That’s the term black folks got when we arrived. And when we stand up, those old implications are evoked again.

There’s now been a call to boycott games in response to players protesting during the national anthem—and even a walkout, during a recent Colts game, by Vice President Pence. Does this change anything?

We are winning. No one thought a football player kneeling would do all of this, but it has.

So what’s next for this movement?

The call will be for us to use the time we spend with friends and family to have better conversations. The hours we once spent together around NFL games—in homes, bars, and at stadium tailgates—can be used differently.

I’m encouraging people to have deeper conversations with the people they’re with. And we hope to debut #kneeldownconversations very soon.

What would you recognize as a “win,” as a result of this action? 

We want to see more and more conversations emerge about the condition of communities of color. We want these conversations to impact public policy that affects these communities. And, of course, we want to see Kaepernick signed.

Many of us have been searching for a meaningful response over the last several months, when so many vulnerable people in our nation—and around the world—have felt threatened. Admittedly, news about the executive order barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries for ninety days and suspending the admission of refugees for 120 days has been dizzying. Federal courts have blocked the order and the Trump administration has appealed, even as the President threatens another order.

What will happen today, tomorrow, or next week in Washington DC feels up for grabs. But what can happen in neighborhoods like yours and mine gives me hope.

I read an email, on my Durham, North Carolina, neighborhood listserve, about a woman who was working with nearby universities to coordinate summer student housing, in local homes, for students from Muslim-majority countries. She was soliciting hosts who would offer summer lodging to students impacted by the order—those who’d been planning to go home but weren’t able or had been advised not to.

I shared this local opportunity on Facebook, asking people to message me privately for details that included her contact information. The response was amazing.

One grad student wanted to host a fellow student.

A Haitian immigrant friend–a single mom–wanted to open her home.

An evangelical campus minister from Duke University was eager to participate in welcoming students.

A number of families from my politically-diverse Presbyterian church wanted to open their homes to affected students.

Those were just some of the local responses. Others wanted to know how to respond in their own areas: Alabama, California, Colorado. A friend on the coast called nearby Eastern Carolina University to see what her family could do. One in Michigan called her local university to learn how to register as a potential host.

The powerlessness so many have felt in the wake of the November election and January inauguration suddenly gave way to fresh possibility.

And hope.

Realizing so many open-hearted people wanted to respond by loving students, I created a simple national directory to offer hosts an on-ramp to opportunities in their areas. (Now pausing to wait for the legality of the ban to get sorted out before populating it further.)

It’s hard to know what will happen next. Ideally, by the end of the semester, every international student who wants to return home to hug their grannies and play ball with nieces and nephews, will have the freedom and confidence they can do so, without risking their education. Should students not feel that freedom, though, I am more than confident that open-hearted Americans will welcome them into our homes.

Because, even in these desperate days, I see beautiful hope among Americans eager to love their neighbors.

Not a day passes that I don’t notice the subtle benefits afforded to me simply by virtue of being born white.

It’s why I don’t need a strategy to be treated with respect when I shop at the mall. I don’t have to think about dressing well or making my first purchase from the nicest store—Nordstrom’s, Neiman’s, Saks—so that I’ll be taken seriously as a customer. In fact, if I walk in wearing cut-off jeans and combat boots, I still expect and receive respect.

It’s why people who look like me never end up in neighborhood watch newsletters, labelled as “suspicious” or “potentially dangerous” so others can BOLO (Be on the Lookout). In fact, I could creep down any driveway in town and folks would naturally assume I was harmless.

It’s why I don’t have to worry that a police officer will place his hand on his gun when he pulls me over for a traffic stop. And it’s why, if he did, I’d assume he was just polishing it.

It’s why my white son and I can drink our sodas in line at the grocery store before we pay for them. And it’s why his black friends know not to.

It’s why, even after Charleston, I don’t really feel afraid when someone of a race other than my own visits my church’s Wednesday evening Bible Study.

Continue reading Margot’s full article at Christianity Today.

Why would a mother—and my friend Vanessa is one of the most thoughtful loving mothers I know—beg her son, with closely shorn hair, to not wear his hood on a morning when temperatures are below freezing? Vanessa, whose son is black, resists the maternal urge to preserve her son’s health in deference to the instinct to ensure his safety: she wants her baby home alive at the end of a cold day.

