Facebook Publication Date: 8/8/2020 21:08
Here are the instructions for the Christian Left action. If you are participating, this is to be completed by Sunday night. There are two posts you will be making as individual; one post on your personal page and one post on Christian Left.
Please read through this post fully before doing any of the steps.
1. Post the letter (found below) on your page WITH:
– settings set to PUBLIC
– revision in the section marked for your own words
– added screenshots (the pictures below)
– all of the relevant tags (found below)
2. Post on the Christian Left page in your own words the impact and weight of their actions.
*Copy and paste the letter found below. Take note of the section specifically designed for you to leave your own personal comment.
*To add screenshot pictures, click on the pictures below, save to your device, and attach to your post.
*Tag each of these organizations in your post by typing @ and the following names (each org name will need to be tagged individually within your post):
Christian Left
Progressive Christianity
Presbyterian Church of the Covenant – Greensboro NC
Rev Mark Sandlin
Vote Common Good
**Once you have taken both actions, please return to this post and comment “Done” for accountability.
……………………………….
I am writing to address the values and praxis of the Christian Left Facebook page. Part of your description says, “We learn from the content and from each other how to adopt the teachings of Jesus…” The actions I witnessed last weekend on your Facebook page absolutely do not align with that statement and the rest of your asserted practice.
On a post promoting a mask showing the words “Good Trouble,” a follower named Lace asked “Is the majority of your team white? And are you going to be profiting off of the words of a dead Black man?” A discussion underneath her comment ensued, in which Lace, relevantly a Black woman, took the time to explain why she was asking and why it mattered. In one word: accountability.
Unless the Christian Left website is primarily staffed and run by people of color, promoting merchandise bearing John Lewis’s words is nothing more or less than profiteering off of the death of a black man who spent his life fighting white supremacy. This is a perfect case study of how even typically good actors can make very unfortunate decisions. This quote is absolutely not for the aggrandisement of white people, and it is certainly not for their profit.
On Saturday morning, the conversation between Lace and the other page member was deleted. The Christian Left posted, “Trolling this thread for ANY reason, whether it be concern trolling or outright trolling, results in being banned from the page without warning. Don’t waste your time. We’ve been a troll free page from day 1, over a decade. If you don’t know what concern trolling is, Google it. Thanks.” I am particularly disturbed that valid questions and a request for accountability posed by Lace, a Black woman, were labeled “concern trolling”. Deleting Lace’s conversation completely must also be held up alongside centuries of white people violently silencing Black voices and erasing Black people from their contributions to history.
On last Saturday afternoon, the entire post was removed. A new post claimed that “There’s a small group of people attacking us for making ‘Good Trouble’ merchandise available,” and offered as justification a link showing numerous other outlets selling similar merchandise. I would like to address this new post as well, particularly it’s framing of accountability as “attack” and emphasising the actions of other companies or people as an excuse.
Capitalism itself depends on exploitation for profit. That the Christian Left is not alone in seeking to profit off of John Lewis’s legacy does not make those actions right. As a Christian organization, praxis and ethics should inform actions; whether or not others do likewise should not. A follower commented on this new post, asking if it might be made clear that the proceeds from merchandise bearing John Lewis’s words might be explicitly marked for contribution to BLM or other Black-led organizations. Ultimately, later last Saturday afternoon, this post was also deleted.
Accountability is of utmost importance. As your site description says, we must learn from each other. Particularly, we must learn from those we have harmed. Labeling Lace’s words as an attack is racist and demeaning. Deleting her careful explanation as “concern trolling” is violence. An organization led by primarily white people profiting from Congressman John Lewis’s legacy and directing any of the proceeds to causes other than the direct benefit of the Black communities and communities of color that he fought and bled for is exploitation. Holding your organization to account for such exploitation is a Christian and a progressive duty, not an attack.
Part of accountability is acknowledging how I myself harm Black people, even as I hold others to account. (Give personal relevance/reflections/outward pivot)
I urge you, the staff of the Christian Left, to reflect upon Lace’s words in the screenshots below, bringing to bear a spirit of humility and self-discernment. You still have the opportunity to make right the violence that your Facebook page has engaged in (yes, deleting people’s words is violence, especially given the history mentioned above). As the party who has inflicted this violence, it falls to you to initiate repair. see Matthew 5:23-24
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