Battling the Empire: George Floyd and Beyond

• It's beyond George Floyd
• It's beyond Sandra Bland
• It's beyond Zachary Bearheels
• It's beyond Laquan McDonald
• It's beyond Tony McDade 
• It's beyond Breonna Taylor
• It's beyond Tamir Rice

It's beyond the officers who commit these cold-blooded murders. It's beyond the officers who stand by and protect the one using the knee or pulling the trigger. It's beyond those in power justifying it while degrading the victims. It's beyond the unfair or lack of sentencing. It's beyond these 7 beautiful people mentioned above. It's beyond the thousands of known and unknown murders committed by the very ones who are paid to "serve and protect". It's beyond "I can't breathe", "16 shots", and "hands up, don't shoot!"

It's beyond, as these individual names speak of something far greater and deeper. These killings are just the tiny tip of an enormous iceberg. It's never just about the brutal murder of one individual by people in power. It also screams to the continued injustice and oppression that traumatizes and terrorizes poor people and highrisk neighborhoods every day - black lives know it, native lives know it, trans lives know it, immigrants know it, anyone who's marginalized knows it...

This revolution cannot stop. It can not be a fad that's gone tomorrow. Our fists must stay raised and our chants of "Black Lives Matter" must continue. As George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery fade into the background, as those who jumped onto the "hype train" flee and return to their safe places, we must remember that trauma and terror remain. As white supremacy relentlessly dominates, we must relentlessly fight for "justice to roll down like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream." 

My history is simple - I am a white man, I have privilege, I am from New Zealand, but I also regularly go into Cook County Jail and have been working with those experiencing homelessness in Chicago for over 20 years. I tell you this because my journey has helped me see the devastating reality of white supremacy every day. It's helped me realize there are 2 vastly different narratives in play, and we as white people need to be willing to put ourselves into the shoes of black lives, native lives, trans lives, and so on if we want healing and equality to truly happen.

The filmed lynching of George Floyd shocked the whole world. The reality that one officer can slowly torture and murder this man in broad daylight with his knee, while 3 other officers stand guard and protect their comrade. All of them ignored the crowd's cries for mercy and decided to brutally murder this wonderful man. It was savage. It was brutal.

There are 2 vastly different realities seen in this tragedy; there's those who tend to view this as a "one-off experience - a bad apple", and then there's those who *know* that this is not an isolated reality, but a very real traumatic experience that happens all the time. 

My journey has helped me hear from those who are homeless, live at CCO, or who have done jail time, and their stories are horrific and intense. Their trauma is real! They have experienced how the "powers-that-be" get away with whatever they want and never get punished, while they get slammed for no reason or something minor in comparison. These murders remind them of this country's racial disparity and inequality. As they watch these officers go on paid administrative leave, they can't help but think of their 18-year-old son in prison for marijuana, all the "stop and frisks" they've been through, the intimidating, the torture, the unfair arrests, the bias sentencing - I could easily go on!

When a white man gets killed by the police, it's wrong, it's heartbreaking, it's hard to see, but there isn't a weight of slavery, Jim Crow, and lynching resting on our shoulders. Let us also not forget about the weights and trauma Native Americans feel as they reflect on their stolen land. Our history, as white folks, doesn't have those never-ending stories of walking down the street, of being profiled, of being told we "fit the description", of being cuffed and slammed to the ground as they demand to see our IDs. In some neighborhoods, in certain places like CCO, nearly everyone has or knows someone who has faced police brutality like this. Their lives, at that point, rest in the hands and control of a fully armed person who can end their lives in a split second - it's terrifying, it's traumatic!

Due to an incident, I was once in a tiny room with 10 other people. A cop was there who told this young man to leave. He argues briefly because he wanted to stay with his wife, but as he gets up to leave, this officer cold-cocked him with a punch to his face. Within seconds, right before my eyes, there's a gun pointed right to the center of his head, and then his very pregnant wife lays over him crying and begging him not to shoot. I could see the officer's eyes - he had snapped! We were all pleading for mercy, for him to make the right choice - knowing how fragile life really is. Thankfully, the result wasn't a cold-blooded and unprovoked murder that happened right at my feet, but all of us were traumatized that day. 

Please understand this. It's all interrelated. There's a ripple effect. Tony McDade's murder is not just about a black trans man who was shot and killed by police in Tallahassee - it's about how white supremacy and racism have decimated neighborhoods and ruined so many lives. It's about homelessness, it's about a lack of jobs, it's about mass incarceration, it's about food deserts, it's about a lack of housing, it's about the "war on drugs", it's about healthcare, it's about gentrification, and it's even now about Covid-19. 

Why is there so much rage? Why are the cries for justice so loud? Why must this revolution continue? Because these murders symbolize so much beyond simply remembering the lives of Bettie Jones and Fred Hampton - it's not just a cry against an oppressive system, it's a cry for housing for the homeless, it's a cry for food for the hungry, it's a cry against the destructive tactics of gentrifiers, it's a cry for healthcare for the sick, it's a cry for prisoners to be released, it’s a cry against predatory lending, it's a cry for hope, it's a cry for true justice and equality. 

I’m ashamed to say that the white American church has been guilty of not only maintaining this disparity, racism, and inequality, but it has led the charge! It has done this despite John the Baptizer’s cry in the wilderness for a level playing field and Revelation’s beautiful images of a future kingdom where all come together as one! As the Apostle Paul testified, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." This beautiful image of diversity and equality is seen through the words and actions of Jesus and should be seen in his Church, yet we have not followed his example and have often been guilty of spiritualizing what we should be living out! This is a cry for justice. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” 

We, as the church, must follow the Kingdom’s call and resist the urge of being complicit with the empire. When Jesus said “follow me”, he didn’t just mean going to church and quietly live a good life. No! Following Jesus is a risk, it’s rebellion, it's provoking, it unsettles - his life wasn’t quiet or compliant! 

A life of following Jesus calls us to put ourselves aside and decrease so others may rise or get ahead. 

A life of following Jesus calls us to challenge and protest the empire. 

A life of following Jesus calls us to use our gifts and privilege to lift up the most vulnerable. 

The story of Jesus is about Someone who gave it all up for us - his supremacy, his privilege, his status, his power - he took on the role of a servant! When Jesus saw and experienced the blatant and systemic abuse of those in charge, he protested by overturning tables in the Temple, writing in the dirt to stop a public stoning, and by exposing their hypocrisy with words that ripped them apart. When Jesus saw and experienced the disparity and suffering, it hit him to the core, so he lifted up those who needed his healing touch - he violated all cultural norms as he spoke to those he shouldn’t have, healed on the Sabbath, fed massive crowds, and surrounded himself with “tax collectors and sinners”. These acts of love and rebellion caused him to be targeted and lynched in front of a jeering crowd - by those who were upholding and maintaining the empire. 

We aren’t only called to gloss over and marvel at this - the greatest love story of all time! We are called to follow him! We are called to do as he did!