Thanks for the Opportunity

It is a rare occasion on which my wife and I both get to speak of our commitment to the cause of African  American farmers.  This summer at our church, a variety of folks are invited to speak of their vocations or avocations, and the ways in which God is involved.

Charla and I traced the history of our involvement, told stories that illustrate the plight of farmers against the racism of the USDA, and placed all of these issues against the larger context of God's Kingdom Come, and the place that social justice has in the greater threads of the Christian movement.

Frankly, we were reminded once more of how the stories have impacted our lives. We think the audience was more than curious about the Cause.

So, thanks to Eddie Poblete, minister of the Central Church of Christ, Ada, Oklahoma, for inviting us to speak. My prayer is that more activists for the Cause have been found.

Auction Blocks and Courthouse Steps

For several weeks now I have had various words and tunes in my head that parallel auction blocks and sale of Black-owned farms on courthouse steps.  Not that these two situations are entirely analogous, but that they do have some curious and demeaning parallels.  "No More Auction Block" by Robeson, Odetta, and Dylan is the standard. At the end of the day, I may just add some lyrics to that haunting tune.

In the midst of doing some research on auction blocks, I came across the book, Bullwhip Days: The Slaves Remember. You can read a review here. It is not a warm-hearted read, but it is a "I need to know and respect and remember" read.  One remembrance that especially moved my heart and fits into the conversation about lyrics and tunes is one by James Martin.  Here he is in his own words:

The slaves are put in stalls like the pens they use for cattle--a man and his wife with a child on each arm.  And there's a curtain, sometimes just a sheet over the front of the stall, so the bidders can't see the "stock" too soon. The overseer's standin' just outside with a big blacksnake ship and a pepperbox pistol in his belt. Across the square a little piece, there's a big platform with steps leadin' up to it.

Then, they pulls up the curtain, and the bidders is crowdin' around. Them in back can't see, so the overseer drives the slaves out to the platform, and he tells the ages of the slaves and what they can do. They have white gloves there, and one of the bidders takes a pair of gloves and rubs his fingers over a man's teeth, and he says to the overseer, "You call this buck twenty years old? Why there's cup worms in his teeth. He's forty years old, if he's a day." So they knock this buck down for a thousand dollars.  They calls the men "bucks" and the women "wenches."

When the slaves is on the platform--what they calls the "block"--the overseer yells, "Tom or Jason, show the bidders how you walk." Then, the slaves step across the platform, and the biddin' starts.

At these slave auctions, the overseer yells, "Say, you bucks and wenches, get in your hole. Come out here." Then, he makes 'em hop, he makes 'em trot, he makes 'em jump. "How much," he yells, "for this buck? A thousand? Eleven hundred? Twelve hundred dollars?" Then, the bidders makes offers accordin' to size and build.----page 291.

These images must not be denied nor forgotten.

Shirley Sherrod, Modern Day Hero

I am not a news reporter. Neither am I an unbiased observer of these processes. Here are my stream of consciousness reflections of the past few days.

The news feeds came in rapid-fire. USDA official fired. Racism in the department still. Black woman resigns under pressure from USDA secretary and the White House. The woman is Shirley Sherrod, USDA's Director of the Georgia Office of Rural Development. She had previously worked with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund.

It has happened so fast that there is now a wikipedia page about Ms. Sherrod and the process.

Like you, I read those early accounts with interest. "There's more to this story," I thought. A former student posted me, "What do you think about this?" There's more to the story.

The short, edited speech reveals inner reflections and thoughts of a Black woman in White America helping a White family hold on to their farm when Blacks are losing their farms at an alarming rate. She sends the White family to a white attorney. This was in 1986.

Then, various pieces of the story began to emerge. A longer speech had been edited. Surely there is a political agenda behind that. A major news network picks it up unedited. She's fired. Compelled to pull off to the side of the road and send her resignation via Blackberry. The White House wants you to resign.

