Yesterday, 53 years to the day after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the historic “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence” address at Riverside Church (NYC) and 52 years to the day after he was assassinated, the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II delivered a moral message for the nation titled “We Can’t Be Silent Any More: Knowing the Symptoms of a Nation Approaching Spiritual Death.”
Dr. King named racism, poverty, and militarism as three evils placing the United States of America in danger of being a nation approaching spiritual death.
Dr. Barber named five interlocking injustices that are undermining the health of our nation: systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy (militarization of our communities), the false and distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. (These injustices have been central to the work of the Poor People’s Campaign over the last several years.)
Live Tweeting
As I listened to the address, I recognized just how important it was that this message reach the broadest audience possible. I used several of my social media accounts to invite others to watch the livestream, and I started to live tweet portions of the message.
The image below is a screenshot of my top tweets:
So What?
The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting life in ways many people never imagined. The severity of this crisis requires united responses to both COVID-19 and to the five interlocking injustices (systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy, the false and distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism).
Silence is unacceptable. It is time for those who claim to follow the Way of Jesus to live out their faith. We must speak up. We must be on the front lines of bringing about a better and more just world for all people. And, we must commit to doing this work in united ways that intentionally cross long-standing religious boundaries, politically partisan divisions, and a host of other in-group preferences.N