"Faith in the Process is more important than the Outcome"?

Keith Barrett X with his wife, Veronica
and kids Prophetshabazz Muhammad,
Jesus, Goddess, and Chief, saying
"One God" for the camera.

As I sat in Meeting for Worship on a spectacular fall day, I listened to a few messages enamored with Quaker process. These messages included that decisions made without Quaker process were not as significant as those done through process and, from one message, faith in the process is more important than the outcomes. Sitting among a 100% white congregation on the day between the Million Man March and Columbus Day, two events that are stark reminders of enslavement, suppression and discrimination, I wondered about these messages. I sometimes think that Friends can be too enamored with the process, especially as it is so often practiced among "like-minded" people. I think that the gift of Quaker process is when it is practiced out in the world, among people of very different opinions, beliefs, cultures and priorities. This is when true peace happens. And this is also when faith in another Quaker sentiment is vital: going "as Way opens".

Keith with Prophetshabazz

It was with all this rattling around in my brain that I walked into William Penn House the next day with a sense that the weekend had been a bit chaotic. Some of the chaos was because a family from Montana was sent to us on Saturday by a local TV reporter with an understanding that a local church was going to cover their lodging fees. As I started to try and make the connections between the various parts of this story, I met a remarkable family. Keith Barrett X and his wife, Veronica Lynn Illig-Barrett X, had journeyed 60 hours from the Flathead Reservation in Montana to be a part of the Million Man March. Keith told me that he was unable to attend the first one 20 years ago because he was in prison, but pledged to make the next one. Despite the economics, he made it with a bit of faith in the goodness of people - going "As Way Opens". Keith shared with me his story - growing up in Beaver Falls, PA, Los Angeles and Phoenix, the son of a man in the music industry (who worked with the likes of Barry White). At 18, breaking out on his own, he moved to Washington State. He bounced around between WA and AZ until 11 years ago when he met his wife. Keith is part Blackfoot, and his wife is Flathead, so with this lineage, they made their way to Montana.

Barrett X's garden

As Keith and I talked, he spoke of his belief that good people and oppressors come in all shapes, sizes and colors, and his stay at William Penn House was an opportunity to show that to his kids. He shared that he is a member of the Nation of Islam, but believes in one God that loves all of us. He showed me pictures of the 1/2 acre community garden he put in this spring, and had his 5 year-old son tell me about the lettuce, cabbage, onions, corn and tomatoes they are growing. It was an energizing connection.

Will we actually get the fees to cover this family's lodging? We don't know yet. Is this a vital part of continuing our missional presence in the Nation's Capital? Absolutely! Do we have the means to cover this ourselves (although a special thanks does go to Sam Ford from ABC7 News for covering a portion of this)? Not yet. My deepest faith is that way will open for us to continue to do this. It was not Quaker process that brought all this together, but Quaker faith.

Mrs. Janey Boyd: A model of mercy in our midst

Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to connect with Janey Boyd.  Janey is in her mid-80's, a long-time DC resident (over 60 years), and has been in food justice work going back to the Kennedy administration.  Our connection has been through the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network where she helps get crops from fields to poor families of all ages  We share a belief that when we work together, we can solve the world's problems better than when we myopically choose sides or focus on single issues.  She is the kind of person who breezily says children can't learn in schools if they don't get proper nutrition, which is why we can't let those good foods on the farms go to rot, but instead get them into the stomachs.  This sums up our work together.

Mrs. Boyd with Harford Friends School

Despite knowing her over these two years, it was only this past month that I got to personally meet her.  All previous communications had been by phone.  Last week, with a Workcamp group from Franklin, TN, we went twice to her house to drop off fresh collared greens and kale that we had gleaned from a local farm, and I stood in awe as Mrs. Boyd connected with the kids with her message of love, hope and justice.  Her commitment for speaking truth was on display as she told stories of confronting aldermen and judges on elder-care issues, and at the same time motioning for a car to slow down in her alley ("I'm not waving at you, I'm telling you to slow down", she said Friday afternoon as a car drove by).

This morning, I read this in my daily Bonhoefer:

The Merciful

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy."

These persons without possessions, these strangers on earth, these powerless people, these sinners, these followers of Jesus, have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are compassionate.  As if their own needs and their own poverty were not enough, they take upon themselves the needs and humiliation and sin of strangers.  They have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the degraded, the oppressed, for those who suffer unjustly, for the outcast, for all who are tortured with anxiety.  They go out and seek all who are enmeshed in the toils of sin and guilt.  No distress is too great, no sin too appalling for their compassion...They will be found consorting with publicans and sinners, careless of the shame they incur thereby.  In order that they may be compassionate they cast away the most priceless treasure of human life, their personal dignity and honor.  For the only honor and dignity they know is their Lord's mercy, to which they owe their very lives.

- from A Testament to Freedom 315-316

This sums up Janey Boyd to me.  From her planting of seedling tomatoes to give away, to her connecting people to service and food, to her speaking her truth to the most powerful, she inspires me.  She is a woman of limited financial means, but endless energy and love that she gladly shares with any and all. I am honored to know her and to share her with others.  May she inspire more to be as merciful as she is.   

Reflections on Homelessness at the beginning of winter

On Sunday night I attended the Homeless People Memorial Service in front of Union Station with a group from Alliance Friends Church (Ohio). The memorial service was to remember the fifty people who died on the streets of DC during the last year. The organizations planning the service held it on Sunday night, because it was the longest night of the year. During the service, there were speakers from several organization serving the homeless in DC and former homeless people speaking about their experiences on the streets. The messages themselves were very eloquent.

