Beloved Community with Special Guest Dr. Peniel Joseph

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An amazing exploration of the past and future, of what we call, "Black History Month". Dr. Joseph calls us to action to enhance and nurture our beloved community of St. Francis School.

Show Transcript

may we be filled with loving kindness may we be healthy and we fight to right the wrongs around us may we be at peace did we bring fire to his candle wicks making them glow with light may we also bring love to this time of Pern is the gift to be simple and Google YouTube the second commandment is this I shall love thy neighbor as thyself there is none other commandment greater than these New Jersey is one of the public leading public voices on Race issues and it was so appropriate to have him here today as we celebrate Black History Month W Joseph Jose joint professorship at the UT and both the liberal liberal arts college in history when he came to UT dr. Joseph founded the Centre of race democracy which was the second such Center that she had sounded when looking at his Wikipedia listing possible to pick out everything that he had done otherwise I'd be talking to you about the next half an hour but would very proud that he is here today to talk to him like he is a long time Danielle thank you Barbara I'm going to time myself so I don't take too much to thank you all for inviting me to Chapel is the last week of Black History Month I thank you Barbara and every connected to this an anti-racism groups here at Saint Francis I want to say hi to I let my daughter I Daddy loves you very much and you know what I want to talk about is building the book community and black history I know I think Francis Saint Francis has been devoted to doing that I think that what we seen since last year however and even last week about the storm that happened last week what we see is because of structural racism and inequality in the state of Texas the folks were hit hardest by the store in the catastrophic winter storm were people of color where African-American were Latin x with brown and black people who don't have the same advantages and opportunities quite frankly that most of us on this call and this is only eating half and so what I want to talk about very briefly is what does it mean to build the Beloved Community at what does it mean to end this is what Doctor Martin Luther King Junior called us towards and for a building a Beloved Community and I think sometimes we want to talk about dr. King's notion of nonviolence but we don't want to speak about doctor as this believer in Revolution of values dr. King didn't just want protesters and demonstrations to be nonviolent he also wanted law enforcement in the United States to be nonviolent call this back against three triple evils that he said we're going to really hurt yumanity and that was militarism materialism and racism I want to talk about all three of those things militarism with dr. King opposition to not just war in Vietnam but he was opposed to the militarization of the police and violence against American citizens at home is it really important for us to realize that material is is the fact that dr. King was opposed to a conspicuous consumption dr. King felt that if we all just consumed and consumed and consumed we would no longer care about each other so dr. King with somebody who was a huge supporter of American democracy what he didn't want our democracy to be hijacked by a kind of materialism that made us think that things were more important than people that money was important than children that Prophet was more important than health care right and so when we think about dr. King and non-violence and it finally racism dr. King was opposed to race because he understood that racism really prevented the United States from fulfilling and meeting its full potential so this idea of a Beloved Community was a community that was supposed to militarism That was supposed to material and that was supposed to racism and even though dr. King unfortunately was assassinated 53 years ago so much of what dr. king talked about and warned us about have come to fruition in our own lifetime we see especially last year with the the pandemic that continues the black lives matter protest the most racially divisive presidential election in history and of course the three Wednesdays in January year with the with the assault on the US Capitol II impeachment of the outgoing president and then the inauguration of President Biden and Kamala Harris and one thing really stood out for me with the inauguration is when President Biden said quoting President Lincoln that my whole soul is in it where what what do you meant by that and Lincoln call this to focus on the better angels of our nature what he meant by saying my whole soul is in it what President Abraham Lincoln said at his second inauguration in March of 1865 as well is that compared the nation coming out of a system of racial slavery to Biblical scripture he said that if because of all the pain that African-Americans had enjoyed in building the nation that the nation would have to give back all the wealth and all the resources Lincoln quoted from the Bible and said we would all have to say that the the word of the Lord is Justin Trudeau right so we think where were at in terms of building this Beloved Community I think what we have to understand in the context of a community like Saint Francis where we we are wanting to be an anti-racist community of social justice community community that Embraces all people all Races all colors lgbtqia religions the whole thing we have to walk to talk we have to do to our children is Inspire them and and not just with the words with with r what's so extraordinary about Doctor Martin Luther King Junior is that he walk the talk this is somebody who could go to the White House in 1964 and 1965 and meet up with President Lyndon Johnson but once the war in Vietnam is happening dr. King no longer is friends with Lyndon Johnson does not go to dr. King's funeral because dr. King spoke out against the war in Vietnam in 1967 and Doctor change said even though dr. King love the United States he said that the United States with the greatest purveyor of violence in the world he said that because it was true right and dr. Cheng said that to build the Beloved Community we have to be honest with each other we have to be honest about the good and the bad of the country we are in this moment in 2021 of great promise and potential but also great Peril and what I would implore everyone on this call to understand that we are a moment of we are the MoMA collectively of national and Global crisis but real generational opportunity and so what building the Beloved Community can help us do and I think Saint Francis can help us to his kindness and love are big part of Saint Francis is core four anyway but we have to turn those words into deed what do I mean by that will very quickly right now all of us can actually utilize the networks that geha we're connected all of us the supply chains of power and privilege and Supply chains of misery and grief what we want to do is amplify those Supply chains of power and privilege in service of a larger project project should be building that Beloved Community right here in Austin that is in Austin that's going to be free of racial segregation free of economic Injustice 3 of mass incarceration political exclusion water suppression free of food and just as we have 37 million Americans who go hungry every