In June of this year there was a great deal of reflection going on the United States to mark the 50th anniversary of what has been called Mississippi Freedom Summer. http://freedom50.org/ The film Mississippi Burning was shown on some stations. It is a pretty good film loosely based on the disappearance of young civil rights activists in 1964, killed by police and extremists opposed to racial integration.
How unsettling that last week we saw unrest and confrontations in the town of Ferguson, population 21,000, in the state of Missouri rather than Mississippi. A young black man named Michael Brown was shot repeatedly by a policeman and killed. Witnesses insist Brown was unarmed and non-confrontational, with his hands in the air pleading "don't shoot."
People are angry that it took so long for the name of the police officer to be released and that a huge tactical police presence moved into the community. Demonstrators were dispersed using teargas, while journalists were intimidated, had equipment confiscated, and were even thrown into jail without charges. So much for freedom of the press. There have also been photo comparisons between activists in 1964 with demonstrators in 2014 in Ferguson and they are chilling.
How does this happen in 21st century America? The issues around race appear to be raising their ugly heads once again.
We have been hearing how leaders of faith communities in Ferguson are responding to this terrible turn of events. One local pastor, Renita Lamkin, (below) was shot with a rubber bullet as she called for calm and invoked the name of Jesus. Her injury sure looked ugly, but she has been determined to carry on.
Brown's parents have asked for peaceful protest, insisting that their son would not have wanted violence. Let's pray that Ferguson Missouri does not burn and that there can be both resolution and reconciliation. In the past couple of days the calm Pastor Lamkin sought seems to be restored.
Comments?
No comments:
Post a Comment