Something For Sunday
By Robert Jones
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Eccl 4:9-12)
This short passage of scripture reminds me of the need for community. It reminds me that some problems, no matter how we fight individually, will require a collective effort to find a solution. Each of us can work toward a goal as much as we want individually, but we will never accomplish as much as in the cases where we work with others. Eventually in this life we will all run on hard times. Often situations will seem like it’s too much to bear. Those are the times we need family and friends around to help us carry the load. We all can fight stronger and longer knowing that we have someone to help us.
There are very few better examples of the power of community than that of the African American Civil Rights Movement. Starting around 1954 and continuing until 1964 it was a time of deep connectedness throughout the Black American community. Looking back to 1954 where the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional. The winning attorney was a young black man by the name of Thurgood Marshall who would go on to become the first black Supreme Court justice.
In 1955 Emmet Till is murdered and his assailants are acquitted. His death rallied many more to the civil rights fight. Also, in 55 Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a public bus kicking off a yearlong boycott. Until busses in Montgomery we finally desegregated.
In 1957 all white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas is integrated by 9 black students who became known as the Little Rock Nine. The National Guard would be needed to ensure their safety at school.
In 1960 Four young men from the North Carolina A&T college sat-in at a segregated diner. This event became a model of students all over the South who would conduct their own nonviolent sit-ins
In 1961 Blacks began taking public transportation of all kinds through the south to make sure desegregation laws were being enforced. Many of these people know as freedom riders would be attacked by angry mobs during their trips
In 1962 James Meredith becomes the first black student at the University of Mississippi. Federal troops would be called to suppress riots due to his enrollment.
In 1963, without email, internet, Facebook, cell phones or any of the modern communication we take for granted, 200,000 people are organized to march and gather in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC where one Martin Luther King Jr delivers his “I have a Dream” speech.
And finally, after 10 years of toil President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A sweeping legislation prohibiting discrimination and allowing the federal government to enforce desegregation.
This community pressed and pressed until they bent the arch of history toward justice. No one individual could have brought about this change in America. Such an overwhelming goal would require overwhelming community effort and commitment.
The task set before that generation was not one for individual effort. Neither is the task set before our own.
Ours is a generation called to speak to and service the external problems of racism, injustice, and poverty, as well as the internal struggles of family, ethics, education, and economics. Although we may debate about which issues are greater, internal or external, there is widespread agreement that for the Black American community each must be addressed.
Additionally, whether internal or external the solutions will require each of us to be better and to care for and fight for the conditions of our brothers and sisters. These modern solutions also demand of us endurance. The march toward the civil rights act of 1964 started a decade prior. The march toward the modern solution for the modern Black American community start today and because of their preciousness they require a lifetime of effort and commitment. None of us is as strong as all of us. And no problem, internal or external, can hold back a unified Black American community. This black history month let the memory of the community of previous generations spur our own to an unbreakable connection.