The outcry is huge. An acquaintance sends out a lengthy post to a large group of people, including me for some reason. The tenor of the post is "it's time to get over it," "discrimination is over in the USDA," "an appointed official cannot speak her mind so openly," and on and on it went. A friend sends a measured but intense response back with multiple themes of think more critically before you respond, get the facts, read the times, know the history, work for change, and other things. I'm lining up behind the latter.

The White couple attest to her support. They are at the center of the storm, baffled at the speed and pace and spin of the story that involves them. Ms. Sherrod helped them save their land.

The edited version of the speech is there, edited at a curious moment in the context of a larger speech. The larger speech is indeed longer. The cry is for her to be restored to her position.

The truth comes to light. She was reflecting upon her change of mind and heart and attitude, a shift away from a racist perspective. She told her story of triumph over bigotry. She rose to a higher place and space of professionalism and humanity. She joined in the fight to stave off the loss of small family farms.

She has a long history of fighting for justice, even within her own family and among her own friends. Therein lies a story that deserves even more interest. Her friends are sticking up for her. She has a personal story of injustice.

The agenda of the editor is exposed. Fox News scrambles to explain itself. CNN had it but didn't move on it until more information was revealed.

In systems theory terms, this is schismogenesis at its finest. Or at its worse.

The USDA secretary calls and apologizes. The President calls and apologizes. Hasty decisions are undone. Maybe. Ms. Sherrod gets to decide now.

I want to believe their sincerity, but the Pigford II class action suit is still unsettled. Congress has not found its way to fund the $1.15 billion settlement. Republicans are blocking the vote left and right. Farmers are dying. Farms are going on the auction block.

Shirley Sherrod has gone from villain to heroine.

For me there are several subtexts of this story. In the world in which we live, information and disinformation are sent in a heart beat. Pieces of a story are foisted upon us as the whole. Political agendas are racialized.

Inequities still exist. We are not far removed from "The Civil Rights Action Team" and its 1997 report of racism within the USDA. We are not removed from "The Civil Rights Implementation Team" and its 1999 report that the USDA had not moved fast enough. We are not far removed from Congressman Stenholm's comment that if someone is found guilty of discrimination, they should be fired.

He said, "I am confident that most USDA employees are implementing their programs in a fair and consistent manner and would not violate the civil rights of customers that they are charged with serving. However, we cannot deny that there is a problem at USDA. Currently, they are faced with at least four class action lawsuits, and U.S. taxpayers have been exposed to the payment of millions of dollars in settlements. The USDA employees that have brought about these claims should have been by now removed, if not, they should be removed."

I agreed then. At least I agreed to part of what he said, the part about employees should be removed. I agree now. I've yet to see the evidence.

In my relatively meager involvement with Black farmers and families since the mid-1990s, I have heard numerous stories of farmers and their battles against discrimination. Some stories were told on the record and are recorded in BFAA's Historical Archives. Other stories were told off the record, not for public scrutiny. Others have been told in informal conversations at land loss summits. Others wound up in litigation. Some have been told on these pages. The one most compelling was that under oath an official both lied and was guilty of forging documents. He was forced to move over to another county. A year later he was promoted to the state level.

There are multiple subtexts to this story. Here is one that is of deepest interest to me.

I find it inescapable that a Black woman is forced to resign. I find it inescapable that I have not heard of Whites resigning. Maybe I just missed those stories, but probably not.

The whole story is out there. It is out there somewhere. Maybe we will all get it some day.

God forbid that the story remain a secret.

Black Soil: African American Farmers' Struggle.....

This volume has been on my shelf following a trip out to Tillery, NC several months ago. It has intrigued me for a while, demanded my attention, but only on this cold, wintry day have I felt compelled to pull it off the shelf and read through it.

Glad I did.

Louis Andreas Michaelsen, a journalist from Denmark, raised on a small family farm, received a degree in American Studies from the Center for American Studies, University of Southern Denmark, in 2008.

His masters thesis is an interesting read: "Black Soil: African American Farmers' Struggle from Emancipation into the 21st Century."

