What a great session! It didn’t seem to be “meant for” Black people exclusively as much as Rev. Cone’s or Dr. West’s presentations. I haven’t read the Riverside Sermon yet – lots of notes just from the presentation itself, between civil rights leaders of then and now. There were lots of things that spoke directly to our work at Lace on Race: inside out and inside in; new ways and new language; necessary intimacy. I have the most notes from the theme of breaking silences: revisionist history, lies. Those are tools of white supremacy and so as a white listener I recognize my responsibility especially for breaking those silences. Ms. Alexander also spoke to the silence about “the nature of what is required” — silence about the need for revolution, not rhetorical or metaphorical, but real, with nonviolent action providing the materiel. I thought that was spoken to Black and brown activists; I also see the application to King’s “white moderates” like my (changing) self, who replace action with platitudes. I’m heading over to read the sermon itself now…

I recently finished Ms. Alexander’s book and it was lovely to see her and Ms. Sales speak together here. I went and found Dr. Kings sermon referenced here as well, and in reading it I immediately thought of the image that Dr. West described in his speech of Dr. Kings strong and straight back. To respond to Lace’s questions, the fact that Dr. King pursued giving this sermon in spite of the cost he knew would come politically and with the civil rights movement shows his commitment to his praxis. It reminds me how Lace does the same in this space when she doesn’t shy away from tough topics that she knows will lose her followers/members. Staying true to praxis means more. I’m asking myself where I deviate to the larger audience/larger stakes instead of cutting losses and staying true to praxis.

To respond to Lace’s second question, I imagine the racial inequities in the military were quite centered in Dr. King’s mind, but in his sermon he didn’t elevate those inequities above the inequities being experienced by the Vietnamese people at the hand of the US. What stands out to me about that is how it’s equally important I be taking action and learning about the individual and collective stories of all marginalized and oppressed people. Ms. Alexander also addresses this after a white audience member asks about how we unify all those stories (in her opinion that would make them more effective). Ms. Alexander responds by saying “we need the individual and collective stories if we’re going to have universal change”. Where do I, like that white woman, also choose to focus on the barriers of things rather than seeking out and intentionally including all individual and collective stories?

Lace asks where have I “destabilized” things in my walk in reference to Ms. Sales talking about “destabilizing an empire without firing a shot”. I think I have done some destabilizing in my family, relationships, and vocation, but there’s more I can do. What stands out to me here is that destabilizing is the point. All too often I pull towards thinking that destabilizing things means inviting chaos and being ineffective, and then I see that as being ’not safe’. The only person that protects is me, it certainly does not work to protect oppressed and marginalized people. As presented here, destabilizing is about the action of revolution, revolution built on eye to eye relationships (!), as Ms. Sales said. In Dr. Kings speech he calls this destabilization “a radical revolution of values…shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society.” All of that takes a lot of intentional destabilizing.

Lace asks “where is the agency in America’s and in my knowledge gaps?” I was in my early 20’s when I became aware of alternate narratives to the white washed ones I was spoon fed. I didn’t immediately jump to as much action as I could have. Now I have a veracious hunger to learn and feel so behind on so many things that change the entire view of what I grew up with. I am ever grateful for this space where I have learned SO much and that has pivoted me in other directions too of things to learn and read and talk/share about. As a grown ass adult now it is entirely my responsibility to seek out, absorb, share, and act upon what I learn.

Additional reflections: As Christina mentioned in her comment above, the way that Ms. Sales kept going back to reinforce how the current movements cannot and must not be separated from history really stood out to me. What we are doing now through things like mass incarceration, immigration, law enforcement, is no different than all the other systems used to control and undermine individual’s rights throughout the history of the US. I also liked how she talked about “moving away from trite words like privilege” and instead “talk about rights”. How easily as a white person I get caught up on words and terminology instead of keeping the main thing the main thing.

