Turn off the cameras. National news outlets, withdraw to your respective cities. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, Jr., you are not mediators, you are opportunists: Go home. None of you knew of Ferguson, Missouri, or cared of the issues here until just a few days ago, so what is making the difference now? Violence and the stories which provoke it. Has anyone else noticed the high number of people on the streets involved in the late night gatherings who are carrying video cameras or cell phones - and turning them towards the press cameras so that they can see themselves and/or post the events online? Am I the only one who finds it odd that gatherings during the daylight hours are largely peaceful and call for justice and understanding, while gatherings at night include looting, Molotov cocktails, rioting and intimidation? And the greatest amount of news coverage is given over to covering the police response to what is transpiring at night? Is this because it is more newsworthy . . . or just another way to pour fuel on an already heated fire. No one, least of all me, denies a great tragedy has occurred here. No one here denies there is a tremendous amount of inequity in this region and in the systems which serve it. No one here denies there are injustices which transpire on the streets of our communities with increasing regularity. We also do not deny that this is an event which may mark an opportunity for a dramatic shift in how Ferguson and, by extension, surrounding communities shape their community leadership. Now, more than ever, such a moment requires the greatest of care, trust and the most intentional of community-building efforts . . . and such advocacy and action need not and should not come from those whose only motivation is the uniquely ‘spectacular’ or sales worthy, for when the night eventually becomes quiet and the fullness of mutuality and grace begins to return to the streets, you will leave anyway. Ferguson will no longer be worthy your time . . . and the folks of this region of every race, color, ethnicity and economic level will be the ones left to sweep off the streets, rebuild the businesses, advocate for the marginalized, and care for the wounded and dying. In the final analysis, though outside eyes may share the moment and feel an entitlement to record the happenings as a way to show the world your interest, it is only the ownership and investment of the citizens of the local communities who will engage and become true catalysts of lasting change, for they are the ones who must live into the vision of what might and can be, not you. What you regard as your work in recording history or stepping into the midst of ongoing history may also be regarded by others as your attempt to shape history by where you choose to turn your cameras or by what words you choose to speak when relating the events of these days to the world. There is no justice in schools remaining closed in the region for fears of violence. There is no justice in residents trembling at the thought of venturing out for fear of the unknown. There is no justice in a city being shut down by violence of any kind. There is no justice in racial, ethnic or social inequities anywhere. And, there will be no lasting justice garnered by an ongoing presence of the unblinking eye of the camera, nor by people dressed in thousand dollar suits in the midst of an impoverished community. The people of Ferguson deserve the greatest of our respect and collective effort to support their work towards justice, equity and peace. They do not need, nor deserve, opportunistic behaviors which do more to incite further unrest than to bring peace. The faith community leadership of Ferguson and the surrounding communities have been daily proving their own faith, metal, commitment and worth in walking with their people on this tumultuous road . . . let us respect, honor and support their efforts by not getting in the way, all the while offering every prayer and iota of necessary resource available to bring resolve to this awful time
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 20:49:30 +0000
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