Vanessa knows what black folks in America know and white folks are discovering: that the shooting of Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown and twelve-year-old Tamir Rice aren’t isolated incidents. They’re part of a pattern in which mamas of black sons must be afraid every day that the dark skin of their sons—ones with hoodies and ones without hoodies—will make someone else feel anxious enough to shoot them, to kill them.

My friend Micky has two sons who are black. I also have two sons, one who is white and one who is Indian. Micky and I are inviting other mamas to speak about what it’s like to be raising your son in America right now at Moms Speak Truth. We’re convinced that because each one of us can only experience the world in the skin we’re in, we need desperately to hear and know the stories of other moms like us.

Here are two of them:

What’s your story?

We’re inviting moms across the country to share, in 30-90 seconds, what it’s like to be raising your boy right now. We know that some mamas, still traumatized by recent events, are feeling too raw to speak. If that’s you, we pray that God would continue to heal your heart. But if you’re willing to speak to other moms on video, or can share this opp with a mom who’d like to speak:

Email momsspeaktruth@gmail.com and we’ll send you a dropbox link where you can upload your video that we can share on YouTube, facebook and Twitter.

Questions about the assignment? Email MomsSpeakTruth@gmail.com or visit Moms Speak Truth

Running for Congress at age twenty-five, Ben Lowe seized the opportunity to meet voters waiting for their morning trains into the city.

“Hi, I’m Ben Lowe, and I’m running for Congress in this district!”

A volunteer trailed him to hand out campaign brochures and other voting information.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a middle-aged woman growled, “You women-hater. I’d vote for a monkey before I’d ever vote for you!”

Hard way to start a day.

That Ben was running as a pro-life Democrat was not popular among the largely pro-choice Democratic base. Gathering himself, Ben continued to greet commuters.

Before the morning was over, an older man in a suit brushed past Ben muttering, “Get out of here, you Democrat! You’re just another baby killer.”

Though he pressed his lips shut, the words that rushed into Ben’s mind were, “Lord. Have. Mercy.”

Amen, brother.

My friend Ben—known to no one who actually knows him as either a “hater” or a “killer”—has earned his stripes. And he’s earned the right to encourage other weary activists who are in the business of seeking the kingdom over the long haul. His new book, Doing Good Without Giving Up, does just that.

In his work as a social activist, most recently on behalf of faithful stewardship of the earth’s resources, Ben transparently shares that he can be tempted to despair. He meets many others who remind him he’s not alone. Ben writes, “As I travel across America working on issues of justice and compassion, I’m finding a lot of discouragement and disillusionment, and I’m witnessing many well-intentioned and once-passionate Christ-followers lose steam and become distracted, disengaged or in despair.”

In Doing Good, Ben is offering ways for activists to survive and thrive as we pursue God’s mission in the world.

Ben shares about a pivotal encounter with an activist mentor friend with whom he’d lost touch. When they reconnected “Alex, ” working for an investment firm in Chicago, confided in Ben that he felt as though he’d “sold out” to a life of comfort and disengagement. In his tender telling, it’s clear that Ben is full of compassion for those who, for a variety of reasons, burn out and lose steam for the work of building the just kingdom Jesus came to establish.

Ben is also honest about some of the themes Eugene Cho raises in his new book, Overrated. Both acknowledge that sometimes we are a generation that likes to talk about doing justice, at times even to the exclusion of actually doing it. Ben cites Bethany Hoang, of International Justice Mission, who concurs,

While many followers of Jesus are rising up with passion against injustice, this passion risks amounting to nothing more than a fad, a firecracker that explodes with great fanfare but quickly fades out. Even if we may initially explode with conviction, the excitement quickly dies and cannot sustain meaningful action. Instead of a lifelong obedience, the attempt to look injustice in the face and the magnitude of human need can easily bring nothing more than utter paralysis and even worse, despair.

 

Doing Good is invitation to sustainability, giving readers the opportunity to notice, name and combat this vulnerability so that we might embrace what Hoang calls “a lifelong obedience.”

