Transcript: Redeem The 10 Virtual Vigil
June 8, 2020
Week 1: LEARN
Host: Renee Bradford
Guest: Dr. Gregory Ballard
Creative: Dawn Anthony
Contemplation: Rev. Lettie
Renee Bradford:Greetings and grace welcome to The Lemonade Stand my name is Renee Bradford and I’m your gracious host on this evening so glad to have you in the room tonight as you are coming on I just ask that you post out in your comments section greet one another say hello I see you coming on loud and strong welcome welcome welcome tonight is an occasion for us because we are joining live in our Facebook studio and then also in on our Periscope Studio we are live tonight with an occasion and the occasion is the redeem the ten I want to greet you all and say welcome because in this occasion we are celebrating life we are remembering our liberties and we are coming together as Community to set the table for an evening of honest conversation we have guests on board and I just want to welcome you in this evening we want to let you know what you expect so as you’re here and you’re interacting with one another please do feel free to encourage one another act as if your family your periscope family and also a Facebook family I see you coming in live and strong here and so act as if your family and encourage one another honest questions our panelist is dr. Gregory Ballard is on this evening and so we want you to be able to have a space with brave discussion in a square entering and I just ask that you get comfortable. You you may want pencil and paper you may want to way to write and you also may want to jot your questions down if questions come and they’re bubbling up we just asked you to post those out in the comment we will have a section in which we will acknowledge those questions and so again I just want to say thank you welcome to redeem the ten this is in commemoration of the 10 minutes of George Floyd’s life that was taken from him and all throughout this broadcast I want you to be asking yourself what can you do to redeem 10 minutes of your time and so the the point for us tonight that we will share in as well we will end with a moment of silence and also during our time we will have contemplation again I greet you and welcome and the next voice that you will hear is the voice of the Beautiful Dawn Anthony welcome Dawn
Dawn Anthony Sings: The Power of One
Rev Lettie:Thank you sister Dawn thank you for that beautiful words of changing the world and as we talked about changing the world I want to come to you from Isaiah chapter 1 verse 17 learn to do good seek Justice help the oppressed defend the orphan plead for the Widow our theme for tonight is learn and there is a litany about learning about goodness and so I want to enter you into just to learn peace and welcome you into this this space of time so come children of all ages let’s experience the goodness of life together and learn from one another. Amen
Dawn Anthony: There was something I was thinking about when I was thinking about the power of one and I know that some of you can make a few comments and list them on the side there and just contribute some of your thoughts but what I was thinking was if you’re thinking about a soundtrack in your life at this time like what’s happening in your life and what soundtrack for your what songs and music for you motivate you during this time so can you put some of that in the chat at love to see some of those comments and Jonathan if you can provide that in the live comments I’d love to be able to see what they’re saying so if you had a soundtrack for your life or things that were happening right now what would it be for you that would motivate you that would be give you some a sense of may be peace and empowerment during this time so I’ll wait for some of those comments or you can just share with me what they are I said everybody can see and hear me but I’m looking for some of those comments let me know what you’re thinking and what you see the prolific Stevie Wonder has been a pretty powerful soundtrack for me lately and so has Nina Simone on there was another piece that I was thinking of earlier, I was listening to a bit of Nina Simone as we were preparing for this evening and she was actually doing a different version of a piece imma try to find it now of all the times are A-Changin and here are the lyrics are we getting any pull those up to that you know what they are so the lyric keys that she shares in Indiana Pete Nina Simone’s P she shares this verse from Bob Dylan species has come mothers and fathers throughout the land and don’t criticize what you can’t understand your sons and your daughters are beyond your command your old road is rapidly aging please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand for The Times They Are a-changing that song was written in 1963 and it seems how relevant that is even today because our young people are in the street and we want to be able to inspire them as well and that’s what we’re going to be talking a lot about tonight what can we do the first stanza of the song says come gather round people wherever you Roam and admit that the waters Waters around you have grown and accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the Bone if your time to you is worth saving then you better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone for The Times They Are A-Changin powerful lyrics that still just as relevant today
