To provide context – here’s is the link to article that precipitated my response:
Mayor Woodfin,
Many black churches have survived and served our communities despite the obstacles that have been hurled at us. We continue to preach, teach, make disciples, and demonstrate God’s grace in practical ways. We don’t have trumpets blaring. We don’t do media blitzes. We don’t often wear matching t-shirts. We don’t have elaborate programs and huge budgets… but, what we do have is a history that teaches us that when we share our ‘little’, it can become ‘more than enough.’ We have subsisted on scraps that we turn artfully into soul-food. We have endured under circumstances (evil economic policies, destructive legislation, racism and discrimination in all of its machinations, the unequal application of justice, etc.) that were created to destroy us. We are poor but indeed we are rich…
So then, it is with particular consternation that we receive your remarks and those of Chris Hodges of the Church of the Highlands. The remarks made this week reflect what we perceive to be a lack of effort in attempting to really understanding the people and the places in the 99 neighborhoods that are Birmingham that you seek to transform. Your remarks demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of the black community and a mischaracterization of the black church that relied more on stereotypes than truth and experience with real people. Your remarks also seem to reflect a gross miscalculation of resource. It appears that your assessment of resources is defined by dollars and cents rather than people and their voices – the wisdom of their experiences. The campaign promise of ‘people first’ seems to be ‘people with money first.’
While understanding the zeal of the new administration to appear strong against crime and violence in the most vulnerable communities that we serve, we would suggest that our Mayor realize that our communities did not get this way accidentally. Economic segregation, over-criminalization of black people, white-flight, real-estate red-lining, failing schools – we could certainly go on – these are the methodologies employed whereby black communities and black families have been systematically crippled and destroyed. The myth of black-on-black crime is a diversion. The crime in our communities is not so much an indicator of the immorality of black people, inasmuch as it is a byproduct of poverty and proximity – a poverty rooted in an old system that specialized in the exploitation and commoditization of our bodies. Violent crimes, and other self-destructive behaviors, are rooted in self-hatred and perpetuated by the gross miseducation of a people. The old ways are not gone. They are subtler which makes them more dangerous. This old system, disrobed of old robes and sheets, has the vestiges of his poisonous message still pervading the halls of our governments, our schools, and our sacred spaces! Mr. Mayor, you are a problem solver. Let’s deal with the source and not simple the symptom!
Mayor Woodfin (Pastor Hodges) – we suggest that you review our history. Your present mindset seems to overlook how white communities, and yes the white church, have been complicit in creating the circumstances that the black community and the black church have been forced to deal with. Again, whether through bad legislation and public policy, apathy, ignorance, or bad theology – the same folks so moved to “save and clean-up” our communities are culpable for these conditions! The same folks so moved to ‘save and clean-up’ our communities are often found voting in ways that belie their good intentions. The superficial charity applied to our communities, though well-intended, is a salve that anesthetizes but does nothing to dislodge and eradicate the cancerous root that will eventually destroy us all. This poisonous charity does more to assuage the unnamed undefined guilt of the one who extends it, than it benefits its recipients. It is the proverbial bandage over a gaping bullet wound! Beyond this, the combined clumsiness and arrogance of these efforts make it even harder for the long established black churches in these areas to make progress.
We are laboring faithfully with limited resources – most of us do not have the money that these large white churches have. We have the passion, the understanding, and the access – but we cannot compete with the shiny beads and free-stuff – the bribery that gives some access to our neighborhoods! Consequentially, we are left having to defend ourselves against false accusations of ignorance, ineptitude, and insensitivity to the needs of those in our own communities! We are assailed by insults rooted in stereotypes and false narratives coming from people who’ve never been to our churches and never put a dime in a collection plate. “What are you doing; what have you done, what have you given away in the community?’