It covers the current landscape of the challenges for Black farmers. It also covers the landscape for African Americans from plantation to Pigford and beyond. He addresses both sides of institutional racism. He interviews four important figures in the Black farmer struggle, two I've met, one I know well, one I'd like to know better, and two I'd like to meet some day. My path with Lloyd Wright, Former Director, USDA Office of Civil Rights, crossed in August, 2007 at a DOJ/USDA mediation hearing in Washington, DC. My life has been intertwined with Gary Grant, BFAA President, since early 2005.

Among things that make Mr. Michaelsen's thesis an interesting document is his liberal use of photos throughout. While a thesis done in American universities would not allow this sort of personalization, his work permits photos of those interviewed to be placed in key places of text. I think that is a great juxtaposition of narrative and persons.

Beyond this, his appendices are both personal and historical. Newspaper articles about Blacks moving from the farm to the city, census documents, and correspondence between Wilkins of the NAACP and Freeman, Secretary of Agriculture, and other historical pieces, are fascinating.

Both personal and moving are other documents. Documents between the Grant family and the USDA, one in particular that was the "Final Resolution Agreement - Matthew Grant," signed by Lloyd Wright on March 2, 1998 and by Matthew Grant on 3-4-98, and witnessed by Barbara Demery and Timothy Burke, was especially interesting and historical. It should have settled the Matthew and Florenza Grant case v. USDA. Documents that follow from the hand of their son, Gary Grant, show that matters were not settled. To this day they remain unsettled.

Finally, Appendix M contains printed materials from the funeral of Florenza Moore Grant, wife of Matthew Grant, and mother of Gary Grant. She passed in 2001, four years before Charla and I met her family. One line reads, "In her own right, for almost 80 years, Florenza was the sunshine of our world, the courage of our strife, and the dazzling superior mother in the Grant 'House By the Side of the Road.'" We have stood on several occasions at their burial site on the Grant family farm.

We were moved the first time and we were moved the last time. We will stand there again, if the Lord permits.

So, thanks, Louis Andreas Michaelsen for this important work. It deserves to be read and reviewed often.

The Time for Action is Now: LA Times Editorial, February 8, 2010

What does it take for a farmer to get the federal government to make good on a promise – particularly if it’s the U.S. Department of Agriculture and it involves restitution for years of racial discrimination in rural America?

Patience. A lot of patience. And when that runs out, rallying for some help from Congress and the White House.

The current brouhaha dates to 1999, when the USDA reached a settlement with black farmers in a discrimination case that alleged that the agency had denied federal loans, disaster assistance and other aid to certain farmers because of the color of their skin. (The agency is still fighting similar class-action suits filed by Latino and Native American farmers.)

The USDA approved about 15,000 claims and paid out about $1 billion, but has refused more than 70,000 claims that were filed after the October 1999 deadline. Farmers said they were given no notice of the deadline.

The two sides have been fighting ever since. And despite a fairly scathing slap by the Government Accountability Office a few years ago, and President Obama more recently pledging to add an additional $1 billion-plus to the settlement fund as part of other Congressional bills, the cash still isn’t getting out to these farmers.
So the farmers are shutting off their tractors and taking their frustrations to the streets. This week, the National Black Farmers Assn. has been staging rallies across the South, trying to bolster support. It might be a tough sell, given the current state of the economy. They’re planning to wrap up their campaign with a national rally on Feb. 15 in front of USDA's main offices in Washington.

-- P.J. Huffstutter

"Good Hair:" Let It Speak for Itself

Chris Rock is apparently walking out on thin ice in some circles. From his daughter's pleadings to his research and interviews, and now to this documentary, he is pulling aside the veil of secrecy between some and others, but not so between others and others. Hair care is a multi-billion dollar industry in this country, for African Americans and for others of all genders and ethnicities. It's both humorous, engaging, moving, and informing.

On the white side, just look sometimes at the lengths that we men will go to do keep, replace, or make younger our hair, and that's just on the male side of the spectrum. I'll have to ask my wife about the female side of the equation.