Renee Bradford: what we want to do is I’m going to share a story with you and also tell you the reason for this purpose of gathering and the reason why we are coming here tonight if you were preparing a table even in the times of difficulty to bring together community and then also to bring together us around a sense of unity and also a sense of connection even in the midst of everything that’s going on can I read for you a closed mouth never gets fed a closed mouth never gets fed so what I would like for you to do is lean in I’m going to read some pieces for you and I ask that you lean in and then you begin to write into the chat what what bubbles up were you what words are coming as you are what is surfacing when I read to you a closed mouth never gets fed this is from my journal and this is also words from my personal experience I never missed a meal because we didn’t have enough to eat I was always blessed because after I rent was paid the lights were always on and we had just enough food we celebrated holidays and birthdays around the table every occasion of joy took place at our dining room table it was where we ate bake cakes and carve turkeys and past heaping plates to goodness to each other we experienced one another around our good graces and we practiced please and thank you and while we selected all of our forks and utensils and cups and glasses we said Grace’s to one another and we even practice no thank you and I prefer not to eat that but at the table we had choices whatever we selected and put on our place we had better eat all of it and as we got older the number of the chairs expanded in which We Gather there were always enough with always enough laughter and memories and social Grace lots of please and thank you and I prefer not to eat that when the Gatherings grew fewer we stop asking for what we needed from one another and polite and thoughtful ways the pantry became overfilled and outdated Foods outnumber the forks and knives and the spoons the light screw dim in the dining area and the table became a catch-all for the bills and for the mountains of worries we were forced into the margins of our lounge chair the couch and our bed sides where we could eat what we wanted when we wanted to alone that seems hard to imagine that those were those who were once gathered around the Bountiful tables could no longer stand to be in the same room together I can’t recall there being enough space anywhere else to call out or to name that hurts the disappointments or the pain that’s when the stealing started it seems to me that if you had your name on it it Belonged To You Right it seems to me that if there were power demands that they shouldn’t be placed on the shared refrigerator those power demands often lead to tight-fisted fight that broke the bitter silence it was never really about who drank the apple juice it was always about who disrespected me that’s one of hoarding started boxes and boxes of closets full of pantries and garages empty rooms now bursting full of everything money could buy every gadget every article of clothing those things that were once on the fringes were now and then stopping the air from flowing into the hallways and the bathrooms where they were once clear they were now full of clutter and full of dust that’s when she left she left because there was too much noise and not enough graces and the squeaky wheel always got the oil and a closed mouth never gets fed lean and what are you hearing what are you sensing what are you sensing in those words what are the words that are are are standing out for you a circle broken what was once Clarity has become clutter that table of Fellowship no longer exist anymore there’s a lost respect for one another who was once Fellowship that flow have now stopped. And it seems that when it used to be more about Community is it possible that is now more about stuff a circle broken never about the apple juice or never about who took what and why but it was always about who disrespected me this is my own personal story own personal story about thank you Sherry a crowded space and no room for spacious presents or Fellowship about scarcity mindset that make us turn on each other and even in close knit family Dynamics spaces we we find ourselves imploding imploding Yi thank you for just saying it would just became a room for a pile of bills on the table like how did this happen when did it happen in the loss of Love turns into hoarding of things to replace love that was lost and can anybody then Sense or see even in that story a relationship or maybe something that’s Synonymous was what is happening even now in our society as in some ways we are imploding some ways we are finding ourselves lost and disconnected in some ways finding ourselves longing for a sense of community or a sense of togetherness have we lost our social graciousness are we losing our sense of time and our need for togetherness it’s a disparity in some ways it’s made us desperate yes there’s no heart connection or soul ties and some ways we’ve lost our sense of humanity and what it means to be together be around the table we’ve lost our sense of sacredness of what it means the today and which will talk about tonight we lost our sense of togetherness Dr. Ballard I would love to have you back up can you come up and just kind of lean into this I am so grateful for the sermon that you did on Sunday and especially as you talked about Mustard Seed Faith and how particularly the African Americans have carried a Mustard Seed Faith talk about that for a moment what does that mean
Gregory Ballard:My premise of what was of the sermon was the African American community in black church has been an institution where buy if it has given anything to preceding generations and to the present it is a sense of Hope in the midst of hopelessness and mustard seed faith is faith that gives you enough hope t to believe that things in the future can and will get better mustard seeds pretty interesting if you ever have the opportunity to just research it a bit it is among the smaller seeds but it produces under some adverse circumstances a tree that grows as wide as it is tall heat and difficult circumstances seem to be the kind of atmosphere where this seed produces the best harvest so I was saying that in this season of difficulty that mustard seed faith has been and can be employed by community and if in fact we are not careful and that mustard seed is not able to germinate we have a generation on the horizon with not had the kind of nurturing that the black church is giving & the outcome in a black lives matter kind of atmosphere can be very different than it has been in a nearer my God to thee kind of a generation like the one you and I share and are products of.
