On December 30, 2018, over 200 hundred of our closest friends and family members gathered on the lawn of the Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida, to celebrate love. Alex’s brother, an ordained minister who grew up alongside seven brothers and sisters in the Pentecostal church, officiated our wedding that afternoon with a moving sermon that brought nearly everyone to tears. His prophetic words were: “love always wins.”
Our sacred ceremony was a reflection of the rich diversity we deeply cherish: so many different races and religions gathered together with mutual love and respect. A blend of many different religions and philosophies including Pentecostalism, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Spiritualism.
In the vision that we hold for America, sacred ceremonies and social gatherings alike can be a beautiful container for different races, religious ideologies, and beliefs to harmoniously coexist. But the reality is that these types of events still tend to be widely segregated. While our wedding speaks to a potential we believe to be possible, we recognize the stark contrast to our current reality.
We each witnessed this first hand growing up in rural, small towns – one of us in the North and the other in the South. While we grew up thousands of miles apart, the common denominator was the lack of diversity, discrimination and segregation. While our upbringings were vastly different, we were both taught to love, respect and appreciate people. We were taught that love can prevail.
In the wake of countless murders of ‘black’ people in America and exposed social injustices that are embedded in the social construct of this country, we believe each has a responsibility to amplify her or his voice – activating their spiritual gifts to battle against the social injustices that are plaguing communities across the nation. We are in apocalyptic times when the veil is being lifted and we are collectively seeing racism as a rampant disease deeply woven into the fabric of systems, structures and institutions of power that continue to be illuminated through repeated murders and abuse.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “the ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.”
In this inflection point in American history, the question we must ask ourselves is this: how can love prevail if we don’t have the courage to stand for it?
African Americans face a confluence of events and interlocking injustices – including systemic racism, systemic poverty and denial of healthcare – that were intentionally put in place to protect white privilege. In a study conducted bythe Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America revealed that black men in America are up to 3.5 times more likely than whites to be killed by law enforcement and that approximately 1 in every 1,000 black men will die at the hands of police.
African Americans make up around 13% of the general population in the United States, yet they comprise approximately 40% of the prison population. In order to fully understand the disparity, it is essential to examine various contributing factors. Black drivers are about 30% more likely than whites to be pulled over by the police. If a black person and a white person each commit a crime, the black person is more likely to be arrested. It’s also true that, once arrested, black people are convicted more often than white people. Finally, when black people are convicted, they are about 20% more likely to be sentenced to jail time, and typically see sentences 20% longer than those for whites who were convicted of similar crimes. (https://www.prisonpolicy.org/)
Not only are there racial disparities that exist in our civil justice system, but also economically.
Racial discrimination in various forms, including in education, hiring, and pay practices, exacerbates the wealth gap in our country. In 2019, the median White worker made 28 percent more than the typical Black worker. According to one study, white families hold 90% of the national wealth and black families hold 2.6%. A staggering disparity: for every $100 white families earn in income, black families earn just $57.30. (https://inequality.org/)
Structural Racism in the U.S. is the normalization and legitimization of an array of dynamics – historical, cultural, institutional and interpersonal – that routinely advantage whites while producing cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for people of color.
Angela Davis has said, “in a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.” The truth is: we’re all a part of the problem if we’re not playing an active role in dismantling the system because we all are in accord with something that is inherently flawed and unjust.
In the spiritual community, there is much emphasis placed on ‘love’ and ‘light’; however, true progress comes when we take our meditation and prayer practice and turn it into collective action. The truth is that activism is a spiritual practice. Using your voice for positive change is one of the greatest gifts that can be given, because it has the potential to impact not just our generation, but all generations to come.
It can feel overwhelming to determine where to begin individually to change systems that have been in place for hundreds of years, but in just a few weeks of protests after the murder of George Floyd we witnessed what’s possible when people lend their voices to create collective change. Within just 10 days of sustained protests, we’ve witnessed at least 10 States pass legislation. Here a just a few measures that were implemented as a result:
- Minneapolis banned the use of choke holds.
- Charges were upgraded against Officer Chauvin, and his accomplices were arrested and charged.
- Dallas adopted a “duty to intervene” rule that requires officers to stop other cops who are engaging in inappropriate uses of force.
- New Jersey’s attorney general said the state will update its use-of-force guidelines for the first time in two decades.
Regardless of whether you feel called to protest, we all have gifts and talents that can be used collectively for the Highest Good of humanity. Perhaps you are an artist, a writer, a singer, a poet or an event planner. Our gifts must be activated in times of crisis when our brothers and sisters need our support most. During the civil rights movement of the 50’s and 60’s, activists wrote songs, organized protests, lobbied lawmakers, and demanded change. The key was that enough people activated their gifts to fight against inequities and division.
In similar times of moral outrage, here are a few measures we each can take to be activists for social change.
Listen and have courageous conversations. 2020 as a whole has been a powerful catalyst for exposing systems of oppression and misuse of power. We’re all witnessing these structures being illuminated collectively before our very eyes. In the midst of so much change and upheaval, we’re all consciously or subconsciously determining what our role will be in this pivotal era in history. What does the Black Lives Matter movement mean to you? How can you use your voice to speak out against injustice? How will you show up on social media? What types of conversations will you have with your family and community? The beauty is that while we cannot control the world around us, we can determine the energy and intention we bring to the world. We are influencing history each moment through our thoughts, beliefs and actions so this is not a time to be silent and passive but rather to do a part to create a more equitable and just society.
Examine your social circles. How much diversity exists in your social circle? Take a minute to scroll through your text messages and see how much diversity there is among your closest peer group and friends. It is through our connection that we can realize the thread of humanity that unites every single one of us.
Have conversations with local leaders for policy change. – become aware, hold them accountable – city council, county commissioners. First, we call upon President Trump, elected officials, and political parties to commit our nation to a formal process of healing and reconciliation. Instead of calling for the use of aggressive tactics on protestors, the President must take the first step by disavowing white supremacists and nationalist groups that overtly support him, and by not using his Twitter feed to promote and normalize their ideas and agendas. The world is watching America’s response. Creating a national task force that would draft bipartisan legislation aimed at ending racial violence and increasing police accountability. We can’t continue to fund a criminal justice system that perpetuates mass incarceration while at the same time threatens the lives of a whole segment of the population.
Make a conscious effort not to support businesses and corporations whose policies and practices do not align with your values for equity and equality for all human beings.
When we see something that’s wrong, it’s our personal responsibility to do something about it. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The ultimate measure of a person is not where one stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where one stands in times of challenge and controversy.” Systemic racism is a corrosive and widespread problem in our society, and we all need to do a better job of confronting it—in our towns, in our neighborhoods, and in social circles. Because the truth is that the long journey of dismantling racism is complex and will require every single one of us.
If we collectively use our spiritual gifts for the Highest good of humanity, our children and future generations will be able to look back and see that love did in fact prevail.
We would love to hear from you. How are you using your spiritual gifts to be an instrument for collective change? What steps would you recommend for being an activist for creating a more equitable society? Comment below or send us a message at emily@soulmediaglobal.com.
