Monday, April 19, 2021

Jireh, your promises are enough

     “And I will be content in every circumstance...Jireh you are enough.” This is the refrain of the song "Jireh" by Maverick City Music. As I sit listening to the closing arguments of the Derek Chauvin trial for the murder of George Floyd, with this song playing in the background, I can’t help but feel the weight of how far from the truth that refrain must seem to so many Black and brown people in the U.S. who are hurting at this moment. As we as a nation sit, again poised and praying for justice to be brought about through a system that is inherently unjust, having been created for the sole purpose of policing Black bodies, I ask myself, what sense does it make to put our hope in a system that is highly effective at doing exactly what it was created to do? I’m reminded of a quote by Trevor Noah only a few nights ago, “we keep talking about cops as bad apples, but my question is, where are the good ones? It’s not just bad apples, the whole tree is rotten.” And I have to agree with this statement. The bible says in Luke 6, that a tree will be known by its fruit. How should America be known? What is the fruit of our red, white, and blue tree? I was recently asked what makes me American and my only response was that I was born in this country and so by law, I am American. The question was changed to, “so what makes America America?” And honestly, all I could think of were things that are not positive- and I don’t think that is bad. The bible says that God disciplines those he loves, should it not be the same with our nation? 


As the church, we can no longer sit back, close our eyes, and simply say the Gospel is the great equalizer and if we just look at the Gospel there will be racial reconciliation in our nation. The church, by sitting silently by, is just as complicit in the harm being perpetrated on Black bodies in this nation as those who handed Jesus over to Pilate to be crucified. Think about it, if the voice of the church is loud enough and able to mobilize with enough force to influence Supreme Court rulings in relation to abortion or same-sex marriage, why do we not do the same in relation to the indiscriminate misuse and murder of Black and brown bodies? We have the power of the Gospel and the force of the almighty God behind us, yet for some reason, the white evangelical church has decided that unborn bodies are more important to God than those already out of the womb. Let me be clear, God did not decide this, the white evangelical church did. It may be disturbing for some to see that clear delineation of where I am calling in (calling in rather than calling out, because I am inviting the white evangelical church to join in the conversation rather than pushing it out for its harmful views) the harm that is coming from inside the body of Christ, but I firmly believe in the scripture that calls us as followers of Christ to call one another in when we see someone living in sin; “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone, if he listens to you you have gained a brother. But if he does not listen, take two or three others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses (Matthew 18:15-16).” This is where the white evangelical sits with the Black and brown people of the US. 


The killings of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 20-year-old Dante Wright should break the heart of the church because it breaks the heart of our God. “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belong the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:14).” These two young lives lost at the hands of those who pledged to protect and serve should bring outrage in the Kingdom. As believers, our anger, when righteous, is a powerful tool. When writing to the church in Ephesus, Paul tells the people to “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil (Ephesians 4:26).” Notice, Paul does not tell the people to never be angry. He tells them to be angry and to not sin. There is an anger that is righteous. We see Jesus exhibit this kind of anger when he finds that the Temple courts have been turned into places where people seek profit over praising the King (John 2: 13-17). Not only does Jesus get angry, but he goes so far as to use violence to clear the courts- making a whip of cords to drive those guilty of perpetrating the injustice out of the space. Have we as the church yet gone so far to protect the lives of Black and brown people who are made in the imago Dei? We have not.