(Crosspost from FaceBook) Wow, this piece was amazing – both the sermon itself and the discussion between Alexander and Sales. There is so much to take from it! Addressing the questions in order…

(1) What do I think of his choice to speak out on Vietnam? It was brave, he knew he risked his life (but he knew that anyways). It turned LBJ and most of America against him. But he said it himself – his conscience gave him no choice. It was a matter of integrity, of integrating ideological position into praxis, just as you teach us to do, Lace. He had to walk his talk, no matter what. So, I think that it was necessary, inevitable, and also probably precipitated his murder. I keep thinking about the song “Wake Up” by Rage Against the Machine “You know they went after King / When he spoke out on Vietnam / He turned the power to the have-nots / And then came the shot.”

(2) Did the fact that Black and Brown people were being killed on the front lines (disproportionately) influence his decision to speak out? How could it not? His scathing analysis of the American Empire leaves no doubt as to the inhumanity of the ongoing project for colonial domination in Vietnam. He tells the truth in his sermon, a truth that white America (and, apparently, some of Black America too) did not want to hear. This truth is that America’s empire is about white supremacy as a totalizing political-economic construct, not about “freedom” or “democracy”.

(3) “Destabilizing an empire without firing a shot” – Ruby Sales. How does this land with me? What am *I* destabilizing? When Ruby said this, I felt very emotional. First, the truth of what she’s saying, the power of this non-violent civil disobedience, was overwhelming in a positive way. It gave me hope. Imagine what could be accomplished if more people joined this movement today and we could finish what Dr. King started! Then, what am I destabilizing? Well, for me, it starts with my intimate relationships – in my family – and then it radiates outward. First thing I’m destabilizing (big time) is my marriage. I am married to a Cuban guy who has a lot of baggage around communism, who leans right while I lean left, who bristles at the idea of “white privilege,” and who thinks unconscious bias is a liberal hoax. (BTW I loved what Ruby Sales said about “privilege” and how the way we are using this word is not helping. How the point is not to extend privileges, but rather to secure RIGHTS). The last four years have almost broken us. There are times when I wanted to end it, because I thought he would never “come around.” I’ve been working so hard to change his mind…lately I’ve shifted to focusing on connecting from the heart, and that seems to be going better. The point is, I haven’t stayed silent. I haven’t brushed it under the rug. I’ve confronted it head on, and that has been a hugely destabilizing force in my life. For me, and for my 2 youngest kids. Radiating outwards, I am a consultant, and so I aim to destabilize the status quo in corporate America as much as possible. One specific example of that is the way that I encourage my clients to self-examine and to confront whiteness head on in their organizations, the same way I am doing it in my marriage.

(4) Where is my agency with regards to my knowledge gaps and silences? At what point did I become aware of actively not wanting to know? The answer is – total agency, and 2016. I have always been seeking to know more, ever since I read “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee” in grade school. I sought knowledge, and read many books, but that just made me a “well-read racist”! I got a lot of freaking degrees…I knew a lot of facts…and relevant facts about colonialism and white supremacy – but I never put myself into the equation. It wasn’t until the meltdowns on Pantsuit Nation right after the 2016 election that I woke up and realized ME TOO I am part of the problem. How did I manage multiple decades of willful ignorance (I am 53 years old), even when my heart was in the “right place”?. The trance of white supremacy is extremely strong. I liken it to the Matrix (Abigail Rose taught me that), and much of the time, we are like Cipher: “just put me back! Reality is too harsh.” But I don’t want to stay asleep anymore. To do so makes me an active accessory to serial rape and murder.

Additional reflections…I guess I can see why this sermon turned public opinion against him and got him labeled a communist. It’s because of this: “Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy’s point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves.” He tried to see into the hearts of the enemy – and practically nobody could hear the message, the truly Christian message. This struck me SO deeply, on a macro as well as a micro level. This is the way, the truth, the method. It really helps me and grounds me in the work I’m doing with my husband. I have been dismissing his point of view, making him wrong, and treating him like an enemy. And it’s not been working! There is another way! A few other quotes that inspire and ground me: “A time comes when silence is betrayal.” Silence in our personal relationships and in our institutions is killing Black and Brown people every day. Also, the way he urges us to move “against all the apathy of conformist thought” and to move on even if we are “mesmerized by uncertainty” – he acknowledges here the mountains we have to move and the difficulty of keeping ourselves motivated. Finally, he encourages “firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history.”

Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on this sermon. I had never encountered it before, and it is beyond powerful. Sorry for the wall of text, I welcome dialogue and feedback.

To answer your questions; before I read the speech I didn’t know what to think of his choice. I didn’t know what he would have to say on the Vietnam war other than he was against it. I wondered if it was worth the cost (and even as I was thinking this, I knew that Lace would absolutely say it’s worth the cost. But in my heart of hearts I could not give a resounding yes). As I was reading it, as I realized the magnitude of what he laid out, I knew, in my heart of hearts, in my bones and in every fiber of my being that he was doing the right thing. And I also knew that Lace models this same behavior. Praxis lived to the core, in every cell.

Before I read, it did I think the inequities of the system colored his view of the military? Yes, I believe it would have. After reading it, this thought was confirmed. But he went so beyond this to drill down to the heart of having Black and white people dying side by side for a nebulous cause when they were segregated back home. His descriptions of these glaring truths were irrefutable.

I have been thinking a lot about the information we are presented with – what is easily accessible without digging, what is encouraged. After a discussion with a friend I’m thinking about COINTELPRO and Fred Hampton, and I told him that these past seven months feels like choosing the red pill in the Matrix. And it has to be a choice, a continual choice to go beyond the narrative fed to me. And before this year I only ever skirted or flirted with the red pill. It’s been there if I’ve wanted to take it, at least since the age of 18 when I was out of my parent’s house and a legal adult. It was a choice through non-action to accept what was spoon fed and to never try to understand the many injustices in our country beyond a surface level.

I found the text of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s to be so searing, so cutting to the bone, that I had to take it in chunks while my mind processed it. He laid the truth of our nation bare for anyone who was willing to hear him. I was struck while reading it, as Michelle Alexander also points out, how relevant it still is. How if you substitute this war for that, he might as well have been preaching today. And that’s gut wrenching, because it shows how little our society has progressed in the past 54 years. What Dr. King said about people who start to break the silence find speaking being the vocation of agony, that we must speak with humility, but we must speak – that has resonated and rattled around in my brain since I read it, and keeps coming back to me. It was an explanation to others who may have disagreed with him, and a call to all of us to do better, and to, as Michelle Alexander also encourages, to break our silences.

Query 1: Regarding whether King’s choice was self-serving – Did King believe that the Vietnam War went against the core values of the movement he created? If the Vietnam War went against the core values of his theology and praxis, and the only way to be in true alignment with his theology and praxis was to voice his opposition to the War (something which I would presume he viewed as unjust and unnecessary violence) – then, I think he was being true to himself and not self-serving. Even so, the difficult choice remains – (1) Do not preach about your opposition because that will maintain the popularity of the people, and any sort of large-scale societal change needs the support of the people; or (2) Speak up, even if you lose the popular vote, because this particular war contradicts the very foundation of your movement and the societal change that you strive for, so it would be inauthentic and false to remain silent. There is a lot of weight behind that decision. King was fighting for racial justice, which, especially during that time and even still today, is a life-or-death matter.

Query 2: Even if I had not read the speech, I would say with certainty that the racialized aspect of the war did influence King’s view. The war was yet another decision by the American government that would result in the disproportionate loss of black and brown lives. In addition, there is blatant racial injustice in that black people are expected to risk their lives to fight for freedom for the citizens of another country when they are killed for fighting for their own freedom.

Query 3: What have I destabalized in my walk? It’s difficult to put into words, but I have destabalized some structures in my heart and mind, especially the white supremacist tendency to think I know everything. Yet, walking with cultural humility is an ongoing walk. I have also destabalized some relationships. I have destabalized my tendency to avoid conflict although this is still ongoing work. I have destabalized the tendency to simply accept the “default,” predominantly white way of thinking. I intentionally seek out black and brown expertise in as many aspects of my life.

