What it means to me to say #BlackLivesMatter

I’ve heard people inquire about why it’s necessary to specifically state that Black lives matter when, of course, all lives matter. So this post is about what it means to me to say #BlackLivesMatter. (This is a revision of a church newsletter article I wrote in May 2015.)

It is important to me to try to follow in the footsteps of Christ, to seek to be present in a loving way to those who are marginalized and surely with those who experience injustice. Historically, Black (many do not have African ancestry) Americans have experienced grave injustices. A glance at headlines today tells us that we have not achieved the ideal of a society wherein one is judged by character rather than skin color. I cannot summarize all of the historical data here about places and times of mistreatment, excessive force, lynching, segregation, denial of employment or advancement or access to housing, and I don’t need to because you can Google them. Please do. This is not to say that white folks do not have struggles; it is to say that our struggles usually have little if anything to do with our skin color.

Not so long ago, when I lived and served another UCC church in Fairfield, I returned from a week-long mission trip to Biloxi, Mississippi to find KKK propaganda tucked under my windshield wiper while my car had been parked in the church parking lot. I can also tell you that my kids have seen firsthand other kids express dismay at the presence of people of color in this town within the last few years. John Selders, a good friend who is a fellow pastor - and happens to be black - recently explained "the talk" that so many black parents have with their sons at a young age, a conversation that his mother had with him years ago.  Basically, black parents tell their sons that they need to be extra careful in any interactions they may have with police officers - hands on the steering wheel, no sudden movements, don't leave the house in a plain white t-shirt, all in order to lessen the odds of the interaction ending badly. Just a few hours ago, Mia Douglas, another black colleague and friend, posted on Facebook that "Racial battle fatigue syndrome is real." 

And so I say that #BlackLivesMatter because my black friends are counting on me to say it.  They are counting on me to make it clear - as I hope I'm doing here - that it is not acceptable that people are treated with less respect or even outright hostility because of their skin color.  I say it not because I think other lives matter less but because I need to express my belief that every life is divine and precious. I say it because we are not individual and autonomous but interconnected and in communion with each other—if one suffers, all suffer. I say it because the “mattering” of one person never diminishes the “mattering” of another. I say it because I need to be reminded of my own power and privilege. I invite you to reflect on how you might say it, how we might clearly express and embody it together and, of course, why.