The church's respectability politics: Black Lives Matter symposium
The young people leading this movement have heard enough about Martin Luther King's dream. It is not enough for church leaders to reply that they don't know much history.
The Black Lives Matter movement that has unfolded in cities and on campuses across the nation is writing a new chapter in black people’s struggle for liberation. We asked writers to reflect on what the movement has accomplished, where its energies should be focused, and what implications it has for churches. (Read all responses.)
Black Lives Matter was perfectly named by its founders, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, because it immediately conveys what must be said—that black lives have never mattered in much of white America. This organization is playing a valuable catalyzing role in a new black freedom movement that is much broader than Black Lives Matter.
In New York City, where I live, Black Lives Matter is one of many players, allying with organizations that have long histories in protest politics. In upward of 20 cities, Black Lives Matter has surged into a leading role. In both cases, Black Lives Matter has provided the rhetoric that most of the movement speaks.