Being a Black woman I am forced to recognize that in the eyes of the God I serve, first, I am his beloved, his child; but to those in this nation who proclaim to also be his children, my brothers and sisters, the truth is, I am not God’s child first, I am Black first. So what does this mean for the fractured body of Christ in America? For me, it means the searing pain of knowing that while my God is a God of justice, the God of the oppressed, the God who allowed evil humanity to murder his fully innocent son on the cross, the God who made me and loves me, the evilness of this world may, just like it did to the life of my Savior, take the life of my brown-skinned future husband, father, brother, son, or even my own. So what does that mean for me as a Christian navigating this country as a Black woman? It means that the truth of the Gospel is even more salient for me. It means that I CANNOT place my hope in anything in this world. It means I know justice does not reign here- that this is not the land of the free and the home of the brave. It means that I must choose to hold on to the reality that my citizenship is in heaven because the nation that holds it in this world does not offer me the protections of citizenship. So I look to my God as the only place of safety, fully recognizing that if He allowed his son to take on the cross by the hands of man- just as he had the power to save Jesus, He has the power to save me. But just as Jesus suffered and died a slow painful death of asphyxiation, a death mirrored in the slow painful death by asphyxiation suffered by George Floyd, my God may allow my life on this earth to end in injustice. But I choose to believe that as his word promises, my God will contend with those who contend with me, he fights against those who fight against me (Psalm 35:1).


 In the Old Testament, God promises his people that He will intervene and that leaders who oppress and harm others will be punished. And my God does not lie (Numbers 23:19). So as I watch the closing arguments of this trial that seems so much greater than a trial for an officer, but one for the heart and soul of those in power in our nation, I do not have hope that in this life there will be justice for George P. Floyd. My hope that things will get better no longer exists, but in its place is the trust that although the justice system of this nation is broken, the ultimate and infinite justice of my God will reign and accomplish its purpose for his glory. The bible promises that in this life there will be suffering, but it also calls followers of Christ to take heart because Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33); that means that these light and momentary afflictions, though they feel neither light nor momentary, are preparing an eternal weight of glory for those who choose to trust that God is still in control and will bring about the ultimate work of justice (2 Corinthians 4:17). So though I am angry, though I am hurting, though I do not see a light at the end of the tunnel in my human capacity, I can believe that as Maverick City says, I know what my God has spoken, and He has declared that justice will win, and That. Is. Enough.


Thursday, November 14, 2019

Tanzania Post #1: A Dream Realized


The older I get, the more clearly I see that God uses absolutely everything in my life to show me more about who He is and who I am called to be. Recently I was blessed with the amazing opportunity to live out two of my life dreams in one package deal: living in Africa for an extended period of time and working for the United Nations. My 5-month experience in Tanzania was packed with opportunities to grow in many ways I knew I needed to grow, but it also left me with lessons about life and human nature that brought me back to the states a drastically different person than who I was when I left.
Just to provide some context around my 5 months: I worked with the human rights center and an amazing woman named Michelle Oliel to find an intern position with the UN in any African nation. Now, while I fully recognize that there are 54 unique and distinct countries on the African continent, I will preface my story by saying I was simply desperate to get back to the continent and was willing to go where ever God would allow me to go to do the work. I reasoned that whatever country on the continent I got an internship must be the country God wanted me to go to, and in November 2018, I received an email from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in Arusha, Tanzania that I would be interning with the Office of the Registrar. I bought my plane ticket, took my semester final exams full of anticipation at my impending experience, went to Cuba for Christmas with my family, and arrived back in the states to pack again and headed off to Tanzania 3 days later.

I can honestly say that I wasn’t nervous about spending 5 months in Tanzania. I’d done lots of research on the country and on Arusha in particular and it seemed that life there would be pretty easy going. To make an already long post shorter I’ll fast forward through the 16 or 17-hour flight with a layover in Amsterdam, arriving in Dar es Salaam at 12:30 in the morning with my reserved pick up not at the airport and my hotel not answering the phone; my standing outside the airport for 45 minutes trying to figure out what to do as I was surrounded by taxi men asking me in limited English if I needed a ride; my feelings of being overwhelmed but having to hold it together because I was alone at night in a foreign country; and my eventual ride with a taxi man who said he knew where the hotel was and then proceeded to ask several other taxi men where it was as I followed him to his car where I quickly realized he knew what seemed to me in that moment, an extremely limited amount of English- But by the grace of God, after going to a couple of wrong houses, I got to where I needed to be. Welcome to Tanzania.