In the meantime, I've watched and listened from the side lines the issues that Rock addresses in this documentary. It's been a learning experience, and it's time for all of us to learn more out of respect, decency, and all. Let me know what you think about this trailer and/or the documentary.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Farmer

This morning you came to mind as I read Psalm 103.

I was reminded of our conversation several months back as we sat in your kitchen there in your home not far from the Raleigh/Durham area. You were willing to talk with me, a researcher from a small west Texas university about your struggles with the USDA.

I knew I was an unwelcome guest when one of your sons came in asking "who is the clown" who parked in the middle of the drive way. My car was not in the middle of the drive way, Mr. and Mrs. Farmer, but that question served notice that there was an unwelcome guest in your home. That unwelcomed guest was me. I suspect he was trying to protect you from people who look like me. I am a white man, and I was a stranger to you and those who loved you.

I took no offense at the harshly tenored question. You were then elderly, and now even older, and an honorable son would not want his parents to be further wounded and disadvantaged by anyone. His tone and his words did put me on edge, and justifably so.

During those early moments of the interview, and even later toward the end of the interview, you commented Mr. Farmer, while Mrs. Farmer stood over against the refrigerator in the kitchen, that "He will take care of things. Pay day some day. God will take care of those who hurt people."

Then an older son came in. Mrs. Farmer, you had called him to notify him that the interviewer was there and wanted to talk to him as well. He challenged me left and right, didn't he? I personally had done no wrongs to you or to him, but "my people," those of us whose skin is white had harmed all of you. Those of us whose skin is white who live and work in positions of power and privilege had indeed harmed all of you.

You had lost your farm. You like other black farmers had been shoved to the back of the line in terms of programs and policies within the local county FSA office, a division of the USDA. Because your skin is darker than other folks, they saw you coming, ignored you, made you wait, altered your farm operation plans, and then gave you less than what you needed, and later than you could use. Then the unspeakable happened, a disaster year occurred, like it did to other farmers, yet they received disaster relief funds that saw them through, and you were not afforded the same opportunity.

There was a lot of hurt and anger, tears and sadness, and bitterness and rage that day. Some of your kin could have died. They have heart conditions. Yet they remain true to God.

They believe similar things as did the writer of Psalm 103.

I hope you all are right, that God will settle the score, that in the end things will work out right.

I only wish, Mr. and Mrs. Farmer, that you owned your land, and that your sons worked the land you and they owned.

I still remember that day in your home, Mr. and Mrs. Farmer. That day is indelibly printed in my mind and in my heart.

I still remember.

If you want a good summary....

If you want a good summary of the issues that Black farmers have faced and are still facing, check out this article in Colorlines by Jessica Hoffman. It's a real story about real people facing real challenges.

Save the date! 11th Annual Black Land Loss Summit, Tillery and Whitakers, North Carolina, February 20-22, 2008. More information to come!

I Was There...

I was there...watching on television, actually two televisions, in a crowded room at the Health Care Authority, reciting the Lord's Prayer with others, marveling at the moment of the Oath of Office, and reveling in what this says about America. This was history in the making. Had been for a couple of years.

I was there...not in person but in spirit. Mall. DC.

I was there...during the days of the Jim Crow South, when the n-word dripped like slime from the lips of myself, friends, and family. When there were separate bathrooms, separate drinking fountains. When there were separate entrances to the small movie theater in town, just off Main. When the Klan was out and about but only in secrecy behind masks. When color of skin clearly defined where one lived, worked, worshipped.

I was there...when a father exclaimed, "No son of mine will ever go to school with no n*****!" When a father's black friend at work sat on the front porch and drank iced tea but never came in the house. When we'd feed the "hobo's" coming up and down the line.

I was there...when we "invited" our black brothers and sisters in Christ to a gospel meeting only to have them sit in the "colored" section of that little country church. That only after much debate.

I was there...when my friends called me "n*****-lover" because a black teacher believed in me and encouraged me to reach my potential. That at a time when he was a man without a people to whom to belong. Ostracized by the white community while he taught at the "white" and now integrated school, but not really fitting any more into his black community. A man driven, so I'm told to drink. He gave me the ingenuity award on several occasions. That I still value.

