Lessons From a Civil Rights Leader
There is one surviving witness that stood on the balcony next to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was shot in Memphis, TN. over forty years ago. That witness, Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyles is the pastor of the church I grew up in, Monumental Baptist church. In that church, Rev, Kyles gave my mother her first job when she was sixteen years old, in that church my aunt directed the chorus, in that church both my sister and I were baptized when we were seven years old, and it’s in that church where my grandmother still attends services today.
I grew up a child of the American Civil Rights movement and learned everything the southern African-American church could teach you. Over the years as the exposure to Buddhism and mindfulness changed me and my beliefs, I found there was still a lot Rev. Kyles could teach me and all Buddhists about social justice and compassion. The following are the lessons this witness, an American hero, and civil rights leader taught me about Buddhism and compassion in the face of injustice and how it supports my Buddhist beliefs.
“It was a Moral Movement.”
Sitting in the church dining room at Monumental, after church service Rev. Kyles explained to me,
“The Civil Rights movement was not a political movement — it was a movement of morality. You don’t send a child out to protest for politics. You send them to make the world a better place.”
It was a movement driven by the need to be treated fairly and as human beings. Although the goal was not political the movement had political implications.
Lesson One: The promotion and cultivating of compassion mean Identifying suffering and doing something about it.
“Anger is a Natural Emotion.”
“Anger is a natural emotion.” Rev. Kyles tells me in between bites of baked chicken from the church kitchen. “It’s just not always the proper response (to social injustice).” Soft-spoken, kind, and with such a calm demeanor, it surprised me to find out that Rev. Kyles did become angry at much of the injustice and cruelty he saw during the movement. He explained that what is most important is the response that best brings about justice and dignity.
Lesson Two: Anger must be acknowledged, but not necessarily acted on. Acting on anger may keep us from our goals. Freedom comes when you confront that both anger and fear. It is then that compassion arises.
Taking Refuge
Sitting in that noisy dining room every few minutes a church member would come by the table offering food, information, or just to speak to “my pastor.” All would hug, kiss him, or tell me how much they cared about him. Always smiling, he turned to me and said, “We are a hugging, kissing church.” The Black church, spirituality overall, has always had an influence even in the weakest community. Is the Black church still a place of Influence and refuge in a world where it seems evil and suffering are growing?
“Yes, but it is much harder for pastors and spiritual leaders today. Things have become a lot more complicated. It’s still the center of a community, but that community has changed. Where else are people to go? Faith will make you believe anything is possible.”
Lesson Three: Strength and support come from the community or place of worship. Taking Refuge promotes morality, focus, and gives support. Faith creates hope and courage.
Dedication & Practice
We were talking about the four little girls who lost their lives in the Sixteenth Street church bombing September 15, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama; victims of racial hatred. How does someone not become angry and bitter at acts of such cruelty?
“Belief, spirituality has power, but change doesn’t happen overnight.” To be hit, called names and ridiculed without responding in a negative way is difficult, to say the least. “Compassion in the face of cruelty takes work, conviction, and training.” There is also a price you pay because of the psychological trauma of being faced with so much hate and cruelty. It’s a price many who marched and challenged Jim Crow still pay.
Lesson Four: Mental training and strength take practice. It will not just happen.
We have to transform our thoughts to change behavior and be committed to that transformation.
Change takes work and time.