After a few more opportunities to embrace the challenges of being in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language and where humor is essential, for even the best-laid plans go awry, I finally arrived at my temporary home at Sakina Fortes- an apartment of sorts that was home to several other UN employees and eventually some other interns as well. For now, I’ll also skip over the severity of my challenges in navigating through the city and finding food during my first few days- later I might post the fun details of how severely I was taken advantage of due to my lack of understanding about the currency- again though, a sense of humor is necessary for traveling and I definitely laughed at my own ignorance and the ability of others to take advantage of it in my first 5 days in the country- and believe me I WAS absolutely taken advantage of (I paid $40 USD for a sheet set for my bed in the market- it was only $30 in the overpriced European grocery store). It was these experiences and the belief that if I was to be in a country for 5 months I should respect the people enough to at least try and learn the language that lead me to quickly enroll in Kiswahili lessons which ultimately gave me independence and autonomy in my time in Arusha and provided amazing access to spaces into which I would not have otherwise been invited.

I will definitely provide a more detailed and lesson oriented post on my time in Tanzania (honestly, probably several more posts), but I want to wrap up this post with my general tips for smart international travel that made my initial time in Arusha easier:
         1)  Always pack a full outfit in your carry-on luggage. In the event your checked bags do not arrive when you do, you will have a change of clothes.
         2)   Download a translation app. When you arrive at the airport at midnight and your ride is not there, you will have a better chance of being able to forge some level of communication.
         3) Learn the language. If you are going to spend a significant period of time in a country, make it a point to learn the language. Local people will appreciate the effort and it increases your confidence and comfort in navigating your new home on your own.
         4)  Keep a travel journal. This is not so much for smart travel, but more to preserve memories. Write down the names of places you go and people you meet- you will be surprised how quickly these things may slip your mind when you return home and are no longer in that environment.
        5)  Ask locals about places with which you are unfamiliar before going. Going to a bar you have never been to before? It may be worthwhile to ask locals their thoughts about it or about you going there. Several times locals told me they don’t even go to places that I was considering going out of safety concerns. Every city has these places- make sure you make informed decisions.