single day in the world richest country right and so what we have to do in the the way in which we have to walk the talk for our students is that we actually utilize in action the words that were preaching to them and this is tough for adults because it don't have public Persona vs. private Persona right we have to do integrate the public and the private then we tell our children not to smoke cigarettes if not too bad we can't do them secretly that's the price of adults in it it's not a burden is the responsibility right it's so we can you here's what we're telling our children that were Against Racism and war against poverty war against Injustice we have to model that in every single aspect in facet of our it can be difficult we know our children our little our surveillance devices they watch everything and they tell the difference between your rhetoric in my reality is so what we have to do one more try build that Beloved Community and this gets back to a doctor King said he called us all four to come to a revolution of values and that revolution of values starts with ourselves right it starts with us transforming the parts of ourselves that are not our best though it starts with these uncomfortable conversations in these confrontations with ourselves to become the kind of people we want our children to model themselves after rights and I think Saint Francis all of us a work-in-progress we're going to falter we're going to have shortcomings dr. King had tremendous loss and tremendous shortcoming but what he did was call us the entire nation in the world has a higher ideal he called the world World house because he said we all exist in a single Garment of mutual Destiny we are all connected what happened in Haiti connects to what happens in Harlem what happens in Austin connect to what happens in the Middle East and Latin America and and that's something that we should model for not only our children and Saint Francis is proud Saint Francis parents and part of this community but its citizens is global citizen this idea building a Beloved Community is something that I'm passionate passionately convinced can and will happen but we have to be the change that we want to see what we're going to want policy changes and legal changes and legislative changes we everyone to have voting rights but it goes beyond that we have to be the leaders of this revolution of values that dr. King called this for and whether people are Christians or Muslims were atheists or agnostics or we're Jewish or secular that revolution of values really transcends any specific belief system and it really calls us back to a higher purpose I saw close by saying this black history month is usually important because it's really American history and what we seen the past fifteen months is it's Beast juxtaposition we seen Amanda Gorman in the hill the hill we we climb together at the inauguration and what was so striking about her great poem is when she said that America and being an American citizen is not just an identity that we celebrate but it's a path that we stepped into so Black History Month is usually important because Dad is the past that we stepped into we are country that is obviously connected to racial slavery are connected to a movement that are marginalized people but we're also a country connected to the civil rights movement in the Voting Rights movement and women's suffrage and and a stone wall and Selma and Seneca so we're connected to all these movements that are about human rights that are about social uplift and we have to embrace the complex nature of our past asked so we can move ahead towards the future they'll close by saying St Francis is a remarkable a community because it has a collective Vision or a higher purpose of for the good right beside a building the Beloved Community and we all can be a part of that we have to I know that we have to struggle to model that everyday what am I a friend's Cornel West says that when we put on these suits and ties and leave these dresses in these these these clothes that we wear we're putting on a democratic armor everyday how to make a better world and because of the pandemic sometimes our Democratic armor is pajamas these day is not a suit and a tie when we put on that Democratic armor every day for our children we're trying to build a Beloved Community and actualize something better what was so interesting about dr. King when he quotes Theodore Parker the great abolitionist he said the Arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards Justice we have to believe that we have to be honest we have to be Optimist we have to speak truth to power but the only way we can transform this country in this world and build that Beloved Community is by being optimistic and by being hopeful do believe that the Arc of the moral universe is long and despite the setbacks in the shortcomings that we seen over the last 15 months it does been towards justice but we have to help it bends towards Justice by modeling revolution of values that dr. King called this for thank you thank you so much Doctor Joseph thank you how fast do spider mites help us to freeze in water sphere allow us to always be present allow us to know that everything is Beauty and beauty is can you have before we go thank you so much for what you just said it was something we all needed to hear we can all do better I'm with Ben old do more and I think it needs a constant muscle Force we can do more and we need to do more to make a community I got to play thank you so much for taking your time giving it to us John Monday very exciting day because we go back to a full school day now if you'll know it won't change Fridays because we're using Friday community building for doing more catching up one of them with teachers and also very very important like it gives an extra day to make you are a school is a safe in the Sun but with the most students in the school how to be very very aware of not letting those masks PP. 60 distance in the toilet but very very important is lunch time must stay with your cohort in lunch you must sit in the seats that you've been assigned because everybody would be 62 card without checking your master so that's why it's so creepy cancel. If you've done a fantastic brilliant job so caught up please please keep up the good work don't forget the safety is our number one well y'all know Wednesday mornings are poaching mornings the times are the same and you can come to poetry whether you are at school or at home it's just all it's all on Zoom at 7:40 Wednesday morning and we go all the way till 8:30 ish right right around the beginnings of classes so come join us Wednesday morning for poetry it's it's a wonderful celebration of life thank you Saint Francis Let's Stay Together the Prayer of Saint Francis Lord make me an instrument of your peace where there is hatred let me sow love where there is injury pardon where there is doubt faith weather despair what is this Darkness light where there is sadness Joy grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console to be understood as to understand to be loved as to love or it is in giving that we receive it is in pardoning that we are pardoned and it is a Time we are born to eternal life have a wonderful day Saint Francis I'm happy to be part of this Beloved Community have a wonderful weekend and be safe out there

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Beloved Community with Special Guest Dr. Peniel Joseph

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