The Black Lives Matter movement has weathered a long list of attacks in 2015 similar to other movements for radical change of the past. The list includes attempted murders and physical attacks against its participants; digital surveillance of both participants and sympathizers; legal harassment to intimidate and immobilize political activity; routine harassment that is pretty par for the course; outright lies which, again, is pretty par for the course; as well as the ludicrous … whatever you want to call it.
Likewise, “the matter of the disappearing signs” is also a form of harassment against the movement; similar to the attacks listed above, it also says a lot about the perpetrators. Within the last month, signs and banners saying “Black Lives Matter” have been stolen from both private homes and and church communities supportive of the movement. Not only were two yards signs and an 18-foot banner taken from Lora Venesy’s home in Concord, Massachusetts, but the reported thefts somehow did not make it into the town’s police log given to the local paper. According to Concord Police, that was an oversight. They say a total of seven signs saying “Black Lives Matter” have been nabbed in the city.
Five banners total have disappeared from churches and Quaker buildings in Maryland over the past three months. In Annapolis, about 200 people came together on Sunday, December 20, to put up a new banner at the Annapolis Universalist Unitarian Church. Once they finished, they marched down the road a bit to St. Philips’s Episcopal Church and put up a new banner there too. St. Philips’s had their “Black Lives Matter” banner stolen in October.
Rev. Randy Callender, the pastor at St. Philip's, led those in attendance in a service after the new banner was hung:
"We promise to carry today's ideas forward into the world with openness, vision and a little bit of daring," he said. We stand before God because truths that should be self-evident are not so evident in our country.
And the Prayer for Social Justice was recited, "...that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear and hatreds cease…"
Pastor Ryan Sirmon of the Annapolis United Church of Christ ... said his congregation reacted to St. Philips' call to action.
"It was a catalyst for us to take a stand in solidarity. We have come to realize all lives cannot matter given the current (conditions) that black lives are not treated the same," he said.
Part of his church's journey included working with the historic Asbury United Methodist Church.
"It drove the conversation for us that many of us are living on privilege and how deep the disadvantages are to be black, brown and poor."
Can I get a “Praise The Lord”?
As 2016 creeps up on us, there are silver linings to be found. In the Chicago area, a local business has proudly displayed its support of the movement. The Pockets pita sandwich shop in West Ridge, Illinois, has hung a banner across the awning of its shop. The owner, David Litchman, said initially the sign brought in a couple of complaints from local racists, including one person who entered the store and almost yelled at his employees. Lichtman says he removed the sign but:
“ ... quickly after he removed it, he said Pockets became "flooded and inundated" with calls and emails showing support for the sign.
"People were proud that we had done it, and asked if we would rehang it," he said. "We got inundated with very personal notes about how this was a great thing we had done, and it was an important issue, and so forth. So I felt I wanted to continue to support the community."
Litchman said he knows there will always be some who disagree, but he, too, believes the "Black Lives Matter" sign is symbolic of what he, and many of his customers, believe.
"Once they found that it came down, and the circumstances behind why it came down, they rallied behind it," he said.”
Hallelujah. Amen.