I was there...when the phone rang and the attorney on the other end of the line wanted me to consult with him on behalf of black farmers.

I was there...in Louisiana, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and North Carolina. Listening to farmers' stories of discrimination.

I was there...when students said, "I want to study with you." Four teams were formed. All making different contributions.

I was there...when the tests and trials came from people who wondered why I'd want to be there. Got flipped off. Only white face for days on end. Tormented by what I saw and heard. Still am. To this day.

I was there...when the USDA and DOJ tormented those people. Tantalizing them with hopes of a settlement and justice.

I was there...at the tomb of fallen warriors. In the rain. Holding hands. Sharing hearts. Molded by a cause. A righteous cause.

I was there...at the Land Loss Summit. Telling USDA officials and others what systemic racism does to people. They seemed surprised. I wasn't surprised that they were surprised.

I was there...today in Tillery. Friend was snowed in. Texts flying back and forth. Sent the words, "thinking of you and those you love and the cause for which you lay down your very life." Said he had a towel to dry his tears. Mine were shed more last night than today. Today was one of awe. No, I wasn't there, but I was "there." Reveling in the moment with him. Curious and amazed at what this inaugural moment must mean for him. Yearning to look at things through his eyes. And her eyes in Florida. And his eyes in Georgia. Their eyes in Dawson. There are a lot of "hims" and "hers" in the world.

I was there...in OKC, only Lincoln Blvd., with a bunch of other people who care about making the world a better place. Their tears, shouts, and emotions showed that they were "there" as well.

I will be there...praying for President Obama, First Lady Michelle, and for the First Children, Malia and Shasha. For wisdom. For courage. Stamina. For things that matter to the Lord and to me. For justice to reign. For God's Kingdom to come and for His will to be done. For the economic crisis to end. For wars to end. For jobs. Equality. An end to ceilings. Racism. Hatred.

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.

John Ficara is at it again...."Forty Acres and A Dream"

John Ficara is at it again. Previously, he published his perspectives of the plight of the Black farmer in book and video formats.

Now, two new releases, part I and part II of what you'll see below, reveal in a more in depth fashion the struggle of the Black farmer via the stories of people you'll see him interviewing.

"We Didn't Get Nothing:" The Plight of Black Farmers

The following article can be found at the web page for the Journal of African American Studies. Or, hopefully your local library can retrieve it for you at little to no cost. The piece lays out the historical context within which the current struggle for survival of the Black farmer is found. I'm indebted to Dr. Edward Robinson, professor at Abilene Christian University, for his support of this righteous cause. We'll write more about his works later this summer.

"Abstract The central thesis to this article is that blacks were intended to work the land, but never to own the land. The progression from working the land via slavery, to peonage, and to land ownership is explored. Africans arrived on American soil carrying with them a rich legacy in caring for the land, and while they did so in America, it was under the most onerous of conditions. Once freed, blacks became prodigious land owners, but with the onset of the twentieth century various systemic factors impacted landownership for blacks. These same factors along with mechanization, herbicides, government policy, and the courts all served to undermine farm ownership for black Americans. The Pigford Class Action Suit is central to understanding the complexities of the plight of the black farmer and the attempts of various advocacy groups to maintain black land ownership."

No Fear in DC and Beyond

A huge conference is scheduled for next week, May 12-16, as part of Whistleblowers Week in DC. For our readers who live in or near that area, I'd strongly recommend that you attend. It'll bring together a strong group of activists, farmers, and legislators. People we know from around the country will be there to speak about things related to the price that people pay for blowing the whistle on wrong-doers and wrongful acts. They will speak at the Tribunal on Wednesday 14th. People will be there to speak in particular of whistleblowing and the USDA and black farmers along with a host of other arenas of the federal government.

I hope it is televised on C-span.

The original bill was signed into law by President Bush on May 12, 2002 as the Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation of 2002 (No FEAR) Act. Here is the link to the document.

