Let’s Talk About Nonviolence in America’s Apartheid South…
It’s time to flip the downward spiral up.
I recently returned from a three-week tour of South Africa on the Gandhi Legacy Tour—we followed in Gandhi’s footsteps where he was first inspired to begin the journey of nonviolent revolution, we followed in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela where he fought against Apartheid and led South Africa to freedom, and finally we met and talked with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his foundation, an almost surreal experience.
We also had the opportunity to visit the church where Desmond Tutu became the first black Archbishop of Cape Town. St. George’s Cathedral is known as “ ‘The People’s Church’ and for its role in the resistance against Apartheid.” The Tutu influence is everywhere. It is like an omnipresent compassionate veil over all of South Africa.
One evening while we were at a beautiful restaurant enjoying great conversations at dinner, I looked over and noticed a small standing card and donation cup in the center of the table which described a program called “Street Smart” focused in South Africa, designed to help street children with education, skills training, and family reunification. I read all the informtion on the card and at the bottom was the founding patron credit, who was none other than the grand Archbishop Emeritus Desmond M. Tutu. He is everywhere… It is truly amazing… During the trip, our Gandhi Legacy Tour group gave up three meals to help support Street Smart and we also purchased fair trade gifts to support the microbusinesses and artisans there. Desmond Tutu’s compassion touches everyone around him from the churches and communities he serves to his programs that help women and children, artisans, and peacemakers.
Helder Camara: “The Spiral of Violence”
Over the course of the Gandhi Legacy Tour, we met so many amazing people and heard stories of compassion, love and nonviolence — and one story stuck with me, I couldn’t shake it, and it was as if I were supposed to make this story part of my work and share it with others. The words I was inspired by came from the late Archbishop Helder Camara of Brazil: “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”
I was amazed as I learned more about Archbishop Camara who wrote a pamphlet entitled “The Spiral of Violence” during the Vietnam War and he urged the youth of the world to break the spiral of violence which plays out in three levels.
Here’s how he describes downward spiral of violence:
- Structural Violence;
- Escalating Rebellion;
- Repressive Reaction.
CLICK HERE to read “The Spiral of Violence” which is now out of print but still available as a PDF online.
Breaking “The Spiral of Violence” in the Apartheids of the World
We see these levels of violence playing out in America today and especially from our own Apartheid, in the American South. From the structural violence we see in our mass incarceration system and the poverty, racism, and oppression leveraged upon our core inner city minority populations by the wealthy and elite to the escalating rebellion we have witnessed in mass protests and civil disobedience in Ferguson, New York City, and Baltimore to the militarized police reaction to protestors who have had enough— we are seeing the Battle of Good and Evil play out stronger than ever right now.
Thinking of this “Spiral of Violence” Archbishop Camara spoke of during the Vietnam War, I was reminded of a speech I gave in regard to the violence and oppression I saw playing out in my own hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. When I served as the Administrator of the city department of Education, Arts & Culture, we held a summit in 2006 called “Connecting the Dots” addressing arts and social issues. In my opening remarks at the Summit, I spoke of a model of community based collaboration, an umbrella of sorts, to reach our young people before it is too late. The concept I shared then was called “Remember Your Dream.” It was about recognizing the fact that we are all connected. But if we don’t connect in a positive way now, we may connect later — only then it might be in the form of gang violence — with a knife or a gun. Either way, we’re connected. And it’s up to us to break the chain of violence and flip the downward spiral up.
My own hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee is what I call a “Battleground between Good and Evil.” It’s a mid-sized city that still acts like a small town, and the racism runs thick enough it can be cut with a knife. We find simliar battlegrounds in places around the country from Ferguson to Baltimore, and now Charleston. The actors and storylines are similar, the themes are the same.
The time is now for The People to wake up and take a stand. We must take action to stop these recurring events: the shootings, the deaths, and the destruction. We must get out of our comfort zones and use what ever resources are available to us to fight for good. We can use our social media to tell our stories, we can use our cameras to document what is happening, and we can use our dollars to choose socially-responsible products and companies, and actually do something to “Be the change you wish to see in the world” as Mahatma Gandhi reminded us. We can also participate in prayer vigils, marches, and protests, keeping our eyes open and being aware of upcoming events and activities in our communities that can make a difference.
Ask questions about the Systemic Violence that plays out through poverty, oppression, and mass incarceration in America. Ask questions about the “Military Industrial Complex” and the militarized police force that is emerging in America today.
As we look at the Apartheids of the World — from South Africa to Israel-Palestine to the American South and others — we are reminded that systemic violence, poverty, racism, prejudice, and oppression are the societal “cancers” that are destroying peace and quality of life on a daily basis for people here and around the world. If we do not stand up and speak out about these things, there will be no one left to stand up and speak out for us one day when we may need it most.
Let’s Talk About Nonviolence in America’s Apartheid South
Following the events in Charleston, there are a lot of people saying on social media, “Let’s talk about violence.” No. We need to stop talking about violence. We’ve talked about violence enough already. We’ve been immersed in violence in our news and in our entertainment and we are inundated with it on a daily basis and it’s desensitizing our youth as well as adults.
Let’s talk about nonviolence. Let’s talk about the legacies of Gandhi, King, Mandela, Tutu, and other nonviolent revolutionaries. Let’s ask ourselves: who will be the Gandhi’s of today? Let’s ask ourselves: Who will take a stand against violence and oppression and “Be the change”?
We are all connected and we are reminded of this by the inspiring words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who led the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s and his work continues to inspire social justice movements in America and around the world to this day, he said: “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere…”
#WeAreFerguson #WeAreNYC #WeAreBaltimore #WeAreCharleston
#WeAreThePeople #WeAreOne
#AllGodsChildren #AllGodsCreatures
#TheEarthIsALivingBeing #IAmGAIA
Peace + Love
-MC