Query 4: The fact that this very integral part of Dr. King was intentionally kept from me, whitewashed and erased – well, it fits the pattern of the rest of history. When it comes to African-American history, culture, and legacy of the black and brown people who significantly shaped our history, we are given an incomplete picture. It is distorted and re-shaped into a history that makes white people comfortable. It leaves no space for discomfort or challenge or the need to continue the work. Here’s the version of black history that most of us grew up with: For 200 years, blackp were slaves. The heroic president Abraham Lincoln, along with a handful of “good whites” in the North, believed slavery was wrong, so we fought the Civil War. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamationeathe good whites defeated the bad whites, and black people became free. There was the period of the Jim Crow laws, and racial violence occurred up until the 1960’s. But then Dr. King came along, preached peace and “I Have A Dream,” and just like that, racism ceased to exist. That’s the whiffewashed version most of us get, and that’s the version that most Americans cling to. The fact that King’s Riverside Sermon was not taught to us (as was his more palatable sermons) is just another example of whitewashing history. In my opinion, we continue to see evidence of the incredibly devastating impact of whitewashing history. We are confronted with police murders of black and brown people, and many turn their faces in denial. Many Americans would say they are not racist yet they balk at Black Lives Matter. Our Capitol is stormed by a terrorist, white supremacist, Neo-Nazi, power-hungry coup, and we say “This is not who we are, America”. I wonder how much of this blatant denial stems from the lack of awareness of pieces of our history that were kept from us.

Query 5: Where is my agency?

Around the time I entered college, I began to develop the courage to expand my thinking, (hold and voice my own opinions, and learn to disagree with others. It was around that time, that I would have had full agency in the knowledge I acquired. There were timet I chose to remain blissfully ignorant, to avoid conflict, and missed opportunities to engage challenging conversations about political or social issues. There were times I was guilty of doing this. With knowledge being unlimited in many ways, I believe that my lack of knowledge in a particular area comes from choosing not to engage – therefore, the agency lies with me. In this pivotal sociopolitical moment, Americans today have full agency in choosing to confront or ignore the realities of racial injustice.

I am having trouble posting my other comment, so I’m going to post this one, my answer to the provocation in the video first: Could the same sermon be delivered today with even greater relevance?

Much of the same sermon could be given today. We can rejoice that so many people are speaking out against police brutality.

I don’t know the situations with our troops overseas, but the American military industry definitely sucks money away from our domestic social programs which are sorely neglected. There are constantly arguments that we can’t spend money domestically, but military funding keeps getting approved. The soul of America still needs saving. America still chooses the wrong side of the world revolution. A big one right now is America is on the wrong side of the global revolution for climate justice which is an aspect of racial justice. America needs to admit to being wrong about so many things, to hold itself accountable in the face of the world, but does not have the maturity to do that. Our democracy is not healthy because we have yet to undergo a radical revolution of values, to choose people over profits, to accept accountability, to not use power to force people and nations to do what we want them to do for our economic benefit. We still need to find unity with our common humanity which is not a solution on its own, but a part of the rest of the radical world revolution.

I want to reply to the first question – I’ll return as I work my way through the content.

I have mixed feelings, I think that King’s decision to speak out and speak clearly about the reality that he was seeing was a sign of his own praxis and knowing we needed to see clearly the problems, and the interwoven nature of them. I’m sure he knew his role and impact, and that he could use words to make us see things, to stop living in denial.

Politically, I wonder if Dr. King’s choice was wise – putting continued traction for the civil rights movement in question, was a big risk. I think of the Bible verse about being sent in amongst the wolves, and the need to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves… as I reflect on that, it seems to give a possible permission slip to not say difficult things, but to use “be strategic” as an excuse.

But as I sit here thinking I wonder if Dr. King knew all too well that without the “moderate whites” willing to do the work, political expediency was not really an issue – and instead it was crucial to speak truthfully and powerfully, and showing the BIG picture was most important.

