ANALYSIS OF BLACK LIVES MATTER’S MISSION STATEMENT / ORIGINS STATEMENT

From 2019 -- Fr Dennis, second from left, with members of the homeless community then sleeping at the outskirts of his parish of St. Philip Benizi in Fullerton.

By Fr. Dennis-Zdenek M. Kriz, OSM – July 8, 2020

Fr. Dennis was the chair of the Friar Servants of Mary, USA Province’s Justice and Peace Committee, 2000-2006, as well as member of the Friar Servants of Mary order-wide Secretariat for Justice, Peace and Care of Creation from 2007-2013.  In recent years, in addition to having been an all but immovable defender the dignity of Immigrants (a son of Czechoslovakian immigrants himself), often of color, he has become an outspoken defender of those people who find themselves homeless in Orange County, CA.

Common Americans, and specifically common American Catholics, have been aggressively targeted in recent months by various “authorities” seeking to scare them about “the dangers of the Black Lives Movement” often simply referred to as BLM (quite possibly to avoid having to admit that BLACK LIVES do MATTER…).

Tired of such nonsense that fundamentally MISSES THE POINT – Black people are being KILLED in the United States FOR TRIVIAL THINGS, certainly NOT WARRANTING _DEATH_ -- I’ve decided to provide this analysis of the Black Lives Matter mission statement and statement on its origins to set minds at ease.

(1) Black Lives Matter, BLM, has been accused of being Marxist and pro-abortion.

Yet scanning for the following terms -- marx, marxism, abortion, choice, choose – yield NO RESULTS on both their “What we believe” and “Herstory” (origins) pages (scan for them yourselves).

https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/

https://blacklivesmatter.com/herstory/

So … unless ANY statement about justice / injustice is by definition “Marxist” this is just a typical dismissive accusation made routinely against ALL movements that try to bring greater justice in the world.  Martin Luther King, Jr and Nelson Mandela as well as their organizations, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the African National Congress (ANC) were in their time accused of the same.

Indeed the BLACK LIVES MATTER, BLM, movement sees itself as one of solidarity rather than “defeating enemies”

FROM: https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/

“Every day, we recommit to healing ourselves and each other, and to co-creating alongside comrades, allies, and family a culture where each person feels seen, heard, and supported.

“We acknowledge, respect, and celebrate differences and commonalities.

“We work vigorously for freedom and justice for Black people and, by extension, all people.

“We intentionally build and nurture a beloved community that is bonded together through a beautiful struggle that is restorative, not depleting.”

MY THOUGHTS …

“A BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE that is RESTORATIVE, NOT DEPLETING …” unless _any_ struggle is _by definition_ Marxist (was the American Revolution Marxist? Was the Solidarity Movement in Poland, Marxist?) while the adjective “beautiful” seems to “protest too much”, the “restorative, not depleting” qualifiers indicate that the purpose is not to destroy but rather to build, expand, to set more / all people free.  It’s hard to find fault in that …

(2) Black Lives Matter, BLM, has been further accused of being “radical” / “radical feminist,” “pro-trans” and against “traditional” (nuclear) family. 

Relevant passages on their “What we believe” and “Herstory” pages would be:

FROM https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/

“We are unapologetically Black in our positioning. In affirming that Black Lives Matter, we need not qualify our position. To love and desire freedom and justice for ourselves is a prerequisite for wanting the same for others…

“We are guided by the fact that all Black lives matter, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status, or location.

“We make space for transgender brothers and sisters to participate and lead.

“We are self-reflexive and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence.

“We build a space that affirms Black women and is free from sexism, misogyny, and environments in which men are centered.

“We practice empathy. We engage comrades with the intent to learn about and connect with their contexts….

“We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).

“We cultivate an intergenerational and communal network free from ageism. We believe that all people, regardless of age, show up with the capacity to lead and learn.

“We embody and practice justice, liberation, and peace in our engagements with one another.”

FROM https://blacklivesmatter.com/herstory/:

“As organizers who work with everyday people, BLM members see and understand significant gaps in movement spaces and leadership. Black liberation movements in this country have created room, space, and leadership mostly for Black heterosexual, cisgender men — leaving women, queer and transgender people, and others either out of the movement or in the background to move the work forward with little or no recognition. As a network, we have always recognized the need to center the leadership of women and queer and trans people. To maximize our movement muscle, and to be intentional about not replicating harmful practices that excluded so many in past movements for liberation, we made a commitment to placing those at the margins closer to the center.”

