Volume 3, Issue 2 February 2015 Volume 3, Issue 2 February 2015 Black Catholic Bishops of the United States February 2015 Volume 3, Issue 2 laws that had created legal Apartheid ized, it will be because didn’t stop From the editor . in our nation and the strategic cam- visioning the promise of the dream, paigns that forced Americans to see and we didn’t forget the nightmare Last month I found myself on the its ugliest face on the world stage, of the ignoble past and the nightmare stump more than usual. In commem- Civil Rights helped to begin restor- that continues today. oration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Lu- ing the United States to Humanity. We need to tell the truth about ther King, Jr., I was invited to speak The signature speech that the Rever- the 400 year holocaust and what with a young adult group from St. end Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave America did to native peoples and Clement’s in Lincoln Park and to in 1963 on the Mall of our nation’s kidnapped Africans, and resist the speak at two Masses at St. Nicholas’ capital articulated a vision that cap- temptation to imbibe the elixir of in Evanston, I devoted one of the tured the imagination and conscience anesthetic amnesia that would have weekly radio shows, and I presented of American citizens. The dream Dr. us mitigate the horrors of the past on a national webinar for Catholic King articulated then was one of with false narratives that relieve our Charities, USA. All of these presen- hope that fueled the Movement. consciences and have us believe that tations were on the theme, “Keeping However, the transformation that it was nothing more than what all the Dream Alive.” So, let me share the Movement sparked, as remarka- groups go through when coming to here some of what I said on the ble as it was, is not complete. “The America. stump. Dream” is not fully realized. Racism For those groups who came to The Civil Rights Movement still cripples the moral condition of America for opportunities unavaila- brought about a transformation in the our nation, undermines our authen- ble in their homeland, when America United States. By revoking unjust ticity as “leader of the free world,” happened to them it was a good and contradicts the Incarnation of thing. For those who came to Ameri- God. As people of goodwill, as fol- ca as refugees from oppression in The Drum is a publication of the Office for lowers of Christ, as Catholics who their homeland, when America hap- Black Catholics, an agency of the uphold, affirm and defend the digni- pened to them it was a wonderful Archdiocese or Chicago. ty of every human person, we must thing. For those who came to Ameri- not lose sight of the vision articulat- ca for religious freedom or simply a Editor, layout designer, and publisher: Andrew Lyke, ed so well in that signature speech. better life, when America happened Director of the Office for Black We must remember “The Dream” to them it was grace from God. I Catholics and continue the movement. can’t rewrite history so that I can It was shortly after the March on claim that for my stolen ancestors. News about activities and events relevant Washington in 1963 that Malcolm X, America happened to my ancestors to the Black Catholic Community of the Archdiocese of Chicago may be submitted responding to a reporter’s question and it was evil. It was the work of before the 15th of the month. Submissions about what he thought about Dr. the devil. To spin it any other way will be considered for publication under King’s speech, said, “While Dr. plays into the hand of Satan himself. the scrutiny of the Office for Black King was having a dream the rest of So, we must continue the move- Catholics. All submissions must be us negroes are having a nightmare.” ment with fresh energy, new hope, submitted in electronic formats using MS Word, MS Publisher, or PDF. All rights To keep hope alive in the movement creative strategies, and on a new bat- reserved. for liberation we have to hold fast to tle front, while holding fast to the the dream without forgetting the dream and remembering the night- Stay with the beat and subscribe to The nightmare. mare – living in the light of truth and Drum today! Go to America today is anxious to rush working toward the continued trans- blackcatholicchicago.org to the “Post-racial Era” where all formation of our nation through ra- dues are paid and we all have a clean cial reconciliation. That’s what is slate. They want to put the past be- necessary to keep the dream alive. hind us, take no responsibility for it, It is our responsibility as Chris- and expunge the sin without pen- tians and foundational to our Catho- ance. Yet, all around us (outside our lic Faith to reverence life as a gift middle-class bubbles) is evidence from God, to uphold the dignity of that racism is alive and well in this every human being, to decry the lies “land of the free”. The tensions be- of classism, sexism, and racism, and tween the police and the Black com- to be heralds of the Gospel, bearers munity that have captured the atten- of the Good News of Jesus Christ to tion of the media is just one article of the world, and particularly to fami- evidence of this. The work is not done. If the (Continued on page 3) dream has any chance of being real- 2 Volume 3, Issue 2 February 2015 (Continued from page 2) made good if all men in the world as individuals lies, the basic cell of society. become good men. After the souls of men are The face of racism is no longer that of hooded saved, the society in which they function will be horsemen burning crosses. Though that kind of venom- a good society. This is only a half-truth. Many ous hatred still exists, it doesn’t have the power it once men have found that they are caught in a frame- employed in the dark past. Our battle is on a different work of relationships evil in design, and their front where racism is less conscious malice and more very good deeds have developed into instrumen- unconscious bias – or unconscious indifference that talities for evil. It is not enough to save the souls comes from a sense that it is reasonable to have height- of men; the relationships that exist between men ened police presence in those communities where there must be saved also. is high unemployment, high petty crime, high anxiety, “To approach the problem from the other and high levels of self-medication with contraband angle is to assume that once the relationships drugs. It’s reasonable to give more scrutiny to the young between men are saved, the individual men will black man who is a threat to our security. It is reasona- thereby become instruments of positive weal. ble that white people would enjoy privileges not given This is also a half-truth. The two processes must to all, or only given to those who demonstrate their wor- go on apace or else men and their relationships thiness. will not be brought under conscious judgment of One battle front is against the Prison Industrial God. We must, therefore, even as we purify our Complex that thrives on that heightened scrutiny on hearts and live our individual lives under the di- people of color, and has created another means to sus- vine scrutiny, so order the framework of our re- tain an embedded under caste system based on race and lationships that good men can function in it to for the benefit of whites. Just one devastating effect of the glory of God.” this “New Jim Crow” is in family life. It has played hav- Not very long ago I went to a lecture by Diane Nash oc on the marriage pool in black communities and creat- at St. Francis University in Joliet. She spoke of her ex- ed an unhealthy economy of relationships between black periences as a leader in the Movement — as one of the men and women, which has resulted in the collapse of courageous Freedom Riders who challenged unjust laws marriage in the black community and a dearth of the in the Jim Crow South, while putting their lives on the powerful witness of lifelong, committed conjugal love line. She shared her experiences as one of those in the in the community. I could elaborate on that topic, but inner circle of leaders with Dr. King on several of the we’ll save that for another presentation. campaigns. It is our role as Church, the people of God, to be on Ms. Nash said something that sparked a light in me that battle front, equipped with an awareness of the truth that I will never forget. She said that one of basic tenets of our history, compelled by the Gospel to take action of non-violent resistance is to always remember that no for justice, and to hold each other accountable, coura- person is your enemy; only their ideas. And our goal is geously entering the tension that such action creates, not to destroy them but to change their minds and make and not giving in to the lure of complacency, cynicism, them our allies. This is how we continue the movement. and apathy or individualism that seeks blame in others This is how we keep the dream alive.