Dear Members and Friends of BFCC,
On May 10th, we spoke of the fatal shooting of black man, Ahmaud Arbery in our virtual service. On May 23rd, Reverend Doctor Stephany Rose Spaulding, person of color, pastor, professor and public servant, spoke (during our virtual service) of the courage and resilience of the black and brown community in Colorado Springs before and during the Covid-19 Pandemic. More African Americans are dying from coronavirus in the United States than whites or other ethnic groups.
Again, this week another black person has been murdered. His name is George Floyd. The president of Iliff School of Theology (where I am working towards my D.Min.) says that this murder and in the face of racism, clouds “the vision for change, disguised the chance for seeing racism for what it is, an inability Inand/or unwillingness to admit to acts of sustained and continued violence against black and brown communities, and other communities of color, a lack of self-reflection, compassion, and accountability.”
In my opinion, as a Christian community we gather to know God in relationship with the others, unfold God’s Kin-dom by fighting for human dignity and equality because it is biblical and it is theological. We are not here to judge the matter, but to believe that when those communities that are crying out, we must listen. In faith, in humility, in love.
On this Sunday, May 31, we will take a few moments to remember that George Floyd’s life matters. Black Lives Matter. I wanted to pass along a link that was helpful for me a few years ago: https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf. The link is Whte Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh. You can also google her youtube- it’s quite good. She says, “I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group.” This work is a journey and creating change and unfolding God’s Kin-dom is our call, on earth as it is in heaven.
My prayer is that communities like ours take this issue seriously, read, educate and try to understand and that love reigns over those suffering in the midst of this tragedy. If you need to talk, pray, cry or strategize please do not hesitate to reach out.
Peace & Grace my friends,
Marta
P.S. There are two peaceful rallies today, downtown. One at 3pm and one at 4pm. Details are posted on our Facebook page.
Here are additional resources, an article, podcast, song and kids book list:
Book List for kids: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/coretta-scott-king-book-award-winners
Podcast: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html
Article:https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/americas-racial-contract-showing/611389/
Song: The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdNXoqNuLRQ Here’s a link to an article that talks more about the piece…
https://emorycreates.wordpress.com/2018/06/27/joel-thompson-10c-13m-musician/