Where the Black Church Is in the Black Lives Matter Movement

Quick to Listen

Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 10 June 2020

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Transcribed highlights of the show can be found in our episode summaries. In recent weeks, American cities, suburbs, and small towns have seen an explosion of protests reacting to the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Even as many have commented on the racial diversity of the demonstrators, many of those organizing the marches are young African Americans activists. But while black pastors have organized several marches in major cities like Chicago and Washington DC, they have not been at the forefront of a movement that arguably began back in Ferguson in 2014. “While you may have had many black pastors and clergy who may have shown up at events, and you may have had a lot of people from black churches who were at these marches and protests, from 2014 to the present, by and large, this has not been a theological movement,” said Watson Jones III, the senior pastor of Compassion Baptist Church in Chicago. “It hasn't been a movement that has started in the basements of churches, in prayer meetings, and altars that flooded out into the streets.” Despite this, Watson believes that some of what is fueling many of the young black activist leaders ties back to this institution. “Much of how they do what they do are examples of things that early clergy and faithful Christians did in the ’50s, ’60s, and even ’70s, but there is an absence of clergy leading this movement,” he said. Watson joined digital media producer Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen to discuss why the black church’s approach to activism has never been a monolith, how the community’s preaching is speaking to current events, and the extent to which the black church is struggling to keep young people engaged. What is Quick to Listen? Read more Rate Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts Follow the podcast on Twitter Follow our hosts on Twitter: Morgan Lee and Ted Olsen Follow our guest on Twitter: Watson Jones III Music by Sweeps Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee and Matt Linder The transcript is edited by Bunmi Ishola Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.1	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion. Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at apologeticsky.com.
0:22.1	In recent weeks, American cities, suburbs, and small towns have seen an explosion of protests
0:27.9	reacting to the police killings of George Floyd and Brianna Taylor.
0:31.6	Even as many have commented on the racial diversity of the demonstrators, many of those
0:35.8	organizing the marches are young African-American
0:38.5	activists. While black pastors have organized several marches in major cities like Chicago and Washington,
0:44.0	D.C., they have not been at the forefront of a movement that arguably began back in Ferguson in 2014.
0:51.3	We wanted to get a sense of how Christianity has shaped many of those on the front lines.
0:58.1	You are listening to Quick to Listen, where we go beyond hashtags and hot takes to discuss a major cultural event.
1:05.4	I'm Morgan Lee, digital media producer here at Christianity Today.
1:09.0	And I'm Ted Olson, editorial director at Christianity Today.
1:22.2	All right, Ted, Ted, I figured for our gut check today, we might just check in about how we've been observing
1:28.7	the Christian community participate in many of these protests. What have you noticed?
1:34.4	Yeah, well, you know, I'm out here in Wheaton, Illinois. I have heard a lot of just neighbors and
1:40.8	friends saying I'm, you know, saying I'm eager to march. You know, do I march
1:45.2	downtown? Do I march here in Wheaton? Here in Wheaton, it's been interesting. There's been a march
1:49.8	or a demonstration, like there was one where people line the streets. Almost every day. So there's
1:55.6	been, I think, a couple of days where there wasn't one, but almost every day there's been one here
1:59.1	in Wheaton attended by, you know, a thousand or more folks. And that's been interesting. And heavy church involvement,
2:04.3	heavy church involvement and very little pushback. And a lot of folks have gone downtown too.
2:09.7	There hasn't been pushback like I heard in the Black Lives Matter protests of earlier years.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Christianity Today, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Christianity Today and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.