Show Up
MLK drive has served as a representative place to acknowledge the pain of racial injustice and celebrate the beauty and strength of African American culture. While we acknowledge that racial discrimination still prevails in many of the systems and structures of American society, we want to invite people to show up at one of the many actual places where evil and destructive discrimination regularly and legally occurred in our communities during the lifetime of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Consider that nearly all public pools, libraries, and schools that were built in the American South before 1964 contained signs such as “whites only” or “colored entrance”. We tend to recoil from these dramatic symbols of oppression. Rarely do we engage in the painful reality that for MANY WHO ARE STILL LIVING these were daily reminders of the demonic deception that sought to tarnish the image of God in them.
We have much to learn from these places about the real impact of such evil on the hearts, minds, souls, and strength of the people who experienced them firsthand. This impact includes the darker skinned people who suffered at the ungodly discrimination AND whites and white-passing who ‘benefited’ from the clearly defined privilege.
Consider that nearly all public pools, libraries, and schools that were built in the American South before 1964 contained signs such as “whites only” or “colored entrance”. We tend to recoil from these dramatic symbols of oppression. Rarely do we engage in the painful reality that for MANY WHO ARE STILL LIVING these were daily reminders of the demonic deception that sought to tarnish the image of God in them.
We have much to learn from these places about the real impact of such evil on the hearts, minds, souls, and strength of the people who experienced them firsthand. This impact includes the darker skinned people who suffered at the ungodly discrimination AND whites and white-passing who ‘benefited’ from the clearly defined privilege.
Step by Step
- Do some research* on the history of your own immediate community to discover a specific place where racial injustice regularly occurred during the lifetime of MLK, Jr. ***
- Discuss places within walking or short driving distance from where you live.
- Pray about where to show up with your household or ‘extended quarantine fam (Qfam)’.
- Once you have selected the place, go there and stand outside to be changed.
- CLICK HERE to read the “Be Changed” instructions
* Research Tips: Interview older members of your family or community who have memories of the 1960s. Older schools, pools, hotels, churches, theaters, or restaurants all would be candidates to consider. Include for consideration places of racial pain that have impacted the indigenous peoples of the land (San Antonio, for example, has several of these). Use an internet search engine to look up historical articles from your city.
*** If you and your family personally endure racial discrimination, then you may want to skip to the “Be Changed” instructions (#5) for a guide to a healing conversation about your experiences. You also may want to find a location to show up and gain deeper understanding about the impact of specific forms of racial discrimination in the past.