Renee Bradford: Yes Dr. Ballard that’s so interesting I love that imagery of from just such a small seed just the vastness of the mustard seed and I’m also paralleling that maybe two are rooted our roots or our being grounded in some type of history or even an interpretation and so in your estimation what has shaped your understanding of African-American what has shaped or even shifted us in your estimation
Gregory Ballard: we’ve been shaped by many factors in the African American Experience of course contrary to the opinion of some prior to our Coming to America we had relationship with God we had theology we had community and those things were not lost in the diaspora those things have been carried with us a throughout history and shape us and often when you talk about the history of African-Americans are we start at slavery 1621 1619 that time period it’s what we like to start but the reality is we were people in great civilization before we were ever taken from the shores of West Africa and brought to this country those things shape us but also were shapen by the experiences and we have here in the Americas what I mean by that is the way we are viewed and the way we view ourselves is very much touched by the dynamics of our day television radio culture the way we are presented to the world the way we present ourselves all of those things are part of the shaping and the healing of who we are as a people
Renee Bradford: Very good and as you were talking it made me think about our theme tonight and our theme comes from the scripture from Isaiah 1 and 17 in the the word that is just bubbling up is the word learn and so Pastor Ballard I just want to ask you about the Imago Dei and Humanity being made in the image of God and what can we learn from that concept at this time what can we learn from that and learn in through a lens of race relationship what can we learn from that
Gregory Ballard: Well the Bible is pretty clear that from its perspective there are not many races there’s one human race and out of one blood God created man Humanity and shaped Humanity in His image and likeness is what scripture says the Imago Dei has to do with the image of God being imprinted upon Humanity now that’s a full concert there particularly for a people who at one point what considered 3/5 of a human being what does that say about the image of God in us if our Humanity was question and one wondered whether or not we should be considered fully human it certainly shapes your self-image and it also affects the way other see you when they look at you so if we’re to be true to scripture the image of God and the imprint of God is upon all of the children of God including African-Americans and people of African descent and if in fact I am a reflection of who God is then you treat me differently then historically we have been treated.
