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<\/a>This post is part of the Ferguson Reflection: One Year Later series. If you have a reflection on Ferguson, please share it with us at rhetoricraceandreligion@gmail.com<\/em><\/p>\nI recently joined an \u201caction\u201d on the streets with several UMC pastors & friends of the UMC called for by a local pastor. I joined by invitation as I was on my way back to St. Louis for an event we\u2019re doing this weekend (also by invitation). I, personally, don\u2019t do travel activism as a rule. I figure wherever I live there\u2019s a Ferguson. I mean, I currently live in Ohio. Ponder THAT. Tamir Rice. John Crawford. Sam DuBose. Timothy Russell. Malissa Williams. The Columbus police department. I. LIVE. IN. OHIO.<\/p>\n
But I joined the action on the streets because 1) I was here; 2) I was asked; and 3) I am compelled. I have loving ties to this community, so I never feel like an \u201coutside agitator,\u201d only an agitator.<\/p>\n
I wore a collar last night to be readily identifiable as clergy. I had to BUY it because I actually didn\u2019t own one. It afforded me to have some very specific conversations with daily protesters about preachers. They were not pretty, as well as they should not have been. \u201cWhere the F*ck was these [specific] preachers on Monday when we were getting tear gassed and arrested???!!???\u201d \u201cOh, they out here trying to teach us how to protest \u2018between\u2019 the lines, right? F*ck that!\u201d \u201cThey\u2019ll be gone as soon as the cameras are gone; then the cops will light us up. But the preachers won\u2019t be here to see that! They\u2019ll feel good about themselves, though, right? F*CK THAT!!!\u201d \u201cSee, they over there \u2018talking to the police,\u2019 trying to make sure the police know they ain\u2019t out here against them! Well, if they ain\u2019t against the police, they against us!\u201d<\/p>\n
There was more. But you get the point. My first reaction: defensiveness. That\u2019s my confession. And to defend. I wanted them to \u201cappreciate\u201d that they were there now. I \u201cexplained\u201d that I didn\u2019t live here, but I care. But then I stopped and just listened, even though I was still smarting from it. I\u2019m not from St. Louis County, but every time I\u2019ve come, I can feel the utter and understandable rage of weariness of this apartheid state. AND. IT. IS. APARTHEID. And terror. And harassment. Policing agencies and arms of the government here break law with impunity. They smirk at the citizenry because they know they have the white money power base on their side\u2026 they MIGHT get a \u201cscathing\u201d report written on them, but in 365+ days, little has changed. So, nightly protesters who see tourist protesters or \u201cmemorial\u201d protesters (\u201cMike Brown Week is over; y\u2019all can go home now\u201d) have a point. They face the brutality, terror, and unjust policing DAILY. EVERY. DAMN. DAY. We get to go home.<\/p>\n
I had street \u201ccreds\u201d in Austin, TX and in Memphis, TN. I never became an activist in Lancaster, PA, as I was battling my personal need to survive. I haven\u2019t gotten completely plugged in to Delaware and Franklin Counties in Ohio, but I will. And I\u2019ll develop street credibility there. But I have no street credibility in Ferguson\/St. Louis County, even though I have relationships with some of its leading activists. That said, I won\u2019t quit coming by invitation. But I am very clear: I. get. to. go. home. Therefore, I don\u2019t get to be defensive when those being regularly brutalized give me and those like me the side-eye.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had several conversations in the past week with people about \u201cplace in the movement.\u201d I\u2019m aware that one of the biggest issues for me has been to know when to follow and when to lead. That is a real thing to know. Last night, I led in prayer in the church and followed on the streets. I didn\u2019t lead a chant because those people didn\u2019t know me as a \u201cvoice.\u201d I led song and prayer because people (in church) know me as ritualist\/worship leader. Another way of saying that is: \u201cI stayed in my lane.\u201d<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m going to go home because I teach at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. I teach among some really committed justice-oriented activist educators (I\u2019m looking at you\u00a0Randy<\/a>,\u00a0Denise<\/a>,\u00a0Yvonne<\/a>,\u00a0Lisa<\/a>,\u00a0Tim<\/a>, et al). I\u2019m trying to figure out how to rearrange my courses. I always teach for primarily transformation; information can be found. I want deeper engagement rather than wider \u201cfacts.\u201d But that\u2019s just me.<\/p>\n That said, I\u2019m thinking about conversations with\u00a0Keith Crawford<\/a>\u00a0(John Crawford\u2019s cousin and the son who adopted me as ma) and\u00a0Candace Yonina Simpson<\/a>\u00a0(the niece I adopted). Keith said, \u201ctraveling to protest is a privilege.