#gary dorrien

[summergimurne]

https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481322416/over-from-union-road/ A former professor of mine whose class I took on a whim, as an elective, and I still think about it decades later. I was not prepared for how much the class would stretch my mind and heart. One of the most pivotal 2.5 months of my intellectual and spiritual life. Now he has an autobiography coming out.

[azspot]

King took in stride that Rustin, Levison, and Baker had Old Left backgrounds. It was one of God’s mysteries why so many ­Communists and so few white liberals had cared about black Americans. King had become a democratic socialist in seminary, embracing the conviction of Johnson, Barbour, social gospel icon Walter Rauschenbusch, and Boston University ethicist Walter Muelder that political democracy cannot survive without economic democracy. Then he joined a racial justice movement in which he took for granted that former Communists had major roles to play. Rustin and Levison believed that black Americans would never be free as long as large numbers of whites were oppressed by poverty. Capitalism, they said, played different roles in the struggles for racial justice in the North and South. In the North, blacks suffered primarily from the predatory logic of capitalism. In the South, blacks suffered primarily from the tyranny of racial caste, and capitalism was an ally in the struggle against racial tyranny because the capitalist class experienced the demands of racial caste as a needless waste. In the North, fighting for economic justice was intrinsic to the struggle for racial justice; in the South, economic justice was secondary for the time being. King agreed with Rustin and Levison that the Northern and Southern struggles had to be waged differently and that the struggle for economic justice for all Americans was indispensable in the long run.

Gary Dorrien

[aparnesh]

"Breaking White Supremacy: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Social Gospel"

~ Gary Dorrien

Full book in PDF format,

629 pages,

7.1 MB,

Shared via Google Drive link.

[originalgladiatorcollective]

From my FB friend Yvette Wilson-Barnes:

In so many parts of the world, racism is structural—woven deeply into the fabric of our institutions, our economy, and the systems that make up our shared community. For communities of color and others suffering the multiple systems of oppression everywhere, nothing about this pain is new. It’s been in the bodies, minds, and hearts of millions for generations—because racist violence has been perpetrated for that long. We have been given hope by the hundreds of thousands protesting across the USA and beyond, demanding change. We must answer the call to be actively anti-racist and work every day to undo these systems of injustice, that affect the life of Black, Brown and Indigenous people, and other oppressed subjects and communities around the globe. Seeking actions that both feel of service and of the magnitude needed in this moment, and thinking through ways to deepen our conversations, the next Learning with Covid / EcoversiTea call on June 28th at 11 am EST will put in conversation voices from the Black Diaspora, focusing on political resistance and radical love, and discussing the intersection of race, gender, class and sexuality in the struggle for equity, freedom and justice. After our guests’ contribution, the floor will be open to a conversation with the participants. The event will be recorded, and available live on our youtube channel and FB page: (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEMyvDsLrx88UiQcgf_ITVw). Sunday, June 28th at 11:00 am EST (New York). 2 hours and some minutes with an ‘after party’ for those willing to keep conversing: https://zoom.us/j/574389130 Meeting ID: 574 389 130 FEEL FREE TO SHARE A bit about our guests: Charlene Sinclair is a leading community activist committed to enhancing dialogue between the academy and grassroots movements. In her work she emphasizes increasing awareness of the pressing social issues facing communities of color including but not limited to the development of a high level of "policy literacy" regarding poverty, immigration, education, and prison reform. She is the founding director of the Center for Race, Religion & Economic Democracy (C-RRED) at Union Theological Seminary, which develops programs that enable community organizers to reflect on the theories that shape our understanding and develop strategic practices for change on the ground. She is also the former project director for “Engaging the Powers” at Union Theological Seminary, which worked to enable emerging faith leaders to develop a vibrant and compelling theological vocabulary and biblical textual interpretation that engages the specific social issues faced in their communities today. Charlene has a Masters and Phd from Union Theological Seminary having Dr. Cornel West, Dr. James Cone, Michelle Alexander, and Dr. Gary Dorrien on her dissertation council. LaToya Oloruntoyin Manly-Spain (Sierra Leone/ Hamburg) is a performer and advocate for social justice in the Black Feminist Movement and anti-racism and anti-colonialism movements. Black Power and African diaspora movements form the background here. She is a founding member of ARRiVATi, a collective of people-of-color artists and activists that uses the means of art and resistance to develop strategies of decolonisation in a fight against inequality. In addition, she works with this Schwabinggrad Ballett as a vocal and spoken-word artist, recently recording the album “Beyond Welcome”. She is also active with Lampedusa Hamburg, a group of refugees fighting for permanent residency since 2013. Her current political projects include a campaign against deportation, and lobbying in matters of asylum and migration. Jailson de Souza e Silva - Geographer, PhD in Sociology of Education; Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education of Universidade Federal Fluminense - UFF - (retired). Founder of the Observatório de Favelas - Rio de Janeiro. Founder and General Director of the International University of the Peripheries / Instituto Maria e João Aleixo. Former Secretary of Education of the city of Nova Iguaçu

