Jesus of the resistance: Black Lives Matter symposium
The BLM movement has issued a clarion call to the church, the black church in particular, to affirm a theology of resistance, not respectability. This means reckoning with who Jesus is.
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.)
Since residents of Ferguson, Missouri, took to the streets to protest the killing of Michael Brown in August 2014, the Black Lives Matter movement has significantly reinvigorated the national conversation about racial justice. Though many have been reticent to acknowledge that the Black Lives Matter protests constitute a new movement, after 18 months it shows no sign of abatement. There have been over 1,200 Black Lives Matter protests at malls, sporting events, and schools all over the country.
One of the striking things for me on a bus ride to Ferguson with young activists was the number of people who were not only Christians but ministers with theological training and significant backgrounds in ministry. Many of these activists also identified as queer. In that moment, I was forced to rethink my ideas about who and what the church is, and about the variety of creative ways that God might show up in the movement.
