“Take Back Your Power: Stand Up Against the Misuse of Our Faith: Month-long Non-partisan protests” led by Sankofa Way
Week One Report from Julie Downey, World Cant Wait Chicago Chapter
Need another reason to drive out the Bush regime?
In his weekly radio address President Bush said, “Marriage is the most
enduring and important human institution, honored and encouraged in all
cultures and by every religious faith. Ages of experience have taught
us that the commitment of a husband and a wife to love and to serve one
another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society.”
Reverend Deborah Lake and her organization,
Sankofa Way, led a peaceful protest on Sunday, June 4 against “using
faith to justify the oppression of LGBT people.” World Can’t Wait
organizers joined activists from the Gay Liberation Network to support
the actions.
This event was held at the Sweet Holy Church
(8621 S. Chicago Ave.), as a part of a month-long, non-partisan protest
against churches that use faith to “deny civil rights, physical safety
and prosperity to LGBT people.” The church of the week will be selected
based on the hateful messages spoken by its ministers.
World Can’t Wait strongly endorses the
message of Sankofa Way, a black lesbian civil rights group. Same sex
marriage is a human rights issue, and we will vehemently resist the
legalization of unfair treatment of any person or group of people.
George Bush proposes the illegalization of
gay marriage nationwide, based on his interpretation of the Bible. We
could criticize his taste in prophets or readings the way we could turn
our noses at a friends favorite movie list. The point is that Bush’s
enjoyment of particular passages in the Bible is no more relevant to
his job duties than his favorite cartoons. His job is to run the state,
not the church. I know this is confusing for one who was appointed to
the position by God (It wasn’t the people, so maybe he’s right.), but
we all know that our constitution declares the state and church to be
two separate entities.
Aside from this being an issue of keeping these two institutions from
bleeding into one another, it is our responsibility to urge
parishioners of these churches to think critically about the messages
presented by ministers who promote inequality and hatred. Leaving a
congregation is not an easy move, as people can find great strength in
the comfort of church communities. However, if the purpose of attending
a weekly service is to feel inspired and better prepared to participate
in the world during the rest of the week, parishioners need to
determine if a particular church is a healthy source of energy.
The
World Can’t Wait stands in solidarity with Sankofa Way to call
attention to the contradictions and misuse of the Bible in teaching of
ministers who promote anti-gay sentiment. To be clear, protesting these
particular gay-hostile churches is not a statement against
Christianity, or a slam on any religion, for that matter. In fact, it
is a series of actions led by a Christian minister. Actions like these
weekly demonstrations led by Rev. Lake, which confront discrimination
at its source, are huge steps toward freeing our country from
theocratic rule.
DEMONSTRATION DETAILS:
World
Cant Wait displayed our solidarity holding up signs in favor of
critical thought and equal rights. Our shirts displayed the green WCW
logo and messages in Spanish and English declaring that the Bush
administration illegally crossed borders.
Protesters
were required to stand 150 feet from the entrance to the church, and
police instructed Rev. Lake not to use the megaphone 30 minutes
preceding and following the service. Deborah strategically selected
African-American members of our group to hand out flyers to
parishioners. This was to ensure the people that this protest was not
meant to be a racial attack on the all-Black congregation.
Passengers
in a fast-moving car yelled, “The Blood of Jesus!” and one man crossed
the street to where we stood and the GLN was holding up a banner,
challenging us with anti-gay scripture. This provided for a few minutes
of heated banter with GLN members. The cops waiting in the twelve cars
and wagon had no good stories to bring to the donut shop. Since two
police officers sat in each car, I’m pretty sure we were outnumbered.
PRESS COVERAGE:
The
media was very kind to us. Wearing a WCW t-shirt, I was selected for
interviews by CLTV and ABC-7 TV reporters. Rev. Lake and Andy Thayer
were both interviewed by these stations, and WGN-TV. At least one
station interviewed a gay couple who got married 15 years ago in Canada.
WGN-TV
aired a very thorough two-minute segment of the demonstration, in the
first five minutes of Sunday’s 9 p.m. news. Andy Thayer of the Gay
Liberation Network was interviewed, along with Rev. Trotter of the
Sweet Holy Church. Footage included GLN signage and rainbow flags, and
shots of Rev. Lake, Lina & me. Our shirts displayed the WCW logo
and messages in Spanish and English, declaring that the Bush
administration illegally crossed borders. We held up signs in favor of
critical thought and equal rights. The interview with Rev. Lake aired
on ABC-TV in Chicago.
The
relevance of this issue is especially timely since President Bush used
his weekly radio address to express his intent to make gay marriage
illegal in the United States, based on his interpretation of the Bible.
Excerpt used above was found on the White House Web site:
www.whitehouse.gov, June 4, 2006.
DEBRIEF:
At a graciously
hosted debrief brunch, held at Deborah’s home, we discussed strategies
for upcoming protests at other churches throughout the month of June.
The churches are selected based on hateful messages spoken by its
ministers. Our goal is to alert the parishoners to the contradictions
and misuse of the Bible in these teachings.
ACTIONS NEEDED:
Sankofa
Way will lead a protest at a different church in the Chicago area each
Sunday in June. World Can’t Wait is an official endorser of these
events, and we need to be present to continue to show our support.
Let’s not let the cops outnumber us! Please join Deborah Lake next
Sunday morning.
These protests are
great opportunities for theatrical public art, and other interactive
art activities. Please write to chicago@worldcantwait.org
if you have ideas and/or time and will to attend upcoming protests.
This week’s time and place was posted on the Sankofa Way Web site.
Check for new listings, and expect to see e-mail notices, too.
World Can’t Wait is also marching with the GLN contingent in the PRIDE
Chicago Celebration 2006 37th Annual Parade, Sunday June 25. The
Illinois same-sex marriage referendum will be the focus of the GLN’s
message, which WCW will incorporate in our contributions to this lively
event.
SANKOFA WAY:
For more information, contact Rev. Deborah Lake: sankofaway@sankofaway.org
www.sankofaway.org