"A Prayer for the Nations"

The following is entitled "A Prayer for the Nations," and was penned and prayed in 1918 by Walter Henderson Brooks.

As of old Jehovah's working
Out of his will, in every land,
And it runs through all the ages,
Like a weaver's hidden strand.

Centuries with God are moments,
And a thousand years a day;
Kingdoms rise and wane and perish,
Others come and pass away.

'Tis not wealth alone, nor numbers,
Justice makes a people strong,
Righteousness exalts a nation,
Victories to God belong.

Give us then, O God, thy blessing!
We rely upon thy might,
Gird our men, and make them heroes,
Glorify the Cause of Right.

From Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans, by James Melvin Washington, Ph.D.

Meeting Up In Memphis at AAMFT

Several of us from Teams II, III, and IV met up in Memphis, Tennessee recently at the annual conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. These young women and men are either graduates of the COAMFTE-approved training program in marriage and family therapy at ACU, or they hope to be come August, 2009.

The poster session, "From Therapy to Advocacy, Principles to Practice: A Story of Two Groups," is actually a work in progress of several of these social justice teams from ACU. So, within a "poster" context at AAMFT in which attendees walk past, take a look, stop to converse, and then move on to the next poster, we were able to talk to some people about the efforts that we have often talked about on these pages.

In this one, we engaged creative people, Aaron Long and Joshua Hinson of Ada, Oklahoma and the Chickasaw Nation, to help us to construct a meaningful poster that compares and contrasts narratives of African American farmers and the people of the Chickasaw Nation. While there are striking differences, there are some striking similarities, especially around devotion to the land and land loss.

Here are some of the people who helped put this together, Tim Parker, Michelle Finley, Kimberly Cherry, Rebecca Culver, Ruqayyah Samia, Ty Mansfield, and Daniel Haile. Let us know if you have questions about the poster or this event.

We must start with the young

We were just sitting at his dining room table, having a friendly conversation about things that matter to him. Many times things that matter to him come by way of the question, "Poppie, what about.......?" I love those questions. I can see his young mind working.

On this particular day the conversation was about baseball, and not just baseball, but about the Negro leagues. The conversation darted in all sorts of directions. He wanted to know. He wanted to know why Black baseball players were excluded from the same game as Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, and others.

Over on his family's dining room table was the book, "We are the Ship." He nodded in that direction, and we talked about the great athletes of old and how they played the game under difficult circumstances. He doesn't understand "Jim Crow," and lynching is way too harsh for his gentle heart, but he knows it happened.

Still he wanted to know why. He wanted to know how Josh Gibson would compare with Babe Ruth, or Hank Aaron, or Barry Bonds, or Mark McGwire. He is fascinated by what he knows of Satchel Paige and how he'd have done if he played all of his career in the major leagues.

He wants to know why it took baseball so long to integrate and how hard it must have been for Jackie Robinson.

For this young lad, it's about baseball and the love of the game, but it's also about justice and what is right.

I love those conversations. Now that we live in the same town, there may be more. I hope so. He and kids his age are the hope for tomorrow for our country. He has a younger brother, and I hope we'll have similar grandfather/grandson chats about things that matter.

Here is a drawing of one of his favorite players, Satchel Paige, posted here with his permission and the permission of his parents. It hangs on the wall in our office at the house. I hope you enjoy it.

GAO Report Says, "Significant Deficiencies"

According to this article out of Senator Tom Harkins' office, the General Accounting Office, the wing of Congress that investigates things says that Civil Rights efforts under the responsibility of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the USDA are pitiful. Not their word, but mine.

Tracking, adjudicating, failing to keep accurate data, and inadequately undertaking plans to address civil rights matters in the USDA are all deficiencies. Requested by senators on both sides of the isle, the report shows failures since 2002.

Here is a direct quote from the release:

"The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights has not achieved its goal of preventing backlogs of pending civil rights complaints, with some complaints still pending from the early 2000s.

In addition, GAO found that progress report from the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights regarding the extent of and resolution of complaints have been inconsistent.

The reports published by the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, required by law, regarding minority participation in USDA programs are unreliable and of limited usefulness. Furthermore, USDA has not taken the steps necessary to improve the reliability of the data.

The strategic planning of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights has not included the necessary steps to 'provide fair and equitable services to all customers and uphold the civil rights of its employees.'"

Here are the recommendations:

"A statutory performance agreement containing measurable goals and expectations in key performance areas.

An independent and empowered civil rights oversight board tasked with approving, monitoring, and evaluating USDA civil rights activities.

An effective ombudsperson, 'independent, impartial, and fully capable of conducting meaningful investigations of USDA actions.'"

Don't you think it's time for the USDA to get these things right? Maybe? Finally?

We voted, Mr. Obama. We voted.

We did, Mr. Obama. The trust of the majority of the people of this land is in your hands. Your grass roots effort is like nothing our country has ever seen before. At some point, we'll want to see you move from rhetoric to reality, from promises made to promises kept. You are the hope of a new generation.

We voted for you, every color dark or light, young or old, rich or poor, male or female, well educated or less so.

Now, Mr. Obama, what will you do for the Black farmers of our land? They are waiting. We are waiting. Many are old. They are dying as we speak. Their children and grandchildren doubt that they'll be treated any better by the USDA than were their parents and grandparents.

Is your election a sign of a new day for the people across the country? Has indeed the racial divide been bridged? Eradicated? Or the edges smoothed?

What about racism and drawing distinctions based on color in the halls of our hallowed institutions? Can we hope for change there? I hope so, Mr. Obama. We hope so.

We voted, Mr. Obama. We voted.

They came, they worked, they produced

Several weeks back on this blog I wrote with much enthusiasm about Ruqayyah, Ty, and Daniel coming to Ada. It's a 4 1/2 trip from Abilene, Texas to Ada, Oklahoma, but somehow they managed it with busy schedules, clients to see, things to read, papers to write, and their other obligations to manage. It was a packed weekend. We stayed up late, laughed, talked, and, of course, we had to show them the community and have them meet some of the people here in this community.

After a morning run for Ty, Daniel, and me, one of my wife's world famous breakfast casseroles, and a tour of the key spots of the city, we settled into an afternoon of thinking out loud. We all wanted to stay with the essential ideas of developing a conceptual model that engages structural and narrative theory, work of previous teams, and ideas related to racism in its various forms that emerge from institutions of power and privilege upon the lived experiences of people.

We were able later to engage the expertise of two professionals here in Ada, Aaron Long and Joshua Hinson, in putting together a poster that speaks to the ideas and concepts that we consider to be germane to the topic at hand. We expanded it a bit by adding a second group alongside Black farmers for the purposes of comparing and contrasting. We are of the opinion that it gives us something to think about, and something that should continue to stir us to action.

At the end of the day, institutions of power and privilege are still amongst us. Racism still is ever present. Decisions are made as to worth on the basis of skin color, and other de-personalizing things, and our world is the poorer for it.

Though I'm no longer at ACU, and no longer teaching in the MFT program there, I am pleased, very pleased, that these students opted to continue the work of Teams I, II, and III.

Here is what this group of MFT students at ACU produced.