2020-06-08 BLM

#BLACKLIVESMATTER

(June 24, 2020 Update: A reflection by the Rev. Katlin McCallister in the yellow section below.)

[June 8, 2020] Protests to end racism and police brutality have been taking place around the nation and now, the world, triggered by the murder of George Floyd. The #blacklivesmatter movement has seen a resurgence with a new awareness and understanding. To learn more, visit the Black Lives Matter website HERE.

Like the rest of the nation, ongoing protests have been taking place throughout the islands, with Episcopalians joining the fight for justice and equality!

Photos of the peaceful protests on O'ahu shown at right are by Matt Brown and church Facebook pages. Photo below was taken at the Kaua'i County Building by Janece Yatsko.

Know Justice, Know Peace: A Personal Reflection

By The Rev. Katlin McCallister, Church of the Holy Apostles, Hilo

Pastor Katlin at Hilo protests

[Chronicle, June 24, 2020] I had never been to a public demonstration based on Christian faith before. I saw the post on Facebook, “Is there anything happening in Hilo for Black Lives Matter?”

From there, the comments section flew and next thing you know, a sign-waving demonstration was planned for the following Saturday morning.

I felt like I needed to go. The pangs of Ahmaud Arbery’s death were still making my stomach turn and then George Floyd, dead over $20. Breonna Taylor dead for administrative error. The weight of unnecessary death rooted in fear kept me up at night.

I felt like I needed to go.

Saturday morning came. I wanted to go. I was afraid, “What would the congregation think? How would they feel?”

I felt like I needed to go.

Saturday morning came and we had some chores to tend to at the church. I HAD to do these things, said my fear, maybe my pre-scheduled obligations would take so long the event would pass.

I wanted to go, but was it the right thing?

Saturday morning chores came and went. It was time to go. My colleague and I made signs. We parked and found a spot to stand. I looked around scanning the area to assess how it worked.

Find a spot, hold a sign, wave, shaka, fist raise…

I stood, wearing the clergy collar and holding a sign that said, “Faith demands action. Black Lives Matter.”

It felt like a risk; I was worried that some in the congregation would be upset and I didn’t want to ostracize beloved members of our community. So I prayed. And I heard the Spirit say, “Stay the path.”

She is brave, that one, the Spirit.

Cars and trucks drove by; some honking relentlessly, some waving, and others continuing on their way with no outward sign of acknowledgment.

I read the signs around me. I wondered about the people holding them; their life paths, their choices that led them to standing on the side of the street and waving a sign to call attention to the dismantling of white supremacy. It was so much to ponder that I felt very unsure and simultaneously sure that God abided.

There is a reckoning unfolding. It is a tender spot like a neck strained in protection of the spine, it is the weakness of the muscle which supports the stature of the being. The long night of true equality is taking a good, long stretch from lying in wake.

It is about the advancement of the black community and the decline of the white majority. It is about realizing there is enough for all and that God’s provisions for the day are enough and to be shared. It is the self-examination of all people for how we contribute to the power and wealth-accumulation of some at the expense and denial of others. It is about reflecting upon who here in Hawaii is kindred spirit to the lament of stolen freedom and suppressed opportunity.

After that first demonstration, I knew somehow internally in God’s grace that, though I still had a tremendous amount to learn, my faith in the new creation of God making all things right was calling my name like a long lost friend.

I believe that the plight of a mass of people requires, at the very the least, the attention of those with influence and power, most especially those who delight in the ways of Jesus Christ.

Since that first demonstration, I have been to three more and organized another march to witness with the interfaith community on Hawaii Island. Each time, I sense more strongly that God is up to something and that the heavenly choir is urging us on in the revealing of God’s path for us.

What does a sign waving event really matter, you might ask.

It insists on attention to the matter at hand and ignites conversations that carry into reflections on how and who is most oppressed in this specific community as well as the humility to enter into God’s remaking of this world. It says that we will no longer accept the status quo to look the other way as if we are helpless and have no power to influence the communities in whichh we live and call home.

It does not stop with sign waving, or preaching, or learning in reading and conversing, but with relentless commitment to being remade by the most profound willingness to die to self and rise in Christ.

The unexpected and unforeseen grace in the pandemic and civil uprising for the sanctity of life within the black, brown, and all communities of people, is the invitation to enter into a new adventure with the Holy Spirit in the reconciling work of Jesus Christ.

Know justice, know peace.

#BLACKLIVESMATTER

Know Justice, Know Peace​: A Personal Reflection

News around the Episcopal Church including messages from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick on Civil Unrest and #BLM:

Know Justice, Know Peace: A Personal Reflection