No “African American Community”

Under these circumstances, there should be no such thing as the “African American community.” We are supposed to be one nation, under God. And America is in dire need of Americans to wake up, pray, and act.

I’ll be honest, I don’t buy any of the “good old days” nonsense people try to sell me about America’s past. America’s past has some pretty deplorable things: the Tuskegee experiments. Japanese internment. Jim Crow. Slavery. The massive wipe out of hundreds of Native American peoples.

Donald Trump.

We were no more a light on a hill than anywhere else that there were people starting a country loosely based on some religious principles. Our forefathers failed at that. And we continue to fail today.

But what does make America amazing is that constant striving to *actually be* the Shining City on a Hill. We don’t always agree on what that looks like, but we know that part of getting there requires caring about one another. It requires us to play our part… And not condemn any part of our whole as worthless.

We all matter, and when someone is falling behind or being kept down, we fight hard against the powers that be and force them to hear, to care, and to change. We all matter, so it’s not a burden to say that black lives matter and that brown lives matter.

In our country, we’ve been great in the moments where we’ve struggled and prayed and worked hard to wake up those who’ve forgotten. Wake up those who’ve ignored it. Wake up those who’ve been taught differently. Wake up those who’ve been blinded by fear, or hate, or centuries of privilege.

But it all starts with empathy.

Are you your black brother’s keeper? Do you care about the black woman who was shot in her home? Do you feel your heart pull when you hear about the black father and church choir singer who was brutally murdered? Does it pain you that a black 12 year old can be gunned down playing in the park? Do you care when a black man is shot in his car in front of his family?

We are America. If we don’t care, then the American community doesn’t care. If we don’t care, then the great American experiment is failing. If we don’t care, then our hearts aren’t operating in love. And that’s how we’re called to operate.

Faith. Hope. Love. I have faith that we are in this together. I have hope that this country is bound for better days. Because love always wins. God always wins. Prayer always wins. Christ in us always wins.

And so, we must go on. One nation, under God. One people, united by love.

My stream of consciousness ends.

#lovewins #Christwins  #blacklivesmatter

Presidents, The Pope, and Jesse McCartney

The great Jesse McCartney once sang:

“Now, I don’t speak Spanish, Japanese or French
But the way that body’s talkin’ definitely makes sense…”

When I heard this song, I was horrified. Not only because I couldn’t believe that Jesse McCartney had yet another radio hit, but because he was making a philosophical-ish statement about how humans operate. Though Jesse doesn’t speak the same language as the particular “Universal Lady” of which he “sings” (autotune anyone?), her body is telling him what she wants. He may not understand what she’s saying, but her body is “breaking it down articulately.” Apparently, it’s clear she wants this:

Oh Yeah…

 

Well, Jesse may have been on to something. Just look at these pictures of Presidents with the Pope:

 

Body language difference…? Oh yeah.

President Putin met the Pope in November. President Obama met El Papa last week. If you believe, as Jesse and these authors do, that body language tells us something meaningful about relationships and context, then these contrasting pictures just won’t stop talking. (Obviously these pictures were chosen by the authors to prove a point, but I still think there’s something there.)

Maybe I should give up writing about international organizations, and write my dissertation about predicting state actions by the body language of leaders?

 

 

Dear Enrique & Mariah… This is Aitzaz, a Real Hero

A 15 year old Pakistani boy is a hero, in the best and worst story I’ve heard in a while.

In 2001 Enrique Iglesias crooned, “I can be your hero!”  The ladies swooned.

In 1993 Mariah belted, “So when you feel like hope is gone/Look inside you and be strong/And you’ll finally see the truth/That a hero lies in you.” We applauded her vocal chops, learned the words and then sang them in junior high talent shows… twice.

These two have won awards and commended for their music, their love lives, their everything.

But today, in 2014, Aitzaz Hasan was on his way to school with friends when they saw a man with a suicide vest on. This young man was clearly extraordinary, because he stepped up and confronted the bomber, who then detonated the vest.

Aitzaz Hasan

He saved the lives of all of his schoolmates. He saved the lives of his friends. But on every major news outlet this story is buried under a story about political games on a New Jersey bridge. Depressing, amirite?

So today, if only for a couple of minutes, let’s remember Aitzaz. Today, he’s more important than Maria or Enrique’s heroes. Today, he’s more important that Chris Christie and New Jersey’s problems.

Today is for Aitzaz.

Abandoning future Mandelas?

Mandela’s death should serve as a reminder of the political fight in the US in the 80s. South African blacks needed our help, and Reagan (despite support for action from both sides) did not act. In fact, his administration (and Thatcher’s Britain) denied any wrong-doing on the part of the Apartheid government, though almost every nation on earth (save the UK) was divesting in South Africa.

The Reagan/Thatcher strategy of ‘constructive engagement’ was called “abomination, an unmitigated disaster…” and “equally immoral, evil, and totally un-Christian.”

While the Reagan, Thatcher and other world leaders stood by, Mandela suffered in prison. Nelson Mandela was a survivor of the human rights atrocities of apartheid South Africa. The lung condition that progressively weakened him, and claimed his life today, began when he was in jail on Robin Island.

Remember, there are nations TODAY where lacking human rights are the norm. Which future leaders are we condemning to death by our ignorance and inaction? What can we do today to secure the lives of future peace-brokers, innovators and leaders?

I pray that you will rest in peace President Nelson Mandela. And I pray that your story will be a guide for us, and we can help even greater leaders to emerge.