Attending the service was the last event of the weekend workcamp that focused on homelessness for the Ohio group. During the weekend, we painted at Maurine's house, an elderly lady with an low income, at Friends Meeting of Washington preparing shoe boxes for residents of the DC area homeless shelter and then help serve a Christmas Meal at Martha's Table.

For me this event was a good closing to the weekend, because it serves as a important reminder that I need to do more to help out in DC. It is not enough to serve the homeless, but we need to find ways to help end the causes of homelessness and create a support network to help keep people off of the streets.

The most powerful part of the whole night was the background of this entire event. Behind the speakers, the dome of the US Capitol was lighted up. As one of the speakers noted, the US Capitol is the seat of the most powerful government in the world. On this evening, for me the juxtaposition of the Capitol behind the memorial service further illustrated the injustice that exists in the US. The government has enough money to bail out businesses who went bankrupt, businesses that further the pay inequality between CEOs and their workers and many who still engage in practices that led to their own bankruptcy, but it does not have enough money to house the most vulnerable of the population.

The Moral Majority has said in many ways over the past couple decades that we have a moral problem in the US. I am in total agreement with them, but for completely different reasons. How do we as an nation let people sleep on the streets and die on the streets? We are the richest nation in the world, but we do not want to house and feed everyone. Notice that I said do not want to, instead of can not, because we can definitely find ways and money to house everyone if that was actually a priority in this country. Actually if the US really wanted to, we could fund a global hunger campaign to end hunger forever in this world. It would only cost a couple B-2 bombers.

There are some great ideas to end homelessness here in the District. Earlier this year DC Mayor Fenty introduced the Housing First Initiative. The goal of this initiative aims to end homelessness in DC by housing the most chronic homeless people in supportive housing, mostly apartments. This idea was based off of a program that New York City implemented to help their homeless people. But with the recent downturn in the economic, the first thing cut from the budget was the initiative.

To add insult to this whole issue is the fact earlier this fall, the DC City Government and the Washington Nationals struck a deal on back rent that the baseball team owed to the city. The agreement ended up with the city actually paying for more improvements on their stadium than the back rent the team would pay. This money would have benefited homeless families more instead of helping a team that pays its players more than $54 million every year.

We need to do more as a community and as a nation so that next year we do not have to have another memorial service to mourn the deaths of more homeless people due to the weather.

Helping Our Neighbors

Back in September, a chaperone for a upcoming trip I am leading to New Orleans sent me an article from the Washington Post
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/20/AR2008092002283.html).

The article is about how two people from Washington DC moved to New Orleans to help out the victims of Katrina. The article was very inspiring, especially since I try to do similar things in my work in DC. (Note: My comments here are not meant to negate any of the great work they are doing in New Orleans.)

After a couple days of thinking about the article, I found myself asking, "Why did they have to move a thousand miles to do this kind of work?" I felt led to write an editorial to the Washington Post, which was never published, probably because it was several days afterwards.

Here is the letter:

Dear Editor,

I enjoyed reading the article about the St. Bernard Project. I am really inspired by Liz's and Zach's work.

At the same time, a similar need for help exists here less than two miles from their former residence. DC has the highest rates of AIDS in the country, is home to the largest homeless shelter in the country, and 1 in 2 children are at risk for hunger. I have been in houses that
are in bad shape with leaky roofs and holes in the walls that let in cold air.

As we go out to help in other parts of the country, lets not forget about helping our fellow neighbors down the street.

Sincerely,

Greg Woods

In the last month and half of thinking about this article, I have finally gained insight into what my real problems with this article.

First it is a common narrative. White people move into a depressed area and save the day! Recently I have been reading books like Three Cups of Tea and Mountains Beyond Mountains that have this same narrative. In New Orleans I have met native New Orleanians who are
doing amazing work down there as well.

The other problem I see has to deal with guilt and silence. When we go to another area, like Zimbabwe or New Orleans to help, we are then only part of the solution, but if we work in an area where we have been living for a while, we have to face the fact that we have been
part of the problem too. At the very least, we have been silent about the problem for a while. Before we start fixing a problem in our community we have to deal with our guilt and overcome that before we can be effective. Here in DC, there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Also if we are only part of the solution, we don't know the history of the situation, so sometimes we can do more harm than good.

When I have groups coming to Washington DC, I try to take the group to the Holocaust Museum to connect the parallels between then and now.

One critical parallel is the role of silence. In Germany, people saw their Jewish, disabled, trade unionist, etc neighbors being taken away and most of them stayed silent as this was happening.

Here I see the silence in our neighborhoods, when one neighbor is struggling, the neighborhood is often silent. With one of the people I work with, her house is obviously in disrepair next to houses in pretty good condition. The difference is very visible in the back of the house, where most of the other residents park their cars. Looking at the back of her house next to the backs of her neighbors' houses, the contrast is immediately apparent. When I first came, trash was pile up in the backyard. Her back door needs work and she is missing some siding from above the back door. Until recently her backyard was full of tall weeds.

One day, while I was cleaning up from a workcamp that day, one of her neighbors told me, "Thank you for helping her! She really needs it!" I thanked him for his compliment. Later as I was thinking about this interaction, I should have responded, "Why didn't you help?"

Before a group leaves, I try to ask, "What will you do when you go home to help your community?" So I pose this question to the readers, "What will you do to help your community?"

I think this question need to be asked more .