“In 1966 MLK didn’t sleep through the revolution. King’s speech was a clarion call for the Church to remain awake to social injustices of the day, ” said Dr. Leah Gunning Francis on September 25 at the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
Gunning Francis is the author of Faith and Ferguson: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community. The lecture was part of a series that is a response and commentary on the incident that occurred in Ferguson, the black lives matter movement, police brutality, and the perceived direction in which the country may be heading. The lecture was also an introduction to Gunning Francis’ book, which documents stories of faith in the lives of individual activists involved in the conversation on racial justice currently taking place in the United States.
Gunning Francis expressed her appreciation for the young people primarily responsible for starting the movement.
“Leadership has emerged in an organic form from the bottom up,” said Gunning Francis, going on to say that the movement of the young people convicted the clergy for their lack of action and response to racial injustice.
“These insights challenge our collective thinking on what leadership is and how it emerges,” said Gunning Francis
Gunning Francis frequently used the expressions, “wake up” and “stay woke.” The solutions she advocated for combating racial injustice were couched in terms of the senses and involved awareness through sensory perception. She described how a difference can be made through use of the five senses, which is the theme of her book. According to Gunning Francis, seeing involves being willing to abandon any preconceived notions of humanity, view people through the eyes of God, and resist the temptation to look away.
“I am not convinced that enough people see black bodies as created in the Image of God,” said Gunning Francis.
When she spoke on how the sense of hearing applies to participation in social justice, Gunning Francis used the example of activists who held vigil outside a mall to raise awareness of the racial discrimination that went on inside. Taste was a metaphor for the idea that participation in this type of activism requires one to taste, “the bitter dregs of discomfort,” essentially being aware of the price required for work toward justice. Finally, Gunning Francis used the metaphor of smell to depict each individual’s duty to make an intuitive analysis of all arguments offered in discussions on race.
“If you’re observing and something doesn’t smell right, do homework, do research, ask more questions,” said Gunning Francis
Faith and Ferguson is a continuation of the scholarly work Gunning Francis began to change the negative social narrative of young black men. She was asked to write the book by Chalice Press and the Forum for Theological Exploration. Gunning Francis sees the hand of God in the writing of her book.
“When the book went to print, it was like seriously, how did this happen in 6 months? That really was a God moment,” said Gunning Francis, when asked if she had experienced a “God moment” in her work.
Comment by Jason P Taggart on October 15, 2015 at 10:22 am
An issue is never settled by constantly discussing it. That’s why “let’s have a conversation about race” is guaranteed to fail as a social strategy. Liberals are in love with the sound of their own voices, and they attribute magical power to words – the more words, the better the world is, in their opinion. There is zero evidence that that has ever made the world better. “Forgive and forget” is a wiser choice, so is “move on.” It takes more effort and more self-control to shut up about something that to keep on babbling. We will never be a post-racial America as long as the usual agitators keep on with “let’s have a conversation about race.” I know I’m dreaming, because those people have a vested interest continuing conflict, not healing it. A wound won’t heal when you pick at it. You have to leave it alone.