On The Dream Today
Newsletter January 16, 2023 Together, we're #keepingitsacred... Today, we celebrate the birthday of The Rev. Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the community assembled all around this visionary leader who worked for Civil Rights in America. We celebrate the progress they made. At the same time, we must also understand that white supremacy is still dangerously present. It has just transformed in its approach.
Many memorable images of rabbis standing shoulder to shoulder with King, supporting him, are present. He had been invited to synagogues and other Jewish gatherings to share the contours of his dream. He had marched with rabbis who clung to Torah with all their heart and all their might.
And, so, we ask, what Jewish values did they recognize as central to the struggle for human dignity for Blacks in America, and what are we doing in our day to further advance the cause? What are we doing to give equal opportunities to white children and children of color? To lift up society so that everyone can thrive? Because at the core, that is the Jewish value. To recognize that we are all created B’tzelem Elohim/ in the image of God. All loved by the same Creator. And when white supremacy wins, we all lose.
There are many challenges today. We discuss them at length in our Rosh Chodesh Racial Justice Book Review each month and have for the past two years. Our next one is this Wednesday at 10am PT/1pm ET- please register HERE to join us). We have read two of Patrisse Cullors' books-- both When they Call You A Terrorist, and and 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World: An Abolitionist's Guide.
Among many issues that she has identified is the one that has so significantly impacted her family: the problem of police violence. Officers are trained to dominate and suppress those with whom they engage. Even those involved in traffic accidents. Even those experiencing mental health episodes. Even in schools and parks. When a good counselor or team trained accordingly would be better suited to de-escalate and care for those experiencing such crises. She has worked tirelessly to transform the way we think about safety and to help those who need help, get help, from those best qualified to render it.
Nevertheless, January 3, 2023, LAPD officers escalated and dominated an encounter with her cousin, a father and schoolteacher named Keenan Anderson, after a traffic accident he was involved in. Have you seen the horrific footage? They initiated physicality twisting his arms and shoving their knees on his back while his face was slammed against the pavement, even though he was unarmed. Have you seen how he pled for help and was so scared and yet still they barked orders at him? And then they got out the taser to further threaten and terrorize? And then they deployed it, sending 50,000 volts of electricity to his body? That’s right: One cycle is 5 seconds yet they deployed it repeatedly. One application lasted 30 seconds with another one immediately following, even though there were 5 LAPD officers on him, one with an elbow on his neck, while he was lying on the ground face down with his arms held behind his back and he was articulating, "...they're trying to George Floyd me..." and pleading, "...help me." They then hog tied him at the ankles and knees and wrists, and only then did they call for medical assistance at the scene. He was finally wheeled away in an ambulance, and he died four hours later in custody of cardiac arrest. My heart aches for this precious life snuffed out and a family, students, and communities left with deep grief.
I wonder: if I had been in the encounter, as a white woman, and acted exactly as Keenan Anderson had, would they have treated me that way? No. They would have approached it with talk that de-escalated. They would have thought for moments before each one of those decisions to increase force. This had everything to do with Keenan’s race.
What can we do? First, we can to show up to grieve with hurting communities. I brought one of my sons to the vigil Saturday night in the pouring rain to light a candle with the community. In these moments, I listen and learn from the family what they would have wanted to see instead of what transpired. Can we join them in imagining another approach?
For instance, the one time in the footage that Keenan was calmer was when he saw that bystanders were encouraging him telling him that he’s not alone. Can we imagine someone coming in and sitting with him instead of standing over him with a gun? Of asking what happened with the traffic accident that he just experienced calmly and seeking to help instead of interrogating him and treating him as a suspect? Because that would be the difference between what a mental health counselor and an officer would do. If LAPD had given the right of way to mental health counselors, Keenan would be alive now.
It is a sacred obligation to create safety for all. And it is time to realize that safety does not mean more police. We need only be courageous enough to reimagine an alternative. Therapists and counselors, teachers and parents especially, I encourage you to help think about how we, as a society, can create safety for all.
This is the beginning of our work. The work that continues to dream for a better future the way Dr. King did. The racism of segregated lunch counters and drinking fountains has simply shifted and transformed into billion dollar budgets to surveil and patrol and intimidate communities of color. And it has employed sophisticated media campaigns to defend its practices.
Jewish tradition repeatedly tells us that no one should be above the law. That use of force should be a last result. That human dignity and life must be affirmed and preserved. King and the rabbis who famously surrounded him knew this. Join me as we do what we can to uphold these values in our broken world today. And may Keenan Anderson’s memory be a blessing. May this be of some measure of comfort to Patrisse and her family.
Together, we’re #keepingitsacred…. Rabbi Heather Miller Founder, Keeping It Sacred |
The above is an excerpt from a Keeping It Sacred newsletter. If you want to read the entire newsletter or any from our archives, please head over to: keepingitsacred.com/news And if you'd like the newsletter delivered to your inbox every week, please share your name and email address in the fields at the bottom of the page in the purple boxes. Thanks for your interest, and thanks for #keepingitsacred… |