When There Are No Words
by Dr, Kevin Higgins
George Floyd.
Christian Cooper.
Ahmaud Arbery.
It feels like the names keep stacking up. And sadly, this is nothing new. Consider for a moment, how many names never make the news.
Grief.
Sorrow.
Anger.
Confusion.
I am struggling to know what to say and do in the aftermath of these events.
I reached out to Monica Mitchell, a member of the WCIU Board and formerly in the regional leadership in Perspectives USA.. I also reached out to Felicia Williams, newly elected councilwoman for our district here in Pasadena. I am asking both of them for advice about both the “saying” and the “doing” for organizations like us, and for a person in my position.
I am pursuing their wisdom and guidance, but in the meantime, I want to share from my heart, as a brother in Jesus and a fellow human being, as a man who, like many of you, is shocked, pained and perplexed by the events of these days and weeks.
I have wanted to speak… but words have failed me.
The ability to say things well in literature, according to Alexander Pope, is not so much to try to say something new but is to put into words “what oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd” (Essay on Criticism, early 1700’s).
So recently, while on a bike ride, I hoped God might give me something to say. During this time, I thought, “Kevin, draw this water from the well of your music soul” and I began thinking of eloquent words others have already said, expressing things I have thought, but in ways that I could “ne’er so well” express.
I turned to some lines from the music catalogue I know. Not all the lines are about violence because while violence against African Americans has been at the forefront of the news and thus of our minds and hearts, it is but one of many areas of injustice and inequality faced by African Americans on a daily basis. What follows is a glimpse at these painful realities from the lips of modern day poets and dare I say prophets.
On Homelessness….
“Shelter lines stretch around the corner, welcome to the new world order; Families sleeping in their cars in the west, got no sleep, no peace, no jobs no rest””
Bruce Springsteen, “Ghost of Tom Joad”
African Americans make up 40 percent of the homeless population despite only representing 13 percent of the general population
On Incarceration….
“The trial was a pig circus, he never had a chance….the judge made Ruben’s witnesses seem like drunkards from the slums, to the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum…no one doubted that he pulled the trigger…And though they could not produce the gun the DA said he was the one who did the deed and the all white jury agreed”
Bob Dylan, “Hurricane” (the Ruben “Hurricane” Carter story; his conviction was eventually overturned after Ruben spent years in prison)
African American males are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of white males
On Racially Motivated Violence…
I am stepping out of my normal catalogue now, stepping into the world of rap. I spent time yesterday searching rap lyrics attacking racism. I will just say there are powerfully prophetic things being voiced there. I was profoundly moved by some of what I came across.
I include here something written and performed in tribute to George Floyd:
"I'm a young black man/ Doing all that I can/ To stand, oh but when I look around/ And I see what's being done to my kind/ Every day, I'm being hunted as prey/ My people don't want no trouble/ We've had enough struggle/ I just want to live/ God protect me/ I just want to live/ I just want to live,"
Keedron Bryant (12 years old) “I Just want to live”
The fact that this is penned by a 12 year old African American male is part of what gripped me. I imagined my kids at 12. What if this is the sort of reality they were having to process at that age? I need to put myself into that space and hold that inside of myself, though I can never fully be “in” it, I need to at least allow Jesus, whose heart IS fully in it, to put more of His heart into mine…
Finally, I feel compelled to dispel an objection.
On False Comparisons…
A white male stands a 1 in 17 chance of facing some sort of jail time, a black male? 1 in 3
I have a brother in law enforcement, and I know there are many, many men and women who go to work everyday as servants to truly protect. I don’t want to diminish that. However, we have an issue in our country, and must face it honestly.
I came across the story of Daniel Shaver today, a white man shot and killed brutally and wrongly by Arizona police four years ago. There have been some since then who point to that incident in an attempt to suggest that, while police violence is a very real issue, it is not a racial issue. Some people go on to point to the fact that the reports of police violence involve twice and many white people as compared with black.
This misses the reality: white people have six times the total population. A white male stands a 1 in 17 chance of facing some sort of jail time, a black male? 1 in 3. (for a fuller discussion of the Daniel Shaver incident, and more data on racially disproportionate violence and incarceration, etc., see https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/29/heres-why-we-dont-see-protests-when-police-unjustly-kill-white-people/
“So, what’s next?” you may ask. What do we do with all of this information?
May I suggest that for a moment, we need to sit with it and to grieve. Then we need to lean in, listen with our whole hearts, and seek to understand as we become part of the change.