Peace, Love, and Slam Poetry

Who wants peace, understanding, or love? Apparently very few people, according to my limited research. Don’t get me wrong-- I’m not doing a doctoral dissertation or anything. But I have noticed that when I post anything that implies that we might need to rethink something in order to accommodate some other group or way of thinking, I get fewer “likes,” on Facebook, and often a good many “Yes, but…” responses. I have also noticed that many people seem to think they have to be “against” someone or some group. What happened to the idea that it’s okay just to allow people to be themselves and love them anyway? Another thing I’ve noticed is that this is not true as much on Twitter, which tends to get more of the younger generation. I believe that we are raising up a much more compassionate generation. That is encouraging.

Anyway, I am posting links below to a young eighth grader’s entry in a slam poetry contest,  followed by an interview with the young man who wrote the poem. The responses to the poem have been varied, but some that I have noticed zeroed in on a couple of “bad words” in the poem, overlooking its message entirely. Personally, I think the interview shows him to be a very insightful young man. You don’t have to agree, and you don’t have to respond—unless you want to, of course. I just wanted to share these examples. Now remember that this is a fourteen year-old boy. He may have gotten a few things wrong. I saw some comments that indicated  he did.  But he is honestly admitting that because he is a young white boy, he has some advantages that everyone should have. Many adults don’t want to admit that.

Royce Mann, “White Boy Privilege” -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Q1jZ-LOT0

Interview with Royce Mann--  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oWiIX3tlCc

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New Novel: Our Pebble in the Pond (Martin Sisters Publishing, 2016)

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Love and Forgiveness Amid Hate and Violence

Last week seemed to be a marathon of shootings, bombings, hateful Facebook postings, and other conflicts. In addition to the media’s announcing that everyone hated everyone else, I had several close friends who were dealing with depression, hurt from family problems, and a myriad of disappointments. By Sunday I was rather down. You can take only so much of this before you let it get to you.

Then came Sunday, and Harry Rowland preached a wonderful sermon entitled “Grace: It’s a Really BIG Deal,” and I felt a little better. If you didn’t hear it, I highly recommend that you go to www.fbcrome.org and listen to it!

After some debating about attending a Sunday evening service at Thankful Baptist Church, I decided to go. I was told it was a service of remembrance for some of the victims of recent shootings. It was a sort of interfaith service, with several protestant churches participating. Bill and I arrived early and sat near the front because he had been asked to read scripture.

During the service, we sat together, black and white church members, black and white ministers, and at least one policeman. We listened to a trio of  ladies sing praise songs and then listened to the reading of scripture. A white policeman who is also a minister stood and told the congregation of mostly black men and women that he was sincerely sorry that people in his profession had caused harm to innocent young black men and asked for forgiveness. Then he mentioned the senseless killing of the policemen and committed himself to forgive those who committed those crimes. He then read the names of young black men who had been killed by policemen and policemen who had been killed by young black men. We then took communion together. 

There was a “sweet, sweet spirit” in that place.  I was ready for a new week! Thanks to Dr. Young (Thankful), Pastor Goode (Kingdom International), Pastor Shaun Davis (The Place), Rev. Bill Davies (First Baptist), Rev. Ingram (Lovejoy), and Rev. Craig McDonald (First Christian) for organizing and leading this meaningful service.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."  --Martin Luther King, Jr. A Testament of Hope:  The Essential Writings and Speeches