Dream for Sale?

[revtj]

Greetings from Atlanta where we are preparing for Coretta Scott King's memorial service. My friend TJ from Chicago has come down to attend with Jesse Jackson's team. Early today we found out 'W' the president will speak at the service on Tuesday.

Essentially what we are concerned about is that those who will speak up for LGBT human rights are being pushed aside and won't be heard from at Tuesday's mammoth service at Greater Macedonia New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Between Bishop Eddie Long's rhetoric & 'W's dopey doublespeak, we are not sure this service will even reflect the dream of Coretta or MLK.

To put it as one African American liberal pastor from NYC put it, "Berneice King is stroking the...very same people who killed her daddy."

Maybe it sounds tough and bitter, but, we're asking, is the dream is for sale? Because it's clear 'W' and the Bishop are more than ready to pay the bills.

[revtj]

The plot thickens. Berneice said on local tv this morning that she may preach the service herself. Wonder what's going on behind the scenes?

Which leads to a biblical/theological question...if you take the Bible literally about homosexuality, as she and New Birth viscously do, then why not take it literally about a woman keeping silent in church?

Anyway, tonite's service at Ebenezer is apparently the one that will include the people who were a part of the movement (Andy Young, Joeseph Lowery, Jesse Jackson, etc.) so this is the only one I'm going to attend.

The thought of 'W' explaining the civil rights movement to me is nauseating.:eek:

[keltic63]

a friend of mine dates an African American who has been active in civil rights for many years. she tells me that he is tired. she tells me that he is saying things like "this is worse than back in the '70s" and in our discussions, I feel overwhelmed thinking "if it's getting worse for blacks, there is little hope for the LGBT community." From what you've described, revtj, it's very much what this friend is telling me. Some have indeed sold out.

[Zerbie]

Keltic, I would be interested to hear from your friend's SO as to what the differences are between now and the 70s. How is it worse?

My husband sometimes says that the American society is less open now - more ideologically, socially conservative than it was in the 70s. His favorite example is the TV show All in the Family - he swears up and down that show would never see airtime if it were produced now. Judging by the reactions to End of the Sword, Brokeback, Book of Daniel, I wonder if he's right? Are we going backward, socially?

TJ: It would be sad if the memorial service does not reflect the spirit of Coretta Scott King. Hardly does she leave us, but the spin and the doublespeak comes to cover her up. But WE are still living, and remember that the dream lives in everyone with a loving heart and a willingness to learn, grow, and uplift those around us.

[keltic63]

zerbie,

I know that this man was on the job market. He is educated, sophisticated, even-tempered. He is a lawyer. He was hired a few weeks ago, and within a week, he had been bumped to 2 other positions, each time at a lower salary. He was able to discover from a friend who helped him get the position that a) it was because of his race, and b) others in similar positions are paid more money. This is a government agency.

affirmative action programs are being eliminated. Even here where I work, there are over 400 teachers in this district, with only a handful being ethnically diverse.

it's also interesting that we feel like we're becoming more conservative, but our collective behaviors don't match that. I find it hard to believe that only gay men are going to see Brokeback, it just wouldn't be that successful if that were true. I watched Will & Grace last week; Will had a good long kiss with another guy. I didn't hear any noise from the conservatives about that. why? It almost seems like the religious right wants to be critical of some things, while enjoying the same things but in a different context. For example, they don't want lgbt people to marry, but they don't mind watching tv shows with gay characters. (albeit, stereotypical characters, I guess that makes us "safe".)

Keltic, I would be interested to hear from your friend's SO as to what the differences are between now and the 70s. How is it worse?

My husband sometimes says that the American society is less open now - more ideologically, socially conservative than it was in the 70s. His favorite example is the TV show All in the Family - he swears up and down that show would never see airtime if it were produced now. Judging by the reactions to End of the Sword, Brokeback, Book of Daniel, I wonder if he's right? Are we going backward, socially?

TJ: It would be sad if the memorial service does not reflect the spirit of Coretta Scott King. Hardly does she leave us, but the spin and the doublespeak comes to cover her up. But WE are still living, and remember that the dream lives in everyone with a loving heart and a willingness to learn, grow, and uplift those around us.

