Nonviolence

Image by Tu-2.

The temperature has dropped in another part of the state. Wet, Wet, Wet. The temperature is 47 degrees fahrenheit. Today is Saturday (moving into Sunday). Began this writing yesterday, and returning to it on this day.

Listening and reading the news, the escalation of violence is clear. The more things change, the more things remain the same – a familiar reminder about human tendencies.

The voice of Rev. James Lawson came through the airwaves, bringing forward the movement for desegregation. More than 200 cities abandoned the "No Coloreds" and "No Wetbacks" signs as the movement for equality undertook the work of the vision of nonviolent struggle that began more than 60 years ago.

The violence from verbal to physical acts across the South was met with a strategy of education and putting bodies in places that had been exclusive to Caucasian/Whites. The fact that economic vision behind the actions was about fundamental human dignity and decency was less visible than the fact of different vessels/Black bodies coming into closer proximity with the dominant society of the time. That society had been taught to believe there are some who are inferior, and perhaps not even fully human. The response had to engage the societal norms by urging people to unlearn wrong-headed teachings and recognize what was contributing to the inequality and indecency in society – too much of which persists to this day.

The realization that "plantation capitalism" was a violent, nonviolent means for creating harms on a daily basis for Black families was emerging. Among those who did not suffer the humiliation of segregation, discrimination, and indecency of racism every day, there was no capacity to see the violence of poverty and marginalization. The movement that had made a commitment NOT to meet violent resistance with more violence was steady, focused, and clear. If a person could overcome the initial anxiety and fear when asked to join the movement, they would find a life-changing experience that showed exactly how powerful a movement of conscience could be. To meet hatred and violence with understanding and care can be frightening.

A story about a rock wrapped in paper being thrown by a boy in a classroom where a Black female student was entering for an 8 a.m. class as part of an early desegregation program, reminded me of a story about what happens to the force of a rock when it hits a wall or another solid object versus when a rock hits a piece of hanging silk. Both stop the rock, but one can crumble and cause damage to the wall and object, while the other simply stops the energy of the thrown object and stops the rock just as effectively, without causing damage.

"Be like water." is a teaching in martial arts that has served many very well; the understanding that yielding can be powerful. Yielding is not giving up, it is not surrender, it is not weakness. It's a strategic act. The consequences of which can be physical injury. So it takes huge courage to know when and how to use this strategy.

We live in times when something of nonviolence needs to emerge again. Enough with the wars, the confrontations on campuses where learning should be about more than what you already know, and the taking of innocent lives while shopping for food or going to the hardware store. Whatever we collectively and individually choose - it cannot be more violence. The losses are not just physical - and the injuries will be passed down for generations.