[benghini]

The Word is apprehended as event. It is never an object of perception or cognition. It does not seek to be mastered in order to be understood: rather it seeks to lay hold of us.

Gary Dorrien, Truth Claims: The Future of Postliberal Theology

[publicsituation]

RT @yalepress: 50 year's since MLK's assassination, Gary Dorrien discusses "Breaking White Supremacy" on @kpfa https://t.co/AJJ1iy69PW

[gospelofthekingdom]

"Increasingly U.S. citizens are awakening from the toxic combination of bad theology and bad politics that prevailed in the years following September 11, 2001.  U.S. Americans were told that God is on their side, an "axis of evil" had to be overthrown, and the nation had a mission, as President Bush put it at the National Cathedral service, to "rid the world of evil."  In good theology it is understood that God does not take sides with nations; there are always bad leaders to be coped with and contained; nations are too sinful and power-oriented to be instruments of redemption; and redemption from evil is God's business.  The response of any Christian or other religious tradition to world politics must feature a strong presumption against war and a predisposition to view the world from the perspectives of the poor, the excluded, and the vulnerable.  In biblical teaching, the test of ethical action is how it affects the struggles of oppressed and excluded people.  Christianity must be a movement that shows the peaceable and justice-making way of Christ, bridging the moral chasm between the Christian historical record and the way of Jesus."

To Do Justice: A Guide for Progressive Christians, For Alternatives to War and Militarism, Gary Dorrien, Pg. 115

[azspot]

King’s belief in the importance of federal government reformism was deeply rooted in the black social gospel tradition, and was already under attack by the Black Power movement during his last years. Today it is a flashpoint issue that polarizes American politics at every level, roiling, especially, white working-class Americans, who believe that the federal government confers blessings on everyone except them. The first thing that must be said about the political crisis of the white working class is that the racial factor is central. Working-class whites differ from all other working-class laborers on account of their whiteness. Donald Trump won every economic sector of the white vote, and his race-baiting bigotry was spectacularly successful among the white working class.

Gary Dorrien

[azspot]

W.E.B. DuBois believed that in religion as in democracy, black Americans posed the crucial test of whether white Americans believed what they said. If white Americans had any sincerity about following Jesus, they needed to show it in how they treated blacks. As far as DuBois could see, the only Americans who practiced way-of-Christ humility and nonviolence were black Americans. White Americans asserted themselves and took possession.

Gary Dorrien

[gospelofthekingdom]

"The United States is the most awesome world power that the world has ever seen. Its economy outproduces the next eleven nations combined, accounting for 32% of the world's output.  It floods the world with its culture and technology.  It spends more on defense, officially, than the next 25 nations combined."

To Do Justice: A Guide for Progressive Christians, Gary Dorrien, Pg. 110 

So when I hear former Vice President Dick Cheney call the recent military cut proposals “absolutely dangerous” and “over the top" I can't help but be amazed.