Paul Raushenbush: August 2008 Archives

Steve Waldman just posted some new news - at least for me.  That Governer Palin was a Roman Catholic before she was an Evangelical. 

He writes:

Have we ever had an ex-Catholic on a major presidential ticket? I can't think of any.

The Democratic National Convention in Denver has been soaring, stressful, emotional. The Clintons have rocked the house and taken great steps in uniting the Party. Joe Biden (and his mom) has reminded us that little boys in working class Catholic neighborhoods can be whatever they want to be in America. The faithful of the Democratic Party have converged and discussed organizing in new and grander ways. The faith isn't new its just that the faithful are more active.

The opening worship service was interesting and special to me. I know many can claim that the usual has taken place - meetings where people carry the party line, discuss winning and don't really speak truth to power. I don't think these people attended the worship service. I don't think they saw a major Party allow clergy speak their minds; their callings be it abortion or the death penalty. That service was non-scripted and ordained by the Democratic Party. It should be applauded.

Does 'justice rain down like mighty waters' at a contemporary political party convention? Or do sound bites and message simply clop the networks and cable news channels like a corporation meeting to promote and market a product?

Through all of the flair, glare and bright lights the historic implications of what is happening this week is very real and being felt here in Denver and, I think, across the nation. I'm a Mississippian, a white Mississippian and a Democrat. I grew up in a town once segregated - once polarized and depressed with the darkest attributes of racial strife and indignation. My faith has helped me find the better angels in my life and, hopefully, seek to share and showcase those better angels to others.

This history of my state and its impact on the whole nation is bearing heavily on me this morning. Today, my mind, my soul is thinking about two Democratic conventions: the one today in Denver and one that took place 44 years ago in Atlantic City. And, I am asking a question asked in 1964 by a woman, an African American sharecropper who asked the Democratic structure "Is this America?"

In 1964 the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) arrived at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City with the goal of unseating the "regular Democrats" and representing their fellow Democrats from Mississippi.

The Freedom Democrats were civil rights pioneers attempting to engage the political process and give African Americans equal participation in our nation's democratic system. They wanted to vote. They wanted to participate. They wanted their voice to be heard.

The regular Democrats were the establishment. They were all white and were seeking to maintain the status quo, which was maintaining their control of the political process in Mississippi.

The Freedom Democrats stood for an America where everyone had a place at the table. The regular Democrats stood for an America where the > white establishment had a place at the table while African Americans stood to the side taking what scraps were tossed to them.

Fannie Lou Hamer led the Mississippi Freedom Democrats. She was impoverished; a sharecropper with hands calloused from the back breaking work of hand picking cotton. She couldn't read. And she had lived a life with no say about her own choices. Speaking before the DNC credentials committee Ms. Hamer proclaimed "Is this America?"

Ms. Hamer is also famous for telling America "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired." The Freedom Democrats were denied official recognition but the MFDP kept up their agitation within the Convention. The MFDP delegates borrowed passes from sympathetic northern delegates and took the seats vacated by the "regular" Mississippi delegates (most had left), only to be removed by the national Party. When they returned the next day to find that convention organizers had removed the empty seats that had been there yesterday, the MFDP stayed to sing freedom songs.

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This week, 2008, 44 years later the Democratic Party at their national convention in Denver, CO has nominated Senator Barack Obama as their candidate for President of the United States.

The diverse Mississippi delegation of black and white, the heirs of the Freedom Democrats of 1964, many with direct connections with many who were their in 1964, cast their votes for this historic candidate.

Let's not forget the true nature of this historic week. Let's not forget the African Americans back in Mississippi who once couldn't vote, who lived under Jim Crow and on Thursday night will watch a black man accept the nomination of the Democratic Party to lead this oldest active political party on the planet, to be their candidate for President of the United States. What will go through their minds?

Fannie Lou Hamer was right to ask in 1964 "Is this America?"

As I sit in my hotel room here in Denver, in 2008, I would love to be able to tell Ms Hamer Yes ma'am it is. Yes ma'am this is America, it's your America. Yes ma'am, because of your determination 44 years ago in just a few hours a black man will stand on one of the globe's largest stages and demonstrate to us that this is indeed the America we hope for.

You are (you are) not alone
You dont have to do this on your own
One Love Agape One Love Agape
Solo(w) it can feel like were coming apart
Together were much more than the sum of our parts
One Love Agape One love Agape - "One Love" by the Flobots

Outside of the perimeter of both the physical and ideological safety zone of the convention several rock groups are performing in support of Veterans Against the Iraq.  The concert will be followed by a march of veterans and their allies aimed at focusing on ending the Iraq war and bringing the soldiers home with dignity. The acts include Rage Against the Machine and the Flobots, a Denver based group that is now having nationwide success with their new single Handlebars.   

I spoke to Stephen Brackett aka MC Brer Rabbit, one of the frontmen of this group whose Christian faith is a fundamental part of his radical activism.   Stephen describes himself as influenced by liberation theology and the tradition of social justice within the faith.  He was raised in a religous household and attends a church, Capital Heights Presbyterian, where the message of Christ is inextribably connected with giving voice to the oppressed and excluded.  

I asked him whether he received pushback from more conservative Christians on the road and he referenced Sojourners Rev. Jim Wallis and how there was a new awakening among young Christians that to talk about Christ is not necessarily to be conservative.   Stephen is supporting Barack Obama and when I asked him about Barack Obama's Christianity he gave me a beautiful answer about how being Chrstian is about being constantly struggling to live up to Christ's message and to understand what it means to be a Christian and that is even harder for an elected official.  He felt that Barack was dong his best to live up to the values of the faith.    

Stephen said his favorite text from the Bible is the story of Jesus in Gethsemane asking if this cup can be taken from him.  If even the son of God has these struggles it gives Stephen confidence that there is room for his own struggles - even those for justice: "It may be unpleasant, but it has to be done."

While many of us talk about faith here at the convention at the Faith Caucuses and panels, here is one young man who is putting his progressive faith into action to make a difference in the lives of others and in this election.  

Michele Obama made a beautiful speech tonight.  Her life story was new to me and equally moving to the now more familiar story of Barack Obama.  She was so intelligent, passionate and attractive that it made me wonder for a moment if we had selected the wrong Obama.