Mayor Woodfin (Pastor Hodges), these heavy-handed, misguided efforts along with your careless words have turned what should have been compliment into competition. Please hear me, what is written here – is not divisive or negative. We are simply compelled to tell the truth. We are hopeful as this is necessary step in any efforts toward real progress.
Mayor Woodfin (Pastor Hodges), I’m sure you already know this. Before there can be unity, there must be a process of reconciliation. Reconciliation is impossible without truth-telling. And this truth-telling must be fueled by a genuine love for the other. So while you may perceive these words as harsh and overly critical, understand that they are spoken out of love. The tension we are now encountering can, if managed properly, become the friction that enables motion. This conflict is necessary and should be embraced as constructive. We must not turn from it in embrace of some uneasy peace that is no peace at all. This process, though slower and more deliberate than what you may have envisioned for your first one hundred days, will lead to lasting and meaningful change across our city!
Mayor Woodfin, listen to your electorate. Listen to the activists and community leaders that campaigned hard and bet on your potential to be a transformational and progressive leader. Revisit the promises you made during your campaign. It is still early and it is entirely possible that you can have an amazing impact on this city. You may well live up to the lofty standards expressed in your campaign – and for the good of the city, we certainly hope you do!
So, with sincerity, I ask you again. Mayor Woodfin, can we talk?
This letter is actually a continuation of a post that I made on social media (that text is below) at the beginning of this week. Shared publicly, as that post made its rounds, it received tremendous feedback and was shared broadly. In an attempt to elaborate on some of these thoughts and initiate some contact with the Mayor, I have tried to further distill my thoughts and encourage a constructive discourse… If it seems redundant – I apologize in advance.
Warning – long post – but please read!!
I’ve been pastoring in a poor community in Birmingham for 17 years… We are not ignorant… We DO the work of the ministry in North Avondale… We serve the children and families in Tom Brown Village… We survived when our sanctuary burned… It would’ve been easier to leave the community- but we chose to stay – we were compelled to be salt and light! We’ve ducked bullets and stretched our resources to the hilt… when we grow it strains us, because we serve people with real needs… we don’t have wealth to insulate us against human brokenness and pernicious suffering… I work every day so as not to tax the church… As long as I’ve been called – I’ve worked, served the church, and pursued religious training- largely at my own expense and that of my family! I’ve cobbled together resources depending on the grace of God and the generosity of other Christians in this city and across the country who possessed a genuine desire to walk with us… I haven’t purchased air time, blown trumpets, or hung billboards- but I am here, we are here, and we’ve been here, and we are not alone…
That is why the language used in the recent articles that flood my timeline is so hurtful… that is why it is even more painful when I hear my own folks berate our church and other churches in similar situations… to belittle our efforts… while withholding any personal investments of time, talent, or resources in our communities…
Do you know how difficult it is to get young black professionals to invest and attend the churches that big mama raised them and their parents in? Demanding so much, holding such high expectations, while offering so little… Makes sense why these other ‘High’ places are so attractive… I digress…
To all those who’ve passed judgment and leveled indictments, highlighted the failures of the ‘black’ church- take care as to how you use your broad brushes… take care… we are not ignorant and we are not a monolith…
To those who scoff at the drugs and violence that infest our communities- these are mere symptoms of a broader evil that has deep roots in far ‘nicer’ places than our run down communities… learn your history… while you rage against the symptom – you would do well to deal with the source…
I know I’m rambling now, but I beg your pardon… my cup runs over…
Assimilation is not integration… black businesses failed because of integration… our neighbors were robbed of an economy… drugs and guns filled the gap – crime is the construct of an absent economy…And now (and again) the black church is in the crosshairs of a host of well-meaning, paternalistic, Bible-quoting gentrifiers with dreams of taming the savages and healing our dark lands… oh wait, I’ve heard this story before… we know how this ends…
I’ve been watching this for years now and I guess it is come to a head – these folks know my name… we’ve chatted over sandwiches…
Mayor Woodfin – can we talk?
pastorpoet 