Renee Bradford: Dr. Ballard I’m just wondering what are some of the hard questions right now what are some of the ways to enter in to conversations about relationship and allyship what are some of the hard questions right now
Gregory Ballard: well to be quite frank with you one of the things that is challenging for me and also excites me is this new movement afoot particularly with the death of George Floyd and protests that we seen around the country a very different and new Dynamic is the number of non African Americans who are out in the street and putting it on the line because it appears that this generation differs from mine and yours in that they’re willing to put it all on the line in order to move past some of those things that have held us hostage in terms of race relationships to see people of all Hues from all over the world weighing in on this and saying that the way we treat in the way we mistreat African-Americans is no longer acceptable this is a very very different kind of reality and though if one were to choose who the poster child would be for this kind of movement you look for somebody who was pristine who was well-educated who was well connected but very simple man a typical man ushered us into just a new era and it’s exactly as it should be because if we can embrace with freckles and flaws fl the humanity of somebody like George Floyd to be what I have come to call the exceptional negro and for those of us who are black I think I can explain it to you this way I’ve had people to say to me and some of their intentions I believe we’re good that if more African-Americans presented themselves in the fashion and in the way that I do to them we’d have a better country and better race relationships so on and so forth and of course whenever I hear that unkind words in the middle of the alphabet actually come to my mind because I’m not the exceptional negro, I’m a typical negro in my estimation you do understand what I’m saying. So what we need is to respect are not folks with earned degrees and with pedigree and with money and that sort of thing but the least of these there humanity means as much to God they’re image is not lessoned by their condition so to see this is both heartening but I will say that I’m a little nervous because the Dr. King of today is a very different figure then the Dr. King that I was introduced to in the 60’s so often time if we’re not careful folks we’ll recreate the reality because it fits a narrative that benefits them and I’m just a little cautious optimistically so that we don’t see ourselves being co-opted in such a way where they can identify with our hurt and with our pain but at the end of the day nothing changes in terms of our treatment and those things that affect us and take away from us our humanness and our Imago Dei
Renee Bradford: very good and I love the conversation that’s going on in the chat right now and particularly the discussion that’s kind of happening about respectability politics and I know that that is kind of where some of this is bubbling up and I also gosh I want to ask the hard questions Dr. Ballord and one of those questions that I have and we hear this term and I’m just interested in what does the term white privilege mean what does that mean
Gregory Ballord: White privilege is a concept that says that the whole construct of race and whiteness in Blackness historically comes out of a white context so it means that in a society that has been constructed that there are benefits and advantages that you inherit just by the virtue of being white because the institutions in this country was established and set up by you and the differences were exaggerated by you and even if you have not burned a cross in anybody’s yard or not called anybody the n-word or you know you not been unkind there are . benefits you have that others don’t have because of your skin color so when you go in the store there is the presumption that you are there and you have money and your conduct is going to be appropriate you there and you don’t have to be followed because you are part of the society that was created by you for you that benefits you and every person with no melanin in their skin that Advantage is given its not something that they have to ask for is not even something that they have to think about it is part and parcel to their being white their color opens up opportunities and then discard this favor just by the fact that they are in the context of their own making so that’s what white privilege is
Renee Bradford: Thank you dr. Ballard and tonight is just a really special night and terms of this virtual vigil it is an expression of faith on the behalf of myself and also a number of group of friends from all across the country who simply came together and wanted to be able to respond with goodness and also in the context of community to in during a time of Uprising and unrest and I’m just wondering Dr. Ballard what would you offer in moving racial relationships forward
Gregory Ballard: that’s a great question reverand Bradford one of the things that I think we benefit from is dialogue dialogue now the truth of the matter is that there are some of us who are fatigued we’ve been at this I’m right at 60 so these dialogues started for me very early in life and the the are those occasions when I’m worn out the prospect of having to educate re-educate lead cross to all of that in order to get people to see my humanity and that becomes weary but the reality is you have to keep educating as long as there is the perpetuation of ignorance and ignorance is it is not being dumb or stupid it’s just being uninformed it is quite possible that you can go through life and never hear the term white privilege you can go through life and never really understand the concept of racism you can go through life and not really have a definition of what racism is so if you don’t know what it is when somebody pointed out or you’re not going to accept that because you interpret it differently we have the responsibility even though we’re tired and sick