In these pages, Ben also addresses many of the concerns faced by evangelicals who are committed—or are contemplating becoming committed—to a life of social action:

• Is social action necessary, or can we just make better individual choices?

• Isn’t evangelism our primary mandate?

• Why work for social change when Jesus is concerned with our hearts?

The reason I trust Ben Lowe to unpack these questions with integrity is because he is equally passionate about God’s care for individuals as he is God’s care for a larger world in need.

Throughout this book, Ben invites readers to be moved by love. To release fear and embrace courage. To release a narrow understanding of the gospel and embrace a holistic one. To release rhetoric about what we’re “against” so that we might advocate more clearly for what God is for.

Before reading Doing Good Without Giving Up, I expected tips and tricks to sustain life in the wilderness. And, in fact, Ben does offer several practices meant to sustain a faithful response. But overall, he has offered a robust theological undergirding for the work we’ve been called by God to do.

As a result, I feel better prepared to do it.

Give me 38 minutes.

If you don’t have them now, block them out on your Google calendar, right now, for later this evening. Stay up past your bedtime if you have to.

I want you to spend 38 minutes listening to the stories of eight people in my community—Durham, North Carolina—as they share the most vulnerable stories of being dehumanized by those charged to serve and protect them. I know George and Jonathan, but I’ve only encountered Frank and DeCarlos, Keith and Reginald, John and Robin through the stories they share here.

Well, I say I don’t know them. But our paths probably have crossed in town—at Burger King or in a tasty barbecue restaurant. I might have passed Frank in a crowd or smiled and thanked Reginald or John for doing their jobs.

But I probably didn’t light up the way I would if I saw the Mayor at my grocery store or recognized a player from the Durham Bulls baseball team on the street. Until I watched this video, I hadn’t realized how important each of these people are.

And that’s a problem.

In fact, it’s the problem.

So here I am asking you to spend 38 minutes you don’t think you have to spare because I’m convinced these guides can help you see people in your community who work two jobs, dodge potholes, visit their grandmothers and pamper their wives who love barbecue.

Why am I doing this? Because seeing DeCarlos and John and Robert has not only helped me see what I’m missing in my town. It’s also helped me begin to see what’s happening in Ferguson, MO. Not what’s on the news, but what’s on folks’ minds—what’s weighing on their souls—when they hear the news that one more black man has been gunned down by law enforcement.

The problem, I’m beginning to realize, is that I’m blind to a reality that some people can’t get away from.

Which is why it was worth 38 minutes of my time to watch this video.

Stories of Racial Profiling in Durham from SCSJ on Vimeo.

I recently met Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy at the Pittsburgh airport. She’s the Interim Director of Church Relations at Bread for the World and she believes Christians can end hunger. Which intrigued me…

Krisanne, a lot of us have heard that there’s enough food to feed the planet. Still so many go hungry. What’s up with that? Give us a quick Hunger 101.

You know, Margot, that’s a great question. It’s puzzling: How it is that, according to FAO studies, the world produces enough food to provide at least 2, 720 calories per person per day, yet there are still hundreds of millions of people going hungry? Unfortunately, a variety of economic issues and infrastructural roadblocks can stand in the way of a person’s ability to produce, purchase or access food despite how hard they work. In other words, it’s not so much a problem of production as distribution. Here in the United States, we know that one of the leading causes of hunger is a lack of secure jobs that pay fair wages.  Think about it: When you factor in housing expenses, child care costs, medical assistance, etc., minimum wage can’t always cover all your expenses.

Internationally, things are a bit more complex. In the global south countries, hunger is often a result of limited access to nutritious foods due to poor agriculture practices or lack of resources. Climate change also plays a role. The International Panel on Climate Change just released a report that puts it bluntly: Climate change hurts the poor the most often. At Bread, we’re concerned about maintaining the United States’ commitment to emergency and development assistance because the U.S. has a leadership role to play in the international community, and we want to see our country do its part to help those around the world struggling with hunger and poverty.

How is Bread for the World changing things?

Bread has been around for 40 years as a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger and poverty at home and abroad.  We focus on the root problems of hunger and push lawmakers to address those root causes. Bread for the World’s Christian character brings a moral voice to the national debate by equipping Christians of all stripes to use their voice and steward their influence for the common good.