I’ll keep reading, watching and walking. I’ll return to my comment once I’ve had more time with the content.

Coming back having read the Riverside sermon itself. I see the pinnacle of integral praxis. Dr. King has been on a mission to restore civil rights to Black people, and he reminds everyone that while that is/has been the mission, the underlying ethos is for *universal* justice and self-determination and prosperity, and that when other issues come before us, we cannot stay silent. As far as I know, Dr. King did not change his mission to become an antiwar activist per se, nor did he make public statements like this about too many other national and international issues. But although white people especially claim the privilege of a narrow moral vision, it is our human obligation to speak against injustice wherever we see it, whenever we see it – to be universal in our ethos and in our praxis, as Dr. King was.

I think King’s choice to speak out about the Vietnam war was because he couldn’t continue to go against his values and not say anything. He saw the connection between the civil rights movement he was leading and the war. It’s an example of applying our ethos at all levels and not just on one thing we’ve decided to focus on. Do I think that the fact that Black people were sent to the front lines more often, died more often in comparison to white people, and got fewer benefits affected King’s stance on the war? I think it did but he didn’t focus on it in his sermon. I’m not sure why except maybe to keep the focus on the harm it was causing to the people of each nation because he talked about the war hurting the American poor. What have I destabilized? By participating in direct actions since joining Lace on Race and in some local protests I’ve acted in collective groups to have some destabilizing effects, but at the individual level I’ve really only destabilized myself. I’ve had conversations with my partner, family and friends but they have been pretty easy routes to agreement rather than destabilizing. What comes up for me knowing that MLK’s sermon and other information has been kept from me? Mistrust and now that I realize that so much has been suppressed, I’ll continue to seek info and listen to Black and brown people to understand the whole/true stories/histories.

I noticed Ruby talking about intimacy as a key way to bring about the revolution against white supremacy. She spoke of creating leaders on the ground and not around heroes and of the economic and social power that we have and can put to work everyday instead of waiting around to vote. Ruby also pointed to use of non-violence. All of these keys to a successful movement are things that Lace is guiding us in towards our North Star.

I just finished watching the video and reading the sermon. I did not read the questions before hand and so, can not comment on question 1 before being given context through watching the video discussion.

1) Dr.
King acted righteously and unselfishly and in congruence to his religious
and moral beliefs. He spoke out for a higher purpose, putting personal
benefits aside as many others did regarding the Vietnam war before him. Sales
mentioned Mohammed Ali – he spoke up and refused to participate and he was
sentenced to 5 years in prison and was banned from boxing for three years.
Alexander stated that Ruby Sales was insistent that they referred to Dr.
King’s address as a sermon vs a speech and that really helped me understand
that he was coming from a place of morality and humanity vs political
gain. To speak against the actions of the government was essential for
King to be in alignment with his convictions.

2) I
cannot say purport to say what colored Dr. King’s stance although given
his work towards racial justice, I can only imagine that it was recognized
that Black veterans would not garner the same respect, care, support and
love as white veterans . He did speak about how Black men were sent to
fight alongside white men with whom they could not even attend the same
school with or live in the same neighborhoods. Black men were being asked to lay down
their lives to fight for a government who did not fully recognize their
humanity. Dr. King spoke about how the poor (in general) were being sent
to fight in higher proportions relative to the rest of the population and I
wonder if that was an inference to a disproportionate number of Black men
being sent based on the higher percentage of Black people in poverty.

3) When
Ruby Sales said that white supremacy was destabilized without firing a
shot, it was inspiring to me. It took coordinated and relentless effort to
align enough people to rock the system. What has been destabilized in me
is the fact that I thought I was a safe person and outside of the problem.
I never ever looked at myself as part of upholding white supremist systems
– the concept of either being racist or anti-racist was not something I
even considered and I know there are so many white women like me that feel
they are on the “right side” of things and that their internal
interrogation or actin is not required. It is going to take a movement of
the masses, lead by Black and Brown people, to dismantle the structures
that continue to oppress and murder marginalized people.

I will return to answer the remaining queries