It's a good time to pick up this book again and pay attention to the details of a movement that succeeded. amazon.com/Bearing-Cross-… 1/7
Let's pay attention to the black lives of the Jim Crow south. You can still find wise story tellers who lived then and there to talk about what life was like. Work, church, family, discipline, hardship, 2/7
Many of them spent their time learning from the church to sing, listen, work together, serve each other. Some of the seniors I pastor today were formed by that culture. They are kind, respectful, generous, faithful. 3/7
What have many of the idealistic youth in the streets today been formed by? Taught to appeal to authorities for redress but also told to be their own authority. They are caught between amazon.com/Coddling-Ameri… and 4/7
They see pictures of marches and fail to understand how non-violent marches (prepared to absorb police brutality to earn moral credibility with a watching nation) are not merely performative nor simply expressive. 5/7
Successful civil rights marches had specific goals (not always reached) and identifiable, experienced leadership. They weren't out there imagining that if they express how they feel they will be heard by authorities disparage sometimes with cause. 6/7
They look on the outside and don't bother to ask "are we doing it right? You owe us what we vaguely demand" and have no understanding of how past generations achieved something profound. 7/7
@threadreaderapp unroll thanks