Government has an important role to play in society. And Bread operates on the principle that our federal government has a part to play in ending hunger. Many folks are concerned that the government is doing the church’s job in feeding people. Truth is charity–all charity–amounts to only about 5 percent of the food we distribute to folks in need here in the U.S. The federal government’s nutrition programs, such as school lunches, the WIC program or SNAP – formerly known as food stamps –makes up the other 95 percent. Just to put that into context, that’s $96.9 billion from the government compared to $4.1 billion of food distributed by all charities in 2011. That is a huge gap that charities wouldn’t be able to fill if Congress cuts vital programs.  But the best tool to fight hunger is job security with fare wages.

A lot of evangelical churches work really hard to stay apolitical. But when you and I spoke, you had me convinced that lobbying lawmakers didn’t have to be partisan! Say more…

First, we should clear up that, just like no one is amoral, no one is apolitical—entirely absent of politics. We all live in community and participate in group decisions actively or passively. Bread believes that hunger isn’t a political issue; it’s a moral issue.

But in dealing with Congress, you’re spot on that we’re dedicated to bipartisanship. Since we advocate on particular issues, if we want to be effective and see good policies enacted, it is absolutely critical that we work with everyone, regardless of political affiliation; work with both sides of the aisle, if you will. Sometimes advocating for particular issues can “appear” partisan, but I think that’s a signal that we have a thin understanding of Christian political philosophy. We can’t allow political parties to define how we engage in the public arena—Scripture should guide our thinking. If we make political issues essentially partisan, then we’ve lost the battle to create a sensitive, nuanced political perspective, which is something that evangelical Christians are hungry for.  Concerned Christian citizens can advocate.  Christians can rise above partisanship to care for God’s people.

Hunger affects everyone regardless of race, gender or political affiliation. Both sides of the aisle have contributed to ending hunger. President Johnson, after declaring the War on Poverty in 1964, helped launch Medicare, Medicaid and Head Start. Those programs have helped to reduce hunger for decades. President Nixon helped establish the WIC nutrition program.  In 2017, we’ll have a new president of the United States.  Hopefully that new president will consider making ending hunger a national priority.

Um, that leap from Nixon to the nation’s next President felt big. And conspicuous non-mention. Intentional?

No President since Lyndon B. Johnson has made ending hunger and poverty a national priority.

Helpful. Thanks. So what is the most effective way or ways that one person can make a difference?

Direct service is important to meet immediate needs.  Combine direct service with advocacy—changing unjust systems or policies—now that’s powerful.  If you are already volunteering at your local soup kitchen or food pantry, consider augmenting those efforts by contacting your members of Congress to let them know you care about ending hunger. Invite them to come with you to the soup kitchen.  Consider sending a letter about hunger and poverty that starts with your personal story of what you have seen from your volunteer work. If you’ve had some personal experience with those issues, share it! You can also call your member of Congress or write them online.

Let’s not forget, it’s essential that we bear these requests to the Lord in prayer. We know the Lord has a heart for the marginalized and for justice, so take a minute to follow the Psalmist’s example and repeat those promises back to God. That’s another form of advocacy that is likely to have an even bigger impact than anything Congress can do.

What are some of the “wins” you’ve seen? Can you tell me a story of folks “on the ground” whose lives have been changed because of hunger advocacy?

Over the past few years we’ve seen a real increased focus on poverty and hunger at the national level. The policy decisions are difficult ones, but the fact that we’re talking about these issues is a “win.” Just in February, we were encouraged by some sensible reforms in the U.S. food aid program including $80 million that gives our government more flexibility in providing food and better nutrition overseas, and that makes our help more effective.. Actually, Bread’s 2014 Offering of Letters campaign is focusing on food aid reform—so we’re hoping to build on that momentum.

My friend Tara Marks’ story of coming from extreme poverty to pursing a law degree is an example of how advocating for hungry people really makes a difference. Without these anti-hunger programs, Tara would not have had the stability to move up the ladder of prosperity.

UPDATE: Fred Phelps passed away on Wednesday, March 19 at the age of 84