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Let there be light

     Well, it's official, I am now a 1L law student at Michigan State University. When I look back and think about what God used in my life to set me up right where I am today, I am both awed and thankful. Read any of my blog posts from the past three years, and you will see how God used my time in the classroom to teach me to meet people where they are, and to teach me how to truly love unconditionally. God also used what I felt were extenuating circumstances to equip me to reach people that others so often ignore, write off, or overlook.
      This morning on my drive to church, I was talking with God about who I would be friends with this first semester of my law school journey. In the conversation God showed me a motley crew of people; those who stand on the side of the room in a big crowd, those who just don't quite fit in with the masses. I asked God why it was always these people that I ended up befriending in many spheres of my life; the response, "It is the sick who need a physician." Now for those reading this who are not familiar with this phrase, it is a bible verse found in the book of Luke 5:27-31. In this story, Jesus is at a banquet at the house of a tax collector when the Jewish (religious) leaders approach Jesus and his disciples and basically berate them for eating with "tax collectors and sinners." Now in our time, this might not make a lot of sense, you may be asking, what is the problem with eating with people who collect taxes? Why are these people associated with "sinners?" Well, during this time, the tax collectors were people who worked for the Roman army, and Rome had invaded the land and was unlawfully taxing the inhabitants. You can think about it kind of like how Europeans came to America and stole the land from the Native Americans, then they would force them to pay a tax to keep living in their own land or else face a penalty for not paying the tax. So, from this perspective it makes sense why the Jewish leaders were not too fond of the tax collectors- they were a part of the daily oppression they faced in their country.
      Now, the Bible does not directly say this, but it seems to me, from the text, that the tax collectors were not welcome in religious circles; they were another religiously ostracized group like women and individuals who were disabled. The tax collectors were people who were not welcome in the synagogue, and to whom the Jewish leaders would not reach out in an effort to share their faith. But these are EXACTLY the people to whom Jesus reached out; the people with whom Jesus chose to spend his time.
     I assume the tax collectors knew they were not well liked and likely felt unwelcome and unable to enter the synagogues to learn about the faith of the people around them. If you read the story of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector- a man of great wealth and short stature- who climbs a tree just to see Jesus, this religious leader about whom he has heard so much, it becomes apparent that although no one was reaching out to the tax collectors, they had a desire to know the Truth and be saved. The issue was, no one was willing to talk to them- no one was willing to step out of their own comfort zone, or their own ideas about who was worthy, or who had an acceptable line of work to tell this group of people about the faith.
      As I read these stories and reflect on the Message shared at City Life Church today, I can't help but see this not as a story of the past, but as a warning for the present- especially for those who claim to be followers of Christ.
     A poll from LifeWay Research found that over 61 percent of people living in America who claim to follow Christ have not shared their faith in the last six months. And to that, I would ask, of the 39 percent of Christians who have shared their faith, how many have done so with a person who our Christian circles so often ignore, or marginalize?
       The bible is full of commands for followers of Christ to reach out and love the broken and the hurting. In Matthew 5:13, Christians are called the "salt of the earth." Salt by itself performs no purpose; it is only when salt comes into contact with whatever it is being used on, that salt begins to serve a purpose. If we as followers of Christ insulate ourselves in our Christian bubbles, only living life with other salt, we serve absolutely no purpose, and the bible says the only thing useless salt is good for, is being thrown out.
      Matthew 28:19-20 says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."
       The very last command Jesus gave to his followers before he ascended was to GO and make disciples of ALL nations and to TEACH them. As followers of Christ, we should be eager and ready to step into contexts that make us uncomfortable, where the characteristics that we view as so salient to our own identities are in the minority and where we must consciously humble ourselves to understand the lives of those into whose context we have entered. And these contexts cannot be limited, Jesus said to make disciples of ALL nations, not just nations across the ocean, but that also means the nations right here at home; who is reaching out to the nations of gangs, the nations of extremists, the nations of erotic dancers, the nations of homosexuals, the nations of drug addicts, the nations of anything that we, in our flesh, find uncomfortable or find ourselves afraid to approach? These are the nations Christ called us to teach- notice, Christ did not call us to simply bring them to church, but he called each of us to TEACH the nations his commands. This means we are expected to do life with the people of the nations. In order to teach someone, you have to sit with them, talk with them, show them; you don't teach someone by simply handing them a bible or a flyer to come to your church's program, teaching is an act done in relationship and proximity.

      So, ask yourself, is your salt useless or is it serving its purpose.

God, help me to be salt that preserves, adds flavor, and where necessary melts those with whom I come in contact. Let me be bold and unafraid to go into the uncomfortable places and to love and pursue uncomfortable people. Father, humble me and remind me that my own sin is a stench before you just as those who I so often see through jaded and judgmental lenses. Father let me see the extent of my own depravity and to consider others better than myself. Father give me the strength and grace to risk relationship with those who are not like me in the ways I see myself. Be my foundation as I pursue living out your commands. Thank you.
Amen.

Monday, July 31, 2017

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Raising up TODAY's Leaders

This summer I co-founded a summer program called "Empower Memphis." I plan to post about it soon, but until then, check out the waves we are creating in this great city.

Monday, April 10, 2017

In Other News

A reporter stopped by my classroom to learn about what makes my students learn to love learning.

