Circle the chairs and lets form a snake line. Today's suggested topic is Rev. William Barber's call to action. And I have some suggestions below help you use the wisdom he shared with us at NN14.
This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour and all topics of conversation are welcome.
What is for dinner? How are you doing? What is on your mind. If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself beyond the fold in a comment.
I was in the front row as Rev. William Barber spoke at Netroots Nation 2014.
With in minutes of his start I knew this was a once in a life time moment for me. He validated every thing I have been working for in my political struggle in Vallejo. Ten minutes into his speech / sermon the tears were streaming from my eyes. By the end of the speech I was convicted, tried, and judged by his powerful message.
He drew a line he drew in the sand, only it is a circle. The "Snake Line" is the metaphor he gave me. Morality is missing word in my local vocabulary and I suspect it is missing in your vocabulary. But, the Reverend used it an a way that was inclusive and not divisive.
Each of us should be asking ourselves: How can I use the word morality in my local political struggle with the same effectiveness and outreach that Rev. William Barber has used it. George Lakoff tells us that morality is a contested word. And this observation is correct. It means one thing to the Right and another to the Left. (See: Moral Politics by George Lakoff)
As a progressive, in the current political climate, to mention morality in a political election struggle is only asking for trouble. Trouble from both the sides. Lakoff explains this in his book, but his book was only theory. A valuable theory because it set me thinking about the issue of morality in government years ago when we had the Lakoff fad about framing.
Theories are useful because they can sharpen our understanding of the world we live in and allow us to anticipate the future to keep us alive. (See: Global Insanity: How Homo Sapiens Lost Touch With Reality While Transforming The World.) As the Reverend spoke I actively listened to his wisdom and testimony through the lens of metaphor theory. (See: Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language by Sallie McFague.) Metaphor Theory is the starting place where I defend the use of of the word and concept moral in a political conversation with my friends at the atheist booth at NN14.
Last year I reached out to the Vallejo Evangelical community and supported a Black Pastor for city council. He carries some of the less extreme excess baggage from the dominion movement. But in his heart he doesn't believe it. And it was in the spirit of the Snake Line that we shared the campaign trail, bible study, and discussions of Planed Parenthood, and LBGT Rights. And it is in this spirit I look forward working on projects with him.
But at that time I did not have a word for the concept. Rev. William Barber in is own political struggle has now given me the missing words, vision, permission for what I had been instinctively doing biased on my research on metaphor theory.
At Vallejo City Council a few weeks ago Mayor Osby Davis read a proclamation declaring the City of Vallejo's support for our Vallejo Waterfront Weekend Festival I am on stage in the video below with members of the very groups that I had never talked to before because of wedge issues.
Two years ago my friend, Jon Riley Executive Director of the The Napa Solano Central Labor Council, said to me. We have to heal the divisions in our community. We have to find a way to work together and to this end he brought together a movement where we all agreed to put the fighting behind a work together. And this is one of our projects. And it is based on a snake line. To rise above the the snakes and just do the right thing fix the community center and help our communities foster children.
We all were called to rise above the snake line. I'm working in my Vallejo on a festival to raise funds to re-build the roof on our community theater and to raise funds to help foster children.
Lastly, my political activism last year exposed me to savage attacks on my beliefs and political actions as a LBGT man talking to a alleged Dominion Theology pastor. I was even blooded on Street Prophets about the issue. The good news is I'm rising above the snake line and by doing so the snakes will not bite me ever again.
What project can you think of, above the snake line, that will united all the members of your community?
Jonathan (linkage)
(Note: the Reverend called us to spread his message and bring the Moral Mondays message to other communities. So, I use Moral Monday in the title of the Street Prophets Coffee Hour as tribute to Rev. William Barber and his message. )