and tired of being sick and tired to educate folks who really don’t know about what life is like for African Americans and I would say this life is not a whole hell of a lot different for black phds then it is for blacks who have no education of folks don’t see Dr. Ballard when I’m driving they see a black man and when I say folk I’m talking about law enforcement and that sort of name so we need to do some things like talk about these issues so other folks can at least hear a story and understand our pain but then we have to be committed to do more than talk after we’ve talked we need to dismantle the institutions that perpetuate this foolishness and that requires voting Lobbying being involved those are the kinds of things we can do I often say this black people are going to be mistreated until white people start talking to white people about these issues I limited in terms of what I can do but it’s the table talk around Thanksgiving the Superbowlebents and when you hear Uncle Johnny saying something that you know to have a racist tinge to it and then you feel uneasy you don’t confront it or you don’t raise the issue with Grandma those kinds of things as we talk I think help folks to understand that you are either racist or anti-racist there’s no such thing as being none racial because you have no benefit to those of us who are oppressed if you own the fence and so you have to be an advocate for justice you have to be an advocate for righteousness you have to be an advocate for fairness and I think we get there by communicating talking to one another like I said having cross-cultural kinds of events in exchanges and then listening and learning as we started this conversation listening and learning and allowing people who might make a mistake or be clumsy in terms of how they handle language but hearing ther heart and being willing to talk with them and get past what might be clumsy conversation in order to help people get the kind of education so they do better learning to do good as Isaiah says. The other thing that you can do is when you find an African that you believe in make some Investments and I’m saying this to my Caucasian brothers and sisters who might be watching this I may be a little scary I may be a little scary I’m big I’m bald you know when I get facial hair all the stereotypes so I may be a little scary but Renee Bradford is not scary make an investment in somebody who’s doing the right thing support that person use your resources and your relationships to leverage so more good can be seen and be done those are the kinds of things I think we can do .
Renee Bradford: So good Dr. Ballard this is so good I don’t want it to end but we do have a commitment to time and we want to close with the intention that we set from the beginning and that is to remember George Floyd to remember that it took 10 minutes to take his life away from him and also tonight we are committing as a community at this time to close in solidarity by offering a moment of silence for 10 minutes and I’m asking you to redeem the time wherever you are whatever you are doing I’m going to ask each one of our platform members to come back up to the platform and in solidarity we will close by simply listening in on the words that Rev Lettie will share with us and then we will close in solidarity we will hold this space for you for 10 minutes but we ask that if it’s a bended knee if it is about head in prayer if it’s the holding of the hand of those who are in the room with you in some way transform this time and move into a place in which you are moving to action where I ask you also to consider that you if you have a friend who is a person of color that you transform your words and you ask them how can you lessen the burden the next voice you’ll hear is Rev Lettie and then Rev if you will just honor us by offering the words that you have and we will close with silence
Rev Lettie: Amen thank you for those words of encouragement for all of us so there is a reflection that we want to present on this evening is called learning about goodness when I was formed in my mother’s womb what did I learn I learned the voices of my parents what did you learn I learned vibrations and sounds what did you learn I learned there was a time to be born what did you learn I learned how to cry in different ways so my parents will learn about me what did you learn I learned the gentle touch of the one who carried me and their voices what did you learn I learned to trust them with my fragile growing body as they guide me what did you learn I learned to correlate vision and voices what did you learn I learned to see and hear good through my experiences what did you learn I learned I learned. Amen
Renee Bradford: And may we enter into a time of silence and as we prepare I also give you a benediction may the Lord bless you and keep you may he make his face to shine upon you may he be gracious to you bring you great joy may you be salt and light in this world may you do good and seek justice. let us enter into silence
Redeem The 10 Candle 10 minutes
Renee Bradford: My friendsOur time is up we have transformed our time I ask that you invoke this moment into the rest of your week and that as in this season you remember that even in the moments where it took 10 minutes to take someone’s life the life of George Floyd we have the power the audacity and we also have the courage to transform those 10 minutes and so the Lord willing and the creek don’t rise I will see you here again on Monday evening at 8 p.m. next week we are passing the baton to Sherry Waters who is our stewardship expert and she will be with us she is the proprietor and she owns the Pauline Apothecary Tea Bar and she is my best friend in the whole wide world and we will be together here again on next week let us close by sending peace to everyone in the chat and we are closing the studio thank you Dr. Ballard thank you sister Dawn thank you Rev Lettie thank you for all of those who have gathered here and I want to stay God love you and be blessed we are ending now .