Check out what she found: Here is the link to the full article

Why this Memphis teacher asks her students to create a mixtape every year

Originally posted on Chalkbeat by Caroline Bauman on April 7, 2017

How do teachers captivate their students? Here, in a feature we call How I Teach, we ask educators how they approach their jobs. You can see other pieces in this series here.
During her African-American history classes, Natasha Wilkins asks her high school students to answer this question in a “free writing” exercise: “Who is responsible for educating the public about injustice?”
The students type away while listening to R&B singer R. Kelly’s “The World’s Greatest,” which isn’t uncommon. Wilkins has made a point of integrating music into her classroom at GRAD Academy Memphis, a charter high school within Tennessee’s Achievement School District. Her class culminates with a “Hip Hot History” project, a mixtape produced by her students, who write the lyrics and record their songs in a studio to share their learning.
When asked how she answered the writing prompt, one student said that, thanks to Wilkins, she believes that she is responsible for educating the public about injustice. “I think understanding injustice has a lot to do with understanding history, real history,” the student said. “We can’t care about something we don’t know about.”
That’s the goal of Wilkins’ class:  To help her students, most of whom are black, understand the history of their ancestors and to have fun while doing it.
We asked Wilkins to explain more about her teaching style and how she helps her students “own” history.

Why did you become a teacher?

Of my friends from high school, none of my black male friends graduated from or even made it past their sophomore year of college. I was deeply frustrated by the realization that there was a system in place that left young black men feeling inadequate to pursue their educational goals, and I took the offense personally. I joined Teach For America with the desire to disrupt this cycle. 

PHOTO: Caroline Bauman
A mural hangs on the wall in Wilkins’ classroom.

What does your classroom look like?

My classroom is a space designed to inspire and affirm. There is student work that lines the walls and quotes designed to push my students to think beyond what is in a textbook. I think a big part of my classroom is also what is not present.  I very intentionally did not put up many images of people from the past. I want my students to view history as not just acts and individuals from the past, but an ever-evolving story of which they are a part.

How do you respond when a student doesn’t understand your lesson?

I tend to reframe it in terms of their lives. For example, I related the Civil War to gang warfare, and the division of the North and South leading up to the Civil War to a dating relationship gone bad. Putting the lesson in terms of things my students can relate to gives them confidence in the classroom and affirms that learning is for them, not just something that they do in a school, in a classroom.

How do you get to know your students and build relationships with them?

At the beginning of the year, I do a short unit exploring what history is and how what becomes defined as “history” is determined and recorded. My students explore their perceptions of history and then are given the opportunity to record a story from their lives (also available on SoundCloud) in a project called Our Stories, Our Voices.
I explain to my students that we are all a part of history and that each of us deserves the chance to tell our own stories in our own voices. In this project, I allow my students to tell their stories how they perceive them, in their dialect, in their reality. This is essential to building relationships because it gives my students the space to be themselves, but it also gives me insight into what makes them who they are and the joys and pains that they bring into the classroom.

Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.

In 2015, I was engaged in a heated discussion with my World History honors class about the inequalities in the education they were receiving versus what I received in my predominantly white high school in Illinois. I was explaining to them why I was giving them the assignments I did, and why I taught the way I did, because that’s what my teachers did and it worked for me.

PHOTO: Caroline Bauman
Wilkins says the goal of her class is to apply history to daily, lived experiences.
It was during this conversation that one of my more reserved students yelled out in frustration, “But this ain’t Springfield, Ms. Wilkins, and all of that Springfield stuff don’t work for us out here in Memphis. We’re different.”
This was a pivotal moment of realization in my teaching. It was in that moment that I finally heard my students and their frustrations and I realized that I needed to step back and learn from them just as they learned from me.

Describe Hip Hot History. Where did the idea come from, how do you implement it in your classroom, and why has it been a success for your students?

The idea for this project actually started as a joke. In class I would often play instrumentals and rap about history or getting back on task, to the amusement of my students. The students started asking me if I was going to drop a mixtape soon and I told them I would. One day, one of my students asked if the class could be on my mixtape and from there Hip Hot History was born.
This project is the capstone project my students complete at the end of the year. They are given the choice of writing a song, spoken-word piece, or creating a documentary film telling the story of blacks in history. They are given full creative license to create their piece with guidelines on how to choose the topic and the length of the piece.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.