Welcoming Spaces

Every Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend leaves me with profound feelings of sadness mixed with gratitude. It is always a mixed feeling. I cannot help juggling these two balls: gladness over the progress we have made, and melancholy over the sad, sad state of affairs for millions in our country who do not feel any sense of welcome or belonging. And even if they do, there’s this question about whether others believe in them.

In my reflections on Dr. King and many in the Civil Rights Movement, I arrived at two conclusions: First, belief in each other. Second, belief in doing what is right.

The first, belief in each other, is so fundamental to human development and progress. We believe in each other because we can identify with their inherent value and gifts. These gifts come in all kinds and forms. The profoundness of human progress is the acceptance that having a gift isn’t so much about the productivity or the profitable use of that gift; it is about the gift itself.

I believe that each human being has a gift, and believing in that gift is, in itself, an affirmation of that human being. Again, it isn’t about the productive use of that gift.

The affirmation isn’t dependent on who that human being is. It isn’t dependent on where that human being comes from. It isn’t dependent on how that human being looks. It isn’t dependent on any external attributes of that human being. It is solely dependent on the fact of a human being.

It is, for this reason, that our individual ability to recognize, embrace, and affirm the presence of a human being is so consequential. This is because it can change the trajectory of that human life.

In 1956, Harper Lee was 30 years old and worked as an airline ticket agent in New York City. Harper loved to write, and she had had a manuscript that she had worked on for many years. Her friends, Michael and Joy Brown, knowing Harper's passion and recognizing that she was not in a position to quit her job without income, surprised her one Christmas with a gift. Harper opened the envelope she had received from the Browns, thinking that it was the usual Christmas card. But on the card was a check - the total annual salary of Harper, and an encouraging note: "Quit your job and devote your time to your passion."

Remember, Harper already had a manuscript, so she worked on it, both on her own and with agents. Harper drew on her lived experience in Jim Crow Alabama, her father’s legal career, and the injustice that she had experienced growing up in Alabama.

The manuscript was first titled Go Set, but after extensive editing, its title became To Kill a Mockingbird. The book was published in 1960, won a Pulitzer Prize, and received many other awards. Every high school kid reads it, and over 40 million copies have been published so far.

The point here is that having a gift is one thing, but having someone who believes in that gift is another. The Browns believed in Harper. And they demonstrated their belief in her by recognizing the gift she had and providing her with a path that changed the trajectory of her life and that of millions.

I don’t think that the Civil Rights Movement would’ve changed much of America were it not for Whites, who sincerely believed in the African American and the cause of the African American to secure justice, dignity, and the promise of America.

I tend to think that those who believed in the inherent value of the African American, and believed in the gift that each human being - including African Americans - possesses, did well by betting on the value of dignity over bigotry.

To an appreciable extent, those who supported and still support the Civil Rights Movement are like the Brown family - they know of a gift. But before they committed themselves to help lift up that gift, they first embraced the dignity.

The selling point in our belief in another person is our belief in inherent dignity.

Second, belief in the understanding that true freedom is doing what is right. Several weeks ago, in my quiet time of prayer, this prayer came to mind: ‘May I not be the master of myself, may I be the servant of what is right. Doing what is right is difficult, but we choose to do it anyway because it builds character.

Lord Acton is believed to have once said that "Liberty is not doing whatever you want, it is being free to do what is right."

Many of the people, especially White people, who fought against slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation, understood what it meant to do what is right. They understood the right use of their freedom.

I once came across this startling thought in a book that I was reading: White people like Black people only when they perform a particular task or service - be it labor, entertainment, or sport. Beyond that, there is little to no appetite for liking Black people. As damaging as this is, it shouldn’t surprise you or anyone that this is one of the constructs that underpins a race-based culture which first gave rise to slavery and the later exploitation of Africans, African Americans, and people of color around the globe.

The sad reality is that this horrible, senile, deficient, and abhorrent ideology still permeates our societies. There are some who believe that others should lie down so they can wipe their dirty feet on them.

But to what end?

If we are to do what is right, if the freedom we have is to do what is right, and if the value in our freedom is in doing what is right, then it stands to reason that there is absolutely no value in our cherished freedoms if we use them to perpetuate what is wrong.

We may differ on what is wrong and right. But true freedom lies in our ability to confront what we all know to be wrong and to transform it - even if we have to lay down our lives, as Jesus did.

The fact is, African Americans and indeed all people of color don’t have to be liked by White people and vice versa. The issue here is this: God doesn’t command us to like each other; God commands us to love each other. You don’t have to like me to love me; you must love me, whether you like me or not. It is incumbent on Whites to love African Americans and African Americans to love Whites. It is incumbent on Whites to love Asians and Latinos, incumbent on Asians and Latinos to love Whites, incumbent on African Americans to love Asians and Latinos, and it is incumbent on Asians and Latinos to love African Americans. It is incumbent on everyone to love one another, because that is the one duty we all owe to each other.

The principle here is that if you love, you can do no wrong to your beloved - that love becomes a barrier for you. And it is in coming up against the barrier, which is love, that we experience the divine.

Listen to what Plato said: We are incomplete creatures, wandering the world in search of our other halves, and that love can make us whole - even, in a sense, bring us closer to the divine. Love can indeed make us whole and bring us closer to the divine, because that is how we experience the one who loves unconditionally and unrestrainedly.

As we celebrate Dr. King’s Day, I am reminded of the work that he did, and I am grateful for his staunch belief in human dignity - not only of the Negro, but of every single human being.

As we praise Dr. King, I am reminded of all the diverse groups of people - Whites, Blacks, Asians, Latinos, and countless others who simply believed in him.

As we commemorate Dr. King, I am eternally grateful for the gift that he had. It was a gift that spoke to and resonated with all those who were in tune with the rightful use of their freedoms.

I applaud Dr. King for advocating for welcoming spaces with his unique gift. That gift informed him that no space was too small, too narrow, too broad, or too big to hold all of God’s beautiful human creatures together.

We honor Dr. King because he never stood for violence, and he encouraged us not to do the same. I once read that Jesus treated Judas so nicely that none of his disciples knew he was the one who betrayed Jesus - that’s how loving your enemy looks.

Truth is, if I feel free enough to do what is right, I shouldn’t have any problem affirming who you are, and I should have no choice but to welcome you, the affirmed, into any space.

I learned that diversity engenders creativity, and a diverse presence at any welcoming space honors God’s gift of dignity to each one of us and brings to the fore the best of human creativity.

Happy MLK Day!

Manny+