Here are some links for more information: http://www.w3conference.org/agenda.htm

Here is another link from Representative Sheila Jackson Lee from Houston, Texas that will spell things out about the conference: http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0428-28.htm

Per Congresswoman Jackson's press release, contact Yohannes Tsehai (Yohannes.Tsehai@mail.house.gov) in the Congresswoman's office or Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo (NoFearCoalition@aol.com) at the No FEAR Institute at (301) 320-3021 for more information.

She's been there

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity (along with 2 other colleagues) to talk about the work that the social justice teams here at ACU have been doing. It was an opportunity to discuss research, the situation with Black Farmers and the USDA, and the importance of taking therapy to advocacy on a micro and macro level in society. Most importantly, it was a time to educate others in the field of MFT about a group of individuals in our nation who are facing continued discrimination and hardship. After giving our presentation about the importance of addressing social justice issues not only in the therapy room but also on the broader societal level- the audience seemed to be stirred by the information. One man in particular raised several questions as to the legitimacy of the claims that discrimination has truly occurred. It is a difficult reality to accept that racism is still very much alive on individual and institutional levels, but I believe the way to change is through honest questions and conversations. I believe I was given an opportunity to be a soft voice of truth for this man- and perhaps others in the audience - about the need for acknowledgement and action against this problem. I believe this man was influenced. Perhaps he was able to take in a piece of what was said. And perhaps if just one more person acknowledges this discrimination, then I would say the presentation was a success.

Sarah Hugman
Justice Team III

"From Therapy to Advocacy, Principles to Practice," at TAMFT

Here are some interesting photos of interesting people who presented some interesting ideas recently. They grasp the larger issues of the Black farmer struggle and how it's embedded in our larger social context. They get it that injustice continues across our land. These are students in the MFT program at Abilene Christian University who have devoted their time and energies to putting their ideas onto the page and out into the public arena. The setting was the annual conference of the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Galveston, March 27, 2008. For those not in academic settings, the "poster session" is one in which they literally put up a poster with their ideas on it. They stand in front of the poster and engaged passers-by in conversation about it. Also, they presented their ideas in a larger research forum. From what I heard (I couldn't be there due to family matters), it was a lively presentation complete with a challenging question or two from the audience.

Here is what a few of them said about the experience.

Rebecca: "When I attended the Black Land Loss Summit I was overwhelmed and moved by the stories of struggle, racism and resilience. Their stories were embedded with multiple levels of factors that affected their landscape of discrimination and hardship. Communicating this within a conceptual model at the TAMFT Conference through words and graphics was complicated. Although their experiences were told, it was frustrating to not be able to relay the emotional sorrow I felt at the Black Land Loss Summit within a professional setting."

Kimberly: "An explanation of our conceptual model was sandwiched in

between our two other speakers in the forum. As a representative of the third social justice research team, I spoke about the various social structures at work regarding the issue of black farmers and land loss. Our diagram depicts several groups of concentric circles denoting the micro and macro levels of these structures. One group represents the government, another advocacy. There is one for the field of marriage and family therapy, and one is representing the black farmers. These various structures move throughout time with various levels of the system interacting with various levels of another system. The structures within their historical and cultural contexts. I told about one example where there was a collision of these structures. A few members of our research team were able to attend the 10th Annual Black Land Loss Summit where representatives from the USDA were present along with Advocacy reps. As the cultural context is still saturated with injustice, at these points of collision we endeavor to bring change."

Scott: "Presenting at the conference was both exhilarating and sobering. The thrill of presenting the stories that I have delved in for the last year to fellow therapists to help them understand the plight of the black farmer pushed me to work hard to honor their stories through our team’s efforts. A certain sadness followed the realization that many still do not understand or choose to hear the extent of the marginalization of the black farmers; even those with ears to hear can choose to block out the voices that challenge their schema. Clearly we live within the tension of celebrating the victories of those whose stories we tell and fighting further battles to keep the story from ending prematurely."

