In the last chapter, in the last line of the book of Ezekiel, when all of the people came together, the prophet declared the Lord is here.
The same is true today. God has brought us together. HKonJ -- Historic Thousands on Jones Street in Raleigh -- is about us coming together for a movement and not a moment. We are determined that N.C., it’s leadership will not ignore us, dismiss us, deter us, divide us. We have legitimate discontent.
As long as
there are active KKK hotlines and radical intimidation, we need a movement not a moment.
As long as our criminal justice system, which is supposed to be blind, still sees race and wealth and privilege, we need a movement not a moment.
The entire leadership of our state spoke out against what happened in the Duke Lacrosse situation, but too many have been eerily silent on the James Johnson case. A young black kid who was wrongfully incarnated for over three years for rape, kidnapping, and robbery. Who did the right thing, turned the killed in, and yet was wrongly incarcerated and vilified; we still have work to do, we need a movement not a moment.
As long as there are 1.1 million Carolinas that live in property, 400 thousand children African American’s are less that 12% of population but more than 24% live in property.
As long as 1/3 of all high school students fail to graduate in four years.
Only 50% of African Americans graduate. More than 40% of black children, 3rd thru 8th grade fail to do grade level work in math.
One out of three males who do not graduate in high school but up to the criminal justice system.
Of the 44 failing high schools in NC, 99% are 80% resegregated and 100% high poverty schools, and we know what will make these schools better. We still have work to do.
As long as 1.3 million people in NC have no health insurance, 27% of African Americans, 40 million people in the United States live in poverty, 40 million without health insurance we still have work to do.
As long as African American are only 12% of the population put over 65% of the prison population, 12% of the public school, but 57% of the long term suspension.
If you believe in justice,
We need a movement that will lift the dreams and hopes of every child.
We need a movement that will not leave the poor to fight by themselves for themselves.
We need a movement that will challenges the messages of racism and bring a fresh wind of justice.
We need a movement that will fight for opportunity for everybody, demand that our justice system be just. And see everybody as being God’s special somebody.
A movement that will reshape how we do business in North Carolina.
We need a movement and not a moment.
The word "we" is what begins the poetic refrains of our U. S. Constitution. It is what begins the words of our state constitution. "We" is the same pronoun that begins the song of faith declaring We’re marching to Zion. "We" is the word that was sung in the civil rights movement when they declared in the face of vicious racists-We shall overcome.
And now, we have been called together by time, by history, and by the call of justice. And the question is not what we can’t do?
When we came together, it was not to collapse the movement, but to expand the movement. We must trust each other. The system does not want us together. We have known that in the NAACP for 99 years. That’s why we have always built coalitions when we really wanted to see change.
What is a coalition? It is the we choosing to come together, choosing to connect the dots, changing the way we do business, understanding the connection between race, poverty, and war one of the reasons we met in this park. This park is named after John Chavis who refused to give during the days of slavery. A black Presbyterian minister who cut across the grain of society who taught white kids to read by day and black kids to read by night. Chavis refused to accept what was.
So we gather as a mighty we because we refuse to accept what is. We gather not just for a one day event, but to get working orders, to be energized and empowered by one another’s presence so that we can go back home. We are organizing for hope.
We need hope.
Long before I went to seminary, my grandmamma taught me about hope before I realized what she was doing. On Saturday mornings, she would gather herself, no matter how she felt, and put on an old three-pocket apron – some of ya’ll know what I’m talking about – tied in the back with plenty of safety pins in it. In one pocket she put some anointed oil. And another pocket she put a little money. And another pocket she put some cleaning rags.
And I’d ask my grandmamma, where you going, grandma mimi? And she’d say, child, I’m going to hope somebody.
Well, I had been to school. I had my little ninth grade education. And I thought my grandmamma meant “help,” but because she’d only had a fourth grade education, she mispronounced help as hope.
Then I went to seminary. I found out that hope is a theological construct. And there’s a connection between helping folks and giving them hope. When I went to seminary, I learned from James Cone, Paul Tillich, Jurgen Moltmann, that hope was a theological category, and all Christians are commanded to have hope. Hope is not an option for the Christian. If you stop having hope, then stop calling yourself a Christian.
When you stand for justice and help folks, you’re at the same time, giving them hope.
That’s why because Jesus helped us at Calvary; the writer said my hope is built when the Lord helped us.
I had to go back home and apologize to my grandmamma, because of what I thought was bad English. I understand that while it might have been wrong grammatically, it was right theologically.
My grandmamma was hoping somebody. So in honor of my grandmamma, let me rephrase one of the songs of the movement, “If I can hope somebody, as I pass along, my living shall not be in vain.”
And we still need hope.
Hope that though right is bruised, it will win every time.
We still need hope.
Weeping endureth through the night, but joy sure comes in the morning.
We still need hope. It’s good, more powerful than evil.
All over North Carolina, somebody is looking for hope.
Some Child. Some sick. Some homeless. They need our help.
If I can hope somebody, as I pass along, then my living shall not be in vain.
Are the NAACPers and its leadership that still believe in hope here, somebody say "yes we are"?
Are advocates who still believe in hope for children and education here, somebody say yes we are?
Are those here who still have hope that we can fight against poverty and fight for a living wage –are you here?
Are those who still have hope that we can health care for everybody-are you here?
Are those who still have hope in economic opportunity, who believe we can break the discrimination against blacks, women and other minorities-are you here?
Are those who still have hope we can lift up our historically black colleges and universities-are you here?
Are those who still have hope that we can stop putting more money in prisons than in education-are you here?
Are those of you who still have hope that we can get rid of the racist and classist death penalty (ungodly prosecutorial misconduct) –are you here?
Are those of you here who still have hope that the homeless can have homes and people can have affordable housing?
Are you here who still have hope that N.C. can deal with its racist history in order to move forward?
Are you here who still have hope that our civil rights laws can be strength.
Are you here who still have hope that we can fight against the destruction of our environment?
Are you here who still have hope that we can open up the government, let the light in, let the cameras in, open up the back room deals and chase out the money changers.
Are you here who still have hope that we can come out of this war?
Are you here who still have hope that the hip hop generation can use the rhythm and rhyme of their generation to change the world.
Are you here those who still have and who fought in the sixties but still have some fight left?
Are you here who still have hope and who know God has been good too and brought you from a mighty long way, but realize unto whom much is given much is required.
Are you here? Yes we are.