MY THOUGHTS:

So Black Lives Matter (BLM) is not so much “pro-trans” or “pro-radical feminist” as the past / current society has been (quite radically) ANTI-trans, ANTI-women, insisting on their staying in their place, insisting on their marginalization.

FROM https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/

“We make our spaces family-friendly and enable parents to fully participate with their children. We dismantle the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work “double shifts” so that they can mother in private even as they participate in public justice work.

“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”

MY THOUGHTS:

Here it needs to be said that the “nuclear family” as we know it came to be, in the West, only after the introduction of Social Security in the U.S. and equivalent programs elsewhere.  That is, until the 1930s ALL FAMILIES EVERYWHERE were “extended families” because most older people had _no means of providing for themselves_ except depending on their adult children.  And even today, many/most poorer families remain organized as Extended Families, where “auntie or grandma” fullfill the role of “day care” that richer families are able to pay for elsewhere.

Further, until a generation ago, the sense of community / neighborhood was near universal.  EVERYONE still growing up, up-to the 1960s had stories of “the mother’s CIA” in which one did something even blocks away from home and by the time one got home, mom was waiting at the door to discipline said kid, because news already reached her via this neighborhood network of “mom’s CIA.”  Only in recent decades did we come to the point where people don’t know their own neighbors.

So BLM here is actually refreshingly _restorative_ not “radical.”

MY CONCLUSION:

All in all BLACK LIVES MATTER is being unfairly besmirched for speaking Truth and seeking to make society better for all.  



ADDENDUM (July 10, 2020) -- 

I find it simply absurd to focus on the hyperbolized faults of the organization founded around the Black Lives Matter movement OVER the REALITY that created the movement / organization – the REPEATED KILLING OF BLACK PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES FOR TRIVIAL REASONS, CERTAINLY _NOT_ WARRANTING _DEATH_.

Let me offer this analogy:  

Catholics and Baptists theologically have very little in common.  Baptists definitely don’t recognize the Pope nor our Hierarchy, nor any of our sacramental system. YET WE COOPERATE PRETTY MUCH _EVERYWHERE_ IN THE COUNTRY in feeding the poor, clothing the naked, etc.  We cooperate similarly with our Jewish brothers and sisters and EVEN AT TIMES with our Muslim brothers and sisters EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW THAT IT IS DOUBTFUL THAT THEY WILL EVER UNDERSTAND JESUS IN THE SAME WAY AS WE DO.

What makes it so hard for so many to do the same with regard to Black Lives Matter when clearly one does not need to agree with every aspect or even many aspects of the Organization’s mission statement? 

In this regard, I want to simply underline (and applaud) that the USCCB has done basically this.  Regardless of whatever reservations the Bishops could have with the Black Lives Matter organization, IT HAS FUNDAMENTALLY EMBRACED THE POINT that BLACK LIVES DO MATTER and organized yet another campaign against racism (http://usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/racism/index.cfm) 

Here in California, the California Bishops’ Conference asked on the day of George Floyd’s funeral, IN SOLIDARITY WITH HIS FAMILY that in place of the Homily for the Daily Mass, an 8 minute and 46 second moment of silence be observed in our parishes (which we observed at the Parish, St. Philip Benizi in Fullerton, that I'm responsible for).  https://www.cacatholic.org/policies-issues/restorative-justice/catholic-churches-honor-george-floyd-day-burial  

This fulfills well the repeated assertions of the Magisterium that whatever reservations it may have with “Certain Aspects of Liberation Theology” or with the manner of life of homosexual persons, these reservations can not be used as an excuse to ignore the plight of the poor or to treat the homosexual person with disrespect.:

Libertatis Nuncius (1987), XI Orientations http://w2.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19840806_theology-liberation_en.html 

1. The warning against the serious deviations of some "theologies of liberation" must not be taken as some kind of approval, even indirect, of those who keep the poor in misery, who profit from that misery, who notice it while doing nothing about it, or who remain indifferent to it. The Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and by the love for mankind, hears the cry for justice [28] and intends to respond to it with all her might.

Homosexualitatis problema (1986) http://w2.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html
10. It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs. It reveals a kind of disregard for others which endangers the most fundamental principles of a healthy society. The intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in word, in action and in law.