Michelle: "For the TAMFT conference I spoke briefly about social justice foci in curricular and co-curricular endeavors among COAMFTE approved MFT programs. A major component to my part of the presentation was emphasizing the importance of stimulating second-order change within MFT programs and the individuals comprising the program. Taking on matters of social justice, regardless of the group undergoing oppression, requires change within oneself as well as inspiring and seeking the amelioration of suffering and oppression through others. Being willing and aware of ways to incorporate diversity in an MFT program requires listening and learning from a wider array of individuals than before. I also emphasized the importance of incorporating diverse readings and other assignments that challenge the dominant culture and MFT models allowing for others to contribute to the theories and implementation of MFT."

Others spoke. Maybe we can get their words out here the next few

days or so.

Thanks to Jeff Emery, MFT at ACU student and professional photographer, for his skills in capturing these images.

New Deal, Resettlement, and the Real Deal

The people on this video mean a lot to me. I've chatted in passing and in depth with some of the people who are interviewed for this documentary. They'll tell the story of the resettlement era better than I can, so here it is. Enjoy, or rather experience some curiosity and then wonder what happened.

Video explaining the plight of the black farmer

Sometimes we need spoken words in order the grasp the gravity of a situation. So, here's a pretty good explanation of the plight of the Black farmer. Give a listen to this interview between Gary Grant, BFAA president, and BMSTV. You will find it more than interesting.

Reading list growing

Here are a couple of books that I'm beginning to wade through:

"Fire in a Canebreak: The Last Mass Lynching in America" by Laura Wexler

and

"The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction" by Charles Lane.

What are you reading that relates to the words and sentiments on these pages?

A few words from a sermon

The first twenty-four years of my life were years packed with fulfillment. I had no basic problems or burdens. Because of concerned and loving parents who provided for my every need, I sallied through high school, college, theological school, and graduate school without interruption. It was not until I became a part of the leadership of the Montgomery bus protest that I was actually confronted with the trials of life. Almost immediately after the protest had been undertaken, we began to receive threatening telephone calls and letters in our home. Sporadic in the beginning, they increased day after day. At first I took them in my stride, feeling that they were the work of a few hotheads who would become discouraged after they discovered that we would not fight back. But as the weeks passed, I realized that many of the threats were in earnest. I felt myself faltering and growing in fear.

After a particularly strenuous day, I settled in bed at a late hour. My wife had already fallen asleep and I was about to doze off when the telephone rang. An angry voice said, "Listen, nigger, we've taken all we want from you. Before next week you'll be sorry you ever came to Montgomery." I hung up, but I could not sleep. It seemed that all of my fears had come down on me at once. I had reached the saturation point.

I got out of bed and began to walk the floor. Finally, I went to the kitchen and heated a pot of coffee. I was ready to give up. I tried to think of a way to move out of the picture without appearing to be a coward. In this state of exhaustion, when my courage had almost gone, I determined to take my problem to God. My head in my hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud. The words I spoke to God that midnight are still vivid in my memory. "I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But now I am afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I've come to the point where I can't face it alone."

At that moment I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never before experienced him. It seems as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice, saying, "Stand up for righteousness, stand up for truth. God will be at your side forever." Almost at once my fears began to pass from me. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything. The outer situation remained the same, but God had given me inner calm.

Three nights later, our home was bombed. Strangely enough, I accepted the word of the bombing calmly. My experience with God had given me a new strength and trust. I knew now that God is able to give us the interior resources to face the storms and problems of life.

Let this affirmation be our ringing cry. It will give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a benign Power in the universe whose name is God, and he is able to make a way out of no way, and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. This is our hope for becoming better men. This is our mandate for seeking to make a better world.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love

A must listen

This link to a Bill Moyers' interview with Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, NJ, is making the airwaves and blog worlds these days. It's a must listen of a man who believes in living out his values and making the world a better place. You can also follow the text.

Here's the link: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03282008/watch2.html

I'd also recommend that you listen to and read the text from Obama's speech several days back. Many of you have likely already seen it but here it is, just in case:
http://www.barackobama.com/2008/03/18/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_53.php
This link has both sound and text as well.