“If we treat people with different skin tones, languages, sexualities, genders, as bad or less than, our children will. If we wall ourselves off, hem ourselves into homogenous circles, our children will see those unlike themselves as ‘other.’ But, if we seek out or create diverse community, an inclusive circle of chosen family or ‘kin,’ that’s how our children will regard them."
Sixty years ago, on September 15, 1963, four little girls were changing into choir robes and chatting in a church restroom as they prepared for the Youth Sunday services being held that morning at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Instead, at 10:22 a.m., a bundle of dynamite that white supremacists had hidden under the church steps exploded.
We are all called to do the work of dismantling our divisions and instead to see each other and every child as beloved, precious children of God. Instead of drawing lines, we are called to draw wider circles.
This Labor Day Weekend is again a time to honor the workers who have made America all that it is—especially all those who work with and for children. “A Child Advocate’s Beatitudes,” inspired by Clarence Jordan’s Sermon on the Mount, is a prayer for all.
On August 28, 1963, I stood on the National Mall with uncontained excitement and tears with Bob Moses, Ella Baker, Julian Bond, and 250,000 others.
Charles Ogletree, who died August 4, was one of our nation’s preeminent legal scholars and a lifelong champion for racial and social justice.
How long will our nation continue to allow children to feel scared in their own neighborhoods, schools, and homes?