In January, 2006, I returned to Lake Geneva,Wisconsin from my former hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. After waging a 19 year battle, we the citizens of Greenville County celebrated our first, official Greenville County Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as decreed by
President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
President Reagan, a Republican and the Congress of the United States made it a reality that our country take a day each year to remember where we came from and where we are going as we honor the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I spent 5 years in Greenville, the "Buckle of the Bible Belt" not only building life long relationships but learning to build coalitions between political and civil rights groups as well as bringing diverse groups of people together. I am blessed to have learned from and worked with many unsung heroes as well as known icons of the civil rights movement through the anti-hate movement Not In Our Town.
I was astound in 2002 when Greenville County Councilwomen Lottie Gibson and Xanthene Norris contacted me. These two brilliant ladies inquired if my anti-hate grass roots organization, the Not In our Town Project Greenville,
http://pbs.org/niot would lend its support to establish a paid holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King in Greenville County.
I couldn't imagine what they were talking about. In fact, my exact words to Councilwoman Norris were "What do you mean we (Greenville County) don't have a King holiday?". How could we not have one?
What had we been doing to advance the practice of true American citizenship for the past 40 or 50 years? ! ! !
Why wasn't the so-called "Christian Right" championing this cause? Greenville, the hometown of Bob Jones University, a visible institution of Christian education. Where were they? How could they not support a holiday to honor a man who promoted non-violence for all people in the name of Jesus.
I didn't understand how two of the primary opponents of the King holiday are directly tied to Bob Jones University: County Councilman Bob Taylor is the Dean of Math and Sciences at Bob Jones University and County Councilman Scott Case is an alumni.
Are there different definitions of what it means to be a Christian? Who's right, or rather Christian Right and if you are going to call yourself a Christian in Greenville what exactly are you saying?
Why wasn't it disturbing to more people that nearly 40 years after the March on Washington and Dr. King's famous "I Have a Dream" sermon, local politicians try still follow in the footsteps of Hoover's smear campaign against Dr. King?
Why is it that 40 years later some feel compelled to debate the need to renew the Voting Rights Act.
Some amongst us who are people of good will still feel that if people would just pick themselves up by their bootstraps, get an education and a job, the welfare roles would empty out. They don't realize the vast majority of those welfare persons are poor white single mothers. They are women who don't realize they have a voice let alone boot straps with which to pick themselves up!
I know. I was one of them once.
Our country remains "at war" and it seems that each day there are reports of our troops being killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Do we need to be there still? Were we really justified to go there in the first place? How and when do we get our troops home without leaving the Iraqi democracy to flounder into oblivian?
There are 3,200 people in New Orleans are still missing after Hurricaine Katrina. Was race an issue in getting the people out or was it economics? Is calling for the rebuilding of a "chocolate" New Orleans by its mayor even relevant today?
Why is gentrification alive and well, and still happening to the poorest of the poor all in the name of economic development and neighborhood renewal. Can any of the developers even begin to understand the day-to-day struggles of a single mother on welfare or an 85 year old grandmother on a fixed income? Does anyone get that living in one of the new homes post-gentrification is a pipe dream and that a $70,000 townhouse may as well be seventy million? Good meaning neighborhood renewal perhaps but unable to fit the needs of the present community.
Why in this, the richest nation on the earth, are so many of my patients, particularily elderly and working poor, handing me back their medication prescriptions saying "Nurse, I can't get these. I have to eat." and all I can offer in response is a prayer.
Through caring more closely for His children, we move closer to God. Isn't that what Christian discipleship calls us to do?
What does Jewish tradition or Law compel you to do?
What does a Buddhist see as his obligation to the community? Who does a Buddhist consider his community to be?
Wherever you fall on the continuium of faith, how do you view your obligation, if any, to the people of this world?
Establishing this blog, Reconciliation Central, is my first foray into the blogging world. It is intended to be a safe place where we can celebrate our commonalities and explore our differences in a respectful way as we build relationships.
It is my prayer that it becomes a place of support for its visitors where a diverse group of God's children meet regularly to learn and teach each other, talk about social justice issues, our hopes, dreams, fears, warts and beauty marks.
Reconciliation Central is open to all persons regardless of their race, faith, culture, gender, sexual orientation, political party, socioeconomic status or educational level. I would encourage people from outside the United States to post in order that a world view may be represented and not just that of US citizens.
It is my belief that even through an electronic faceless media such as the Internet, our willingness to explore our selves and each other naturally leads to the building of relationships. That is one of the hidden blessings: the humanization of each other as we discover we all have mothers, concerns for our children, hopes for our futures, warts and beauty marks too.
A wise South Carolinian preacher man, who remains my mentor, friend and brother in Christ, taught me that it is through the building of personal relationships that racism, sexism, and all the other "ism's" will be overcome and reconciliation begins. That is my dream.
My prayer is that we can start here.
Welcome to Reconciliation Central.
Sandi