[revtj]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Zerbie. Ya'll spoke to my heart what I needed to hear.

I have been thinking today what it must have been like to be Coretta.

Her father's businsess were burned down 3 times when she was a child by white racists in Alabama.

Her own house was bombed twice with the children in it.

Thier phone rang continuously with hateful, violent threats & insults.

Her brother-in-law, A.D., was found drowned in the midst of the movement and it was ruled a suicide.

Her husband was shot to death by a man she never believed was a lone killer and she even met with him before he died to forgive him and listen to his story. She took the notes out of her husbad's suit jacket and led the march for garbage strikers in Memphis the next day, putting off his funeral to do the holy work of liberation.

Not one (white) public officical dared or wanted to attend her husband's funeral. Despite fear of more violence, his Atlanta funeral was public, his cortege being carried on a twin-mule cart down Auburn Avenue to Ebenezer church. He died, arguably, the most hated man in America.

Her Mother-in-law was shot in church by a deranged assassin while playing the organ (at Ebenezer) in Atlanta.

She watched the King Center she built brick by brick, under sharp criticism from within and without, slowly slide into financial peril...

How could one human person endure such injustice and grief and still raise 4 decent children, continue the work of her husband, speak out (dangerously) in favor of LGBT and all human rights, and still be the picture of grace and dignity?

How? I have asked myself that all day today as the rain pours down.

The only answer I know comes in a deep, still voice that tells me the Spirit of the Liberating God is how; giving herself to God is the only way it could have turned out like it did.

We all need that Spirit for the days ahead.

[DoofSFNYC]

for the days, weeks, months, years, decades ahead. I guess Corretta knew that... I guess she and her husband both took to heart Ghandi's call for "RELENTLESS nonviolent resistance". Relentless is certainly not a word I apply to myself that much! Isn't that Chrysler's slogan, the relentless pursuit of perfection? It makes me think of a giant corporation, or some monstrous machine, much sooner than Ghandi or even the Kings. But we have to be like that, in some way, and not turn into unfeeling machines ourselves. The only way I've been able to do it is through the community of my local group... and hopefully the community of hte bulletin boards. that's the only answer i have. when i get dispirited, i rely on others to get me back up, and i hope they rely on me the same way.

[revtj]

A final post on the experience of last nights' service at Ebenezer Church...

The service started at 7 and ended after midnite. whew!

What was beautiful was that every speaker knew Coretta personally, intimately and most had been a part of the movement, some had been jailed many times; all understood that it was about human rights and nonviolence.

Speakers included Al Sharpton, Andrew Young, Juanita Abernathy, Xernona Clayton, C.T. Vivian, Jesse Jackson and John Lewis, and many others.

I will share only a bit from Congressman Lewis' remarks. I admire him and find his testimony overwhelming because he still bears scars on his body from being beaten nearly to death during the early days of marching against segregation.

He said the message of Corretta's life for us today in this nation as it is regressing into its worst is this: GET IN THE WAY.

Amen.

[SolInvictus]

Hey TJ,
just your read your recent post in this topic. Amen indeed - Get in the way - I love it!

[revtj]

I taped the service from Tuesday and watched it yesterday. 'W' did not make an idiot out of himself.

One of the speakers commented "No one but Coretta could bring this diverse mix of people together in one place." Amen.

Praise God for Rev. Joseph Lowery who broke the polite spell and condemned the war in Iraq & the lies that led to it, the poverty Katrina showed us all, and the racism it betrayed as still very much alive in America. 'W' sat there with his best poker face.

Berneice's eulogy was a very strange theological mix of allegory, numerology, homeopathy, and dominionism. She insisted that christians were meant to rule over the Earth. She also said the Lord had visited Bentley-driving, self-appointed Bishop, Eddie Long in a dream and had told him that Moses was dead and that he was to lead the people to the promised land. Yeah. Right.

I believe that the ones who are alive now, whose bodys and souls bare the scars of marching against segregation will politely reject the Bishop's offer. In the meantime, I pray that the hearts and minds of Long's followers and many other christians will be changed on the subject of LGBT human rights. I pray that we will have the courage to speak truth to power to help this come to pass.