January 17, 2025 Hello , One theme kept returning this week to challenge me. You may disagree. Let me know if you do. But people are saying humility and non-judgment are key to changing direction in our divisive times. Two examples. Earlier this week, leaders from diverse faith traditions got together to discuss Building Moral Leadership to Address Christian Nationalism. They agreed it will be essential to lay aside disagreements to confront Christian Nationalism, not between Muslims, Christians and Hindi, but among their own members. And they discussed leaning into the discomfort and non-judgment of moving beyond their own social and economic strata to reach the people being recruited into Christian
Nationalism. Next example. I ran across people in the State of Montana who don't agree on a lot of things, but have come together to restore and preserve the land which they all love. “In this increasingly divisive and combative socio-political climate that we are in, ...people of all backgrounds
can come together and make effective change," says Swan Valley resident Rebecca Ramsey. "...no matter what happens on the political stage, we are all integrated into these ecosystems together." If you want to know more about interfaith efforts to identify and address Christian Nationalists who may be sitting in the pews in your own congregation,
lots on that in the News & Links section below. But now, an incredible reach across the divide, a meeting between America's first Black congresswoman and the man Dr. Martin Luther King called the “most dangerous
racist in America.”
Fight and Build Bridges, too!
Shirley Chisholm had to be a fighter to win election in 1968, the first Black woman in the United States Congress. When she got there, she kept fighting, her first congressional speech criticizing President Richard
Nixon for cutting welfare and education budgets to fund the war in Vietnam.
Shirley Chisholm in 1972, photo courtesy Library of Congress. But "Fighting Shirley" as some called her,
knew when to take off the gloves. She was a strong believer in cross-party collaboration, in alliances and coalitions to draw together as many supporters as possible, regardless of gender, race, or political persuasion. Passionate about racial equality, she could also be conciliatory with the white political establishment, at one point finding common cause with Alabama segregationist George Wallace who shared
her concern for people stuck at the bottom and lacking to move up. She called "compromise the highest art" believing in her strength to bridge differences and bring legislative factions together. “I can talk with legislators from the South, the West, all over,” she said.
Campaign poster, Library of
Congress.
Shirley Chisholm made a run for the US Presidency in 1972, becoming the first woman and African American to seek the nomination of a major party. One of nine candidates vying to head democratic ticket and face the Republican incumbent Richard Nixon, she made a deliberate
effort to bring people together. In the primaries, Chisholm faced Alabama Governor George Wallace, probably the most well-known
racist and supporter of Jim Crow in the country. After his 1963 landslide gubernatorial win, he declared, in words written by KKK member and Wallace staffer Asa Earl Carter, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” Wallace made it his mission to stop civil rights progress throughout Alabama, gaining national notoriety when he stood for more than half a day in front of the entrance of the University of Alabama, blocking the path of black students.
George Wallace refuses a proclamation from President Kennedy urging him to step aside and allow
the African American students to enroll at the University of Alabama. In 1972, during his third gambit for the US presidency, Wallace was shot at a campaign
stop in Maryland. He barely survived the five bullets, one lodged in his spine ever after, taking away his ability to walk. While he was lying paralyzed in the hospital
he had a surprise visitor, Shirley Chisholm. Wallace was more than just Chisholm's a political rival. “When I was growing up
in Alabama, George Wallace was considered the devil,” says Maurice Hobson, a historian at Georgia State University, where he specializes in African American studies. That one act of empathy and non-judgment had long ranging consequence. Wallace repudiated his racist views, apologized publicly and personally to Blacks like John Lewis, appointed historic numbers of African Americans to state governing boards in his final term as governor and helped register Blacks to vote. Some see Wallace as an irredeemable villain, but his daughter Peggy remembered Shirley's hospital visit as a “real awakening,” the moment when her dad began to change. Take a look at this photo of Shirley Chisholm on the presidential campaign trail.
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm playing with children at South Central Community Child Care Center, Los Angeles, 1972. Photo by John Malmin, Los Angeles Times, Wikimedia
Commons.
Now, wouldn't humility like that look good on a president? You know, all of us are going to need to take action. Find your people, support one another, this is your moment in history to stand against tyranny.
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Sources https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/mrs-america-primer-shirley-chisholms-groundbreaking-leadership
Here's how to find out what you need to know about Christian Nationalism in the US. A new documentary BAD FAITH reveals how Christian Nationalist leaders have spread fear and anger for decades, distorting political issues into Biblical battles between good and evil. A reporter for Variety calls it "the scariest film I’ve seen in a long time" For white folks alarmed by the rise of Christian nationalism, a mouthy, practical guide to resisting, organizing, and holding conversations with your cousin Randy or anyone else who has been misled by White Christian nationalist ideas.
"Incredibly funny and, at the same time, concretely useful and urgently relevant. Mandatory reading for anyone needing an anchor, a lifeboat, and a laugh in this
stormy political moment." --Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn
In this time of significant danger and real possibility, a moral fusion
movement is necessary to revive and advance our most precious Constitutional and moral values. But this can only happen if those who are impacted link up with other moral leaders and people of conscience to break through the silos of our work and the divisions that have been wrought in our communities.
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