I wrote a piece for the Galveston Daily News on the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Here is a link to the article, the text is printed here.
https://www.galvnews.com/opinion/guest_columns/article_2348a0f8-6226-5445-bdb4-f64a39a8138e.html
Black Lives Matter is more than a slogan
During this time of unrest and increased awareness of racial concerns, I’ve seen many instances where people have mentioned the idea of separating the Black Lives Matter “movement” from the “the organization” because of particular beliefs and values posted on a certain website.
I will not name that website here because I want to be clear when I say there’s no singular “Black Lives Matter” umbrella organization. Are there organizations with BLM in their name operating in Texas? Yes, there are many; but not all have the same mission statements or values and shouldn’t be conflated because that’s an unfortunate distraction from the movement.
Black Lives Matter as a movement is intentionally decentralized because of what was done to civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and others (see FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO operations for more information).
The movement can’t afford to be derailed by assassination. During the civil rights movement, King faced the same issues.
There were detractors who didn’t want to hear “Black Power” chants at his protests, just as many don’t want to hear “Black Lives Matter” today. Those detractors spent more time arguing about the merits of protest chants than the actual issues the people were protesting such as systemic racism, police brutality and redlining to name a few.
Asserting that every BLM group is akin to what you see on a particular website, then using that as a standard to critique them all is on par with what King described as the biggest stumbling block to the civil rights movement.
King said that he was gravely disappointed with those who hindered the movement saying, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action.” King later wrote, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
While people were and are debating about marketing tactics and what language makes someone comfortable, the issues of systemic racism and injustice remained unresolved. Let’s not make the same mistake.
So, when you hear or see Black Lives Matter, I invite you to actually look at the people and listen to those working toward the movement. Resist holding on to a perception or stereotype; or labeling them atheist, Marxists or communists.
Don’t assume a connection with a particular group that has the most popular website, but instead remember that the societal problems and issues mentioned above still persist.
There are multiple organizations with Black Lives Matter or BLM in the name, and there are multiple BLM organizations in the Houston/Galveston area, each working toward diverse goals to save and improve lives.
I know and attended seminary with some of those working with these organizations in the Houston area. They’re Christians, they’re pastors. So, be intentionally informed, be curious and be open to the movement.
Black Lives Matter.
The Rev. Johnnie Simpson Jr. is senior pastor of Faith United Methodist Church in Dickinson.
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