\u201d RIGHT. Everyone can\u2019t put the trip on a credit card or raise the funds among friends or get their institution to pay for it, all things I\u2019ve been privileged to do. And, everyone can\u2019t be in the streets for a variety of reasons, as niecey and I have been discussing for a couple of weeks. BUT (and as my mama\u2013may she rest in peace\u2013would say, that\u2019s a BIG BUT), everyone can be about freedom. And everyone can play a part.<\/p>\n I\u2019m thankful for the people who work their government job (trap) and give to defense funds, food funds, and bail funds. We need us to keep our jobs and to continue to rearrange our finances so we can continue to give.<\/p>\n I\u2019m thankful for the older\/elder siblings who can\u2019t \u201cmarch all night long,\u201d but who give, pray, cook, and rub your hands and look in your eyes when you return from the streets. As my niece said, some people don\u2019t have those \u201cold folks\u201d in their lives and that\u2019s a place in the movement where we can create that space\u2013I mean, in Austin they paired toddlers with elder care and it blessed them both. Movement and coalition building is necessary.<\/p>\n I\u2019m thankful for white freedom fighters (I have come to eschew the word \u201cally\u201d) who lead the way to break through an unlawful barrier put up to stop black and brown protesters. These sibs are risking white power, white privilege, jobs, careers, and inheritances. They get called all kind of nigger lovers. So, cookies for all of you who don\u2019t need cookies to stay in the fight.<\/p>\n I\u2019m thankful for the sibs who babysit for those who feel compelled to be in the streets and don\u2019t charge as they keep the children of freedom fighters.<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad for attorneys who work hard for this movement at EVERY level.<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad for (yes) life-time and paid activists who have been freed from other work in order to work against death-dealing structures on all our behalves. Scoffing those who get paid does little. They have access and know how to use it. They may very well be the \u201cinsider\u201d who help get us all free, especially as they check constantly whether and how they are being co-opted.<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad for 1950s and 1960s+ era activists who still fight this battle. They\/we started when in our teens and 20s and are still at it. Or, as someone said to me yesterday, \u201cYou might not want to throw away even Al Sharpton. You might need his platforms and access for the movement.\u201d Think. About. That. We deserve respect and, yes, voice, even if we\u2019re not going to use old tactics. We didn\u2019t get this old and these battle scars and not learn anything. I promise (that said, every current leader who knows me knows I don\u2019t give unsolicited advise; hell, my birth children can tell you that).<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad for those activists, who are not in the streets, but are working on policy making and community building in other ways.<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad for those who aren\u2019t in the streets, but giving money to create jobs and spaces to try to dismantle these apartheid places (but really, America has a PROBLEM and that\u2019s another issue).<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad for scholars who are transforming people who are transforming streets.<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad for activists who\u2019ve NEVER completed school, but are working to liberate a nation.<\/p>\n Charisse R. Tucker<\/a>, your reflection helped me.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not going to throw ANYBODY under the bus. That doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t get to assess what\u2019s helpful and life-giving. But really, those of us with the \u201cprivilege\u201d to take our marbles and go home (I\u2019m talking to me, now) have to really consider what we\u2019re about.<\/p>\n Breathing. Checking myself. Appreciating the movement.<\/p>\n In it. All. the. way.<\/p>\n Rev. Dr. Valerie Bridgeman<\/a> currently serves as Associate Professor of Homiletics and Hebrew Bible at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. She is also Founder and President of Woman Preach! Inc.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This post is part of the Ferguson Reflection: One Year Later series. If you have a reflection on Ferguson, please share it with us at rhetoricraceandreligion@gmail.com I recently joined an \u201caction\u201d on the streets with several UMC pastors & friends of the UMC called for by a local pastor. I joined by invitation as I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[61,135,86,29,211],"class_list":["post-3989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reflections","tag-black-lives-matter","tag-ferguson","tag-protest","tag-race","tag-valerie-bridgeman"],"yoast_head":"\n