Posts tagged Michael Brown
Walking in Missouri • Caminando en Missouri

....

I am still quite a ways from completely processing all that happened during our time in St. Louis and all that it might mean. The question I have for myself is what I will do with this new knowledge I have gained. How can I translate this experience into something that has benefit to my children? To my church and my community? To my country? I am not sure how to answer those questions yet.

..

Todavía estoy muy lejos de procesar completamente todo lo que sucedió durante nuestro tiempo en St. Louis y todo lo que podría significar. La pregunta que tengo para mí es lo que voy a hacer con este nuevo conocimiento que he adquirido. ¿Cómo puedo traducir esta experiencia en algo que beneficie a mis hijos? ¿A mi iglesia y a mi comunidad? ¿A mi país? No estoy segura de cómo responder a esas preguntas todavía.

....

Read More
Ferguson Taught Me • Ferguson me Enseñó

....

From August 6-12, 2015, BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz sent a delegation of 10 to St. Louis in response to a national call put forth by Ferguson Action for participation in #UnitedWeFight, a week of training, education, and direct action during the anniversary of Michael Brown’s murder in August 2014.

..

Del 6 al 12 de agosto de 2015, BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz envió una delegación de 10 a St. Louis en respuesta a una llamada nacional presentada por Ferguson Action para participar en #UnitedWeFight, una semana de entrenamiento, educación y acción directa durante el aniversario del asesinato de Michael Brown en agosto de 2014.

....

Read More
Challenging White Supremacy • Desafiando la Supremacía Blanca

....

I remember being in the living room of the Amen House in St. Louis on August 7 when I heard about 19-year-old Christian Taylor’s murder in Texas. We had come together to resist the systems that enabled these kind of injustices, but became re-traumatized by another report of a young Black man’s death at the hands of an agent of the state. Our wounds are raw. I find myself in a constant state of pain each time I hear of another black person killed by police or white vigilantes; it is scary to realize I am living in a country that doesn’t value black lives.

..

Me recuerdo estando en el salón de la casa Amen en St. Louis el 7 de agosto, cuando me enteré del asesinato en Texas de  Christian Taylor, de 19 años de edad. Había llegado a San Luis tan sólo dos días antes y ya había asistido a varios entrenamientos de acción directa y no violencia. Nos habíamos reunido para resistir los sistemas que perimitieron este tipo de injusticias, pero volvimos a traumarnos por otro informe acerca la muerte de un joven hombre negro a manos de un agente del estado.

....

Read More
The Holiest Experience • La Experiencia más Sagrada

....

When people ask about my experience in Ferguson, I tell them it was the holiest experience of my life, and it was. I felt like I was putting feet on my faith, doing what Jesus has long commanded us to do. To fight with and for the oppressed. What I have carried with me every day since are the people that I met in St. Louis and Ferguson.

..

Cuando la gente pregunta acerca de mi experiencia en Ferguson, les digo que fue la experiencia más sagrada de mi vida, y fue así. Sentí que estaba poniendo pies en mi fe, haciendo lo que Jesús nos ha mandado hacer. Luchar con y para los oprimidos. Lo que he llevado conmigo todos los días desde entonces son las personas que conocí en St. Louis y Ferguson.

....

Read More
Dispatches from Ferguson: A Two-Part Account of a Week in St. Louis

Nathan Watts, a BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz board member, works in Tucson, AZ, as a program organizer with BorderLinks, a nonprofit that specializes in education, immigration justice and social ethics. Nathan was in St. Louis to support Fellowship of Reconciliation representatives (Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou and Gretchen Honnold) who are organizing and training participant protestors in nonviolent civil disobedience.

Read More
A Meditation for Advent 2014

“I’m in no mood for Advent, “ I thought, glimpsing the purple banner emblazoned with the candle of hope. From Freetown to Ferguson, mothers are weeping over the bloody bodies of their children. From Ayotzinapa to New York City, fathers are crying out over the murder of their daughters and their sons. Children sob for their parents. Parents wail for their children. Widows and orphans are being created day by day by bloody day. How can we speak now of hope, peace, love, and joy? And yet...

Read More
When Justice and Peace Kiss

The incidents in Ferguson and New York have not only highlighted longstanding racial tensions, but have also laid bare the disparities facing black citizens throughout our country. While these cases raise questions about the prevalence of racial profiling and police misconduct, they also reach far beyond that, stressing ongoing issues of economic inequality, housing discrimination and unequal access to adequate education. And it rises from the deep fear and despair that clings to walls of inner-city tenements, and reeks from the tar paper shacks that still dot the Old South.

Read More