Justice?

Numbers mean a lot to me. This is August, the 8th month. 8 symbolizes new beginnings. Today is the 5th. 5 is the number of mercy, favor. Could this possibly be the start of true justice for all? Today’s verse of the day in my YouVersion Bible app is Amos 5:24. A favorite of mine. Martin Luther King Jr. quoted it. “But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” – King James Version. I like the Amplified version as well. “But let justice run down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream [flowing abundantly].”

Yesterday, I participated in the SAG-AFTRA strike at Universal Studios, being a member of the union. Other labor unions joined us as a show of solidarity. It was what felt like a historic turnout for a SAG strike in L.A. A part of Lankershim Blvd. was actually shut down to traffic for a little while. I was on the bridge connecting the Metro to the other side of Lankershim. I felt like a watchman on the wall. Jimmy Hendrix’s song, “All Along the Watchtower,” comes to mind.

Lyrics
There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion
I can’t get no relief
Business men, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody offered his word
Hey, hey
No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we’ve been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us stop talkin’ falsely now
The hour’s getting late, hey
Hey
All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too
Well, uh, outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl, hey
All along the watchtower
All along the watchtower
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Bob Dylan
All Along the Watchtower lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

I could see the police arrive to help clear the street. If you’ve been paying attention, this is a time when there are many workers going on strike. The hotel workers, the farmworkers in Florida, writers and the list goes on of people with their protests. People sick and tired of being sick and tired. Shout out Fannie Lou Hamer. Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to protest to be treated fairly? Imagine NOT having to take to the streets to have a living wage, roof over your head, health insurance. Just think of a time where people DON’T have to throw up a fist to cry for an end to violence, the murder of unarmed black people, and equal justice for all. Housing? Yes, it’s your right. Doctor visits? Of course! A living wage that allows you NOT to have to go on food stamps to take care of your family? Duh!

Justice. Fairness. Equity. Why is this so difficult? Well, if you speak to some, they will say it’s when sin entered the world. It’s Adam and Eve’s fault. That thinking suggests that this will just be the norm until Jesus gets back. So, why fight it? But, that same Bible talks about opening your mouth for the poor and fighting on behalf of those who can’t fight for themselves for… justice. Like the not so quoted book of Amos. Rolling down like rivers, oceans even.

I really thought 2020 would change so much of the inequity. There has been change. But, come on! George Floyd? Many of us thought the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would be a no- brainer to get passed. Nope. What about the Anti-Lynching Bill? March 29, 2022, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act was made federal law. Emmett Till died (was murdered, lynched) August 28, 1955. The law was enacted 67 years later. Is that how long we’ll have to wait for that Justice in Policing Act to be enacted? 67 years?

During the fight for justice, sometimes there are what seem to be merely symbolic gestures. These gestures are seen as nice and good to look at but just simply a way to pacify the masses demanding justice. I’m reminded of a sketch done on the word justice. A person kept asking for justice and he was handed a cup of ice. When he asked for justice again, the person pointed to the cup in his hand. “But this is just ice.” I feel similarly when there was no justice for the perpetrators for the lynching of Emmett Till. But now there’s a memorial in his honor. It feels like just ice. Make no mistakes. Ice has its value especially in this record breaking heat wave. However, the thing about ice is that it’s temporary. It may feel refreshing in the moment. But that moment will pass and the heat is still burning.

I will say, I appreciate the ice as long as it is accompanied with forward moving actions. Like, I believe in faith WITH works. This month will be the third anniversary of the killing of an unarmed black man named Anthony McClain. Anthony McClain was gunned down by police while he was running away. August 15, 2020. After George Floyd! This happened in my neck of the woods. Pasadena. On August 27th of this month, my church, Pasadena Church, will have its Community Family Reunion at La Pintoresca Park. This park is where Anthony McClain was slain. His memorial is still there across the street where he collapsed and ultimately breathed his last breath.

After Anthony’s death, there was outcry from the community. There was a demand to see the officer’s bodycam footage. There was a cry for justice. At least have the officer be removed from duty while this is sorted out. That didn’t happen. We, the community, prayed for a police oversight committee made up of community residents. That did happen. There has been a tree planted to memorialize Anthony McClain in La Pintoresca Park as well. This may sound like just ice but I hold out hope that with the committee there are works still happening in conjunction with the hard water.

On August 27th, Pasadena Church’s Community Family Reunion will be a time of giving to the community. There will be food boxes, clothing, plates of hot food. There will be grocery card, gas card, and bike giveaways. There will be a bounce house for the kids. There will be music, games and prayer. Everything is free. There will even be snow cones. Yes, flavored ice. While this event may seem like just ice, we believe it’s more. As we, the church, partner with the community to love on the community, there’s action taken to make loving a habit. A norm. A Matthew 25: 34-40 thing.

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

King James Version

As you can see, I’m a prisoner of hope. I’m a believer and I am a woman of faith. Faith to believe you can call those things that are not as though they are. And that there is power in the tongue to do that. But as I pray and speak things of life, I will be doing as well. Doing for me is marching in protests, attending council meetings, and voting. Showing up is half the battle. Hopefully, we’ll have a big turn out of people showing up on the 27th. Showing up not just to receive but to give as well. Then, even though we will have ice, there will be much more than just ice.

#justice #just #ice #SAGAFTRASTRIKE #AnthonyMcClain #August #CommunityFamilyReunion

#Pasadena #LaPintorescaPark #justiceforall