The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
– Isaiah 61:1
“I am many things to many people: Civil Rights leader, agitator, trouble-maker and orator, but in the quiet resources of my heart, I am fundamentally a clergyman, a Baptist preacher.”
–Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, The Un-Christian Christian, 1965
In the days since the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, I find myself contemplating the lessons of fairness and justice found in Christ’s ministry. In that I ask, from where can I derive a personal moral obligation to advocate for causes that the Savior never directly mentions in scripture? Love and compassion, of course, are two often referenced themes that are reflected in the Savior’s work. But how does that apply to the varying degrees to which many of us interpret what is just? The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described justice as “…love in calculation. Justice is love correcting that which would work against love.” (Montgomery Bus Boycott speech, 1955). As predicated by the influence of the Social Gospel movement in the earliest parts of the 20th century, King sought to apply Christian ethics to combat what he and many others saw as the “institutionalized sinfulness” (Rauschenbusch, A Theology for the Social Gospel, 1917) that caused poverty and discrimination.
As the reader, what do you define as right? As fair? As just?
How does divinity influence your advocacy?
Janan Graham-Russell
Janan Graham-Russell is a writer based in Evanston, Illinois. In 2016, she graduated from the Howard University School of Divinity with a Master of Arts in Religious Studies. Her writing focuses on culture, history, religion and theology through Black feminist and womanist lenses. Her work has been featured in The Atlantic as well as Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings (2015) and A Book of Mormons (2015). When she's not writing or doing research, she enjoys dancing to Beyonce, watching films, and spending time with her husband and infant son.
All posts by Janan Graham-Russell
I’m very simple. I want to feed all the hungry children in the world, and I know I can’t, and it’s my heartache, day and night.
I appreciate these words by Martin Luther King, Jr., though–
they are inspiring.
In light of all the recent events in the Mormon corner, I will be pondering your question for a few days. Life just became less clear. Thanks for giving me some thoughts to consider. I am feeling like I don’t know who I am. Two weeks ago I would have told you I did. Here’s to hoping I get an answer.
I’m the same anonymous as above. When I was young (very young) and was slightly aware of the civil rights movement (I lived in the north and not in a city, so there wasn’t much to be aware of)–
I felt it keenly, but I didn’t feel permitted to be involved. For one thing, there were no marches in any of the places in which I lived, and I found myself stuck in between a number of times when a friendship began between a black person and myself (later, when I was older I was around a few black people, very few)–
both races ostracized us. It was terrible. We had to cease being friends to survive within our own cultures (only one instance; a black girl in my gymn class was as klutzy as I, with my red hair, was, and we found out that we had a lot in common, but both of the ‘races’ threatened us)–
We always smiled and waved when nobody was looking, but it was a horrible thing–
I don’t know what I could have done–
but now I just wish it hadn’t been censored in the LDS ‘media’. What on earth were people thinking?
But I have since come to believe fiercely that Joseph Smith wanted the black people to have every blessing that everyone with any other skin color could have–
I know there were times when there were extreme prejudices against other races as well; it was easy for Americans to be cruel to black people (or to excuse themselves of it), because of how Africans were treated under the barbaric, inexcuseable horror of slavery–
but I do know for myself now that after Joseph died without any revelation of any kind men who were devoutly prejudiced decided blacks would no longer have the priesthood or temple experiences.
I feel staggered just thinking of the evil involved. Those people did eventually die, and others who had higher thoughts and motives began to question–
and President Kimball ‘restored’ it, but it should never have been taken away–
this is proof that we can’t trust in the arm of flesh–
but Martin Luther King’s non-violence was so inspiring and made such a huge difference–
I don’t think that it’s ‘over’. I think there are still too many people who think too much of skin color–
and too many ‘white’ people who don’t understand and really don’t want to–
and this post is too long–
but I wish we could celebrate those heroes who battled that evil for so many years–
and I like it when we highlight the lives of black saints.
Thanks for letting me sputter.
One of my favorite stories about the Civil Rights movement is from the book by Howell Raines “My Soul is Rested.” He interviewed numerous people who were involved on the front lines. He interviewed a woman who was elderly who went on the marches. She was told that she should ride in the buses and that given her age she should be riding rather than walking. Her response was “My feet are tired but my soul is rested.” Sometimes we can be worn physically from what life throws at us but our soul can still be rested.
Nice comments , thanks for getting me to think…