Blog Post 3

Reverend Cleage and the Black Church

The article that discussed the conversation with Ida B. Wells and Reverend Albert B. Cleage Jr. proved especially interesting. He began the article by claiming that it was a fact that Jesus Christ was a Black Messiah who is determined to liberate his people from the white gentiles. Reverend Cleage’s radical ideas have a lot to do with the involvement of the Church. He has the belief that the Church has to relate the true Christian message to a Black Revolution. He believes that the black seminarian has have a sense of urgency to make the black church more effective. While Church has to become more effective, there are still groups within society that can become more involved as well, specifically, the youth. The idea of the Black Messiah greatly impacts the youth. The current black youth are rejecting the church and by rejecting the church, they are rejecting one of the only things that black people had control over. Control is important when wanting to impose a movement. The Church and the movement had to have a symbiotic relationship in order to maintain a level of control over the movement. Black people were struggling to escape from powerlessness and that is what the revolution is about. The Church was a way in which they could escape powerlessness through control.

          The article concludes with the discussion of how the Black church should be a training ground for the struggle and its liberation. There needs to be a reformation of the entire Christian faith, but is that actually a possibility? Blacks are still struggling to escape from powerlessness. There is a negative tone as to the possibility of Blacks escaping the struggle because all institutions in America are said to be racist by Reverend Cleage. He discusses the possibility of there never being a solution to the black struggle because we are only as free as we are powerful. There is a type of substitution or interchange with freedom and power. The youth must continue to be invested in the Church in order for the black community to maintain control over some aspect of the liberation movement. This article proved to be particularly interesting because it connected the Church with the liberation movement in a way that I have never seen. By presenting the idea that the Christian faith was a formulation by the white race and is in need of reformation. He makes valid points with his arguments of the black messiah; however, his conclusion or lack thereof is hard to swallow. Movements continue because of hope and it seems that Reverend Cleage had given up hope as far as the black community gaining power or control. 

Blog Post 2

Tami Sawyer The Present Vote

            

             During the discussion with Tami Sawyer on voter suppression, many aspects of the approaching election were discussed. She specifically spoke about the different ways in which the black vote was being silenced in the current elections. One aspect of voter registration that was discussed was the recent purge of registered voters. Many people were going to the poles to find out that they were not registered to vote. Recently, the government has been purging the system of certain people. For example, if you had not voted in a recent election, then you were not registered now. Another aspect of voter eligibility that was discussed was criminal eligibility.

            There was a case in which a criminal asked if he could vote before he was sentenced. This trail brought up questions regarding voting rights for those going and returning from prison. In the past, many have thought that those who were convicted felons forfeited their rights to participate in societal activities, such as voting, by committing felonies. Ms. Sawyer then spoke about the importance of educating the public about voter’s rights. Education on voter’s rights gives insight on legislation and the processes as how to change legislation. Education also allows to for society to understand the processes of the election. A lot of the election is statistics being shot up on a screen with red and blue flashing everywhere. Terms like “turn-out rate” and “battle ground states” are thrown around and people are expected to know what they mean. As the discussion progressed, the topic steered towards battle ground states and their importance in the election.

She explained battle ground states as those where the votes are perennially close during early voting. During this election, battle ground states were especially important, more so than in the past. There were more states where the outcome was uncertain due to a number of factors. For one, the candidates past drama and fame affected these states. The most notable was Texas. Texas is said to be going through a transitional period because it is majority minority. It is states like Texas that have caused the outcome of the election to become more questionable. This talk centered a lot around the lack of knowledge about the current election. Many people were unaware of the effect of statistics in the election. The truth is, those statistics cannot be explained without education, which is deprived of the black community because of imprisonment and lack of resources. 

            Interesting Article

            After the results of the election, both the nation and Rhodes College have been sent into shock waves. While questions of foreign relations, economy, and birth rights have been thoroughly discussed. However, another question is minority security. After many racially insensitive comments were given by the now President elect, there has been an abundant amount of fear instilled in the minority community of the United States. After being completely bombarded with Facebook posts expressing different political opinions, I was tagged in an article that peaked my interest. The title of the article was “White, Conservative, Christian Friends—I Wish You Really Were Pro-Life”. This article goes on to have a conversation that has been a large question in this year’s elections. Pro-choice and Pro-life discussions are some that inherently won Donald Trump the election.

            “From where I’m standing it seems as though ‘Life,’ for you, comprises a very narrow demographic—one that bears a striking resemblance to you.” The article brought up an interesting idea that those who were pro-Life were those that were pro-White life. The article does not only bring into question the racial minority, but also the sex minority, religious, minority, and other parts of society that are oppressed or placed into a stereotype based on a characteristic of a circumstance in their lives. After speaking about the systematic racism that the United States perpetuates. There is no question that the world is full of stereotypes and the implementation of those stereotypes. The problem is not rooted in the choice of our new president, but it is a testament to the foundation that this country stands upon. Just like the master narrative, the truth—the good, the bad, and the ugly—have been formulated in such a way as to minimize the negative impact on an image. This article uncovers an issue that is deep rooted in this society, the issue of control and change. When a different element of society is introduced, we tend to take it with a grain of salt. Our killer instinct and desire for hierarchy drives us to immediately place new and unknown situations at the bottom of the totem pole. This tends to be the historical trend as new races, religions, and sexualities become prominent in the world. This class asks the question how can we liberate modern society, and this article brings up an important question. If society is unable to positively cope with change, then it will continue to live in this state of oppression and inequality. We must take the steps that we have made as far as racial discrimination—even though it has been slow progressing—and apply it to other areas of discrimination as well.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-pavlovitz/white-conservative-christian-friends--i-wish-you-really-were-pro-life_b_12475464.html