Pioneers Church is treading on holy ground

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commentary – Spaces are made sacred by virtue of the people who gather to make it home. These welcoming and affirming places are more than temples where lessons about faith are taught to separate wolves from lambs.

It matters when a congregation is planted on sacred ground.

Close to 6,500 people have signed a petition to prevent Pioneers Church from opening its doors in the area made holy when residents Married Durham.

Pioneers Durham is a retail, coffee, and co-working space in the Hutchings Auto Supply Building located at 402 W. Geer Street. The revenue from Pioneers Durham will be used to fund Pioneers Church, a new congregation led by Sherei Lopez-Jackson and her partner Daniel Jackson.

The petition chides Lopez-Jackson for supporting the position of the United Methodist Church to withhold ordination from LGBTQ+ persons and supporting her denominations opposition of same sex relationships.

“Under the limits of my ordinations (united Methodist Church) and my own convictions, I am not permitted to marry people within the LGBTQ+ community,” Lopez-Jackson said in response to her critics.

More than 2,000 people took vows on March 19, 2011, during Marry Durham

“Today, we marry each other. Beyond race, beyond gender, beyond class, beyond sexual orientation, beyond religion and all other declarations,” are part of the vows I wrote binding residents to each other with a deeper commitment to protect our mutual interest.

Residents of Durham evoked the spirit of their vows when Republican State Senator Peter Brunstetter introduced Senate Bill 514, Amendment One, to the North Carolina General Assembly in September 2011.

Not in the Bull City.

Durham responded with a resounding hell to the no when the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act (HB2) took effect on March 23, 2016. HB2 required people to use the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex as the designation appearing on an individual’s birth certificate.

Not in the Bull City.

“We are married by our thoughts,” that’s what I said that day. “We are married by a love made deeper by the strength of the others in our community. We are more than the labels others create to separate and define. We are married to the truth of universal claims. We are more powerful because of every you in our city.”

More than 2,000 people said yes to that. We meant every word. We’ve proven it by our enduring love for every person who lives in the Bull City – beyond race, beyond religion, beyond gender, and, yes, beyond sexual orientation.

I meant every word I spoke that day. We all meant it.

We prove it by how we vote. We don’t always agree, but the vows still matter. They have shaped how we think about Durham. Ten years later, we continue to be impacted by the day we Married Durham.

It happened in the shadow of Pioneers Church.

There are hundred of congregations in Durham. Many endorse the position of Pioneers Church. They don’t accept the ordination of LGBTQ+ persons. They refuse to marry same sex couples. Durham is a community with diverse theological viewpoints.

Not all ministers think like me.

Granted, but it matters that I officiated a wedding with vows aimed at defining the heart of Durham.

“I promise to promote the strengths of the city I love, rather than to demean and destroy the reputation when I disagree with the actions of others I vow to love,” I said that. I meant that. I still do.

Churches are being planted across the city. These gentrifying churches are planted to claim territory for their hipper version of Jesus. They mingle a chic marketing strategy with a Bibicalist bent. They bring a new swag to a white evangelical theological perspective under the guise of a more modern, friendlier version of Jesus.

They occupy territory like the Crusaders intent on winning souls to their homophobic white Jesus. They offer coffee and pastries with space for millennial business owners while rejecting the humanity of men and women in search of safe spaces to gather in peace.

We honor a moment in time where hands were held, and the collective dreams of residents mingled to pioneer a new movement. Statements were made about what we desire to be in a city made holy by a love transcendent of all our difference.

Geer Street is holy ground.

It’s the place where we said “I do” to what it means to be a community committed to loving and embracing each other beyond differences.

Not in the Bull City.

"State of Urgency": A play reflecting the perspective of Hillside High School Drama Department students

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Students in the Hillside high school Drama Department gathered to discuss what they have seen. What they’ve heard was followed by the emotions of what they feel. The thoughts and feelings in the room were translated into a play.

The name “State of Urgency” is the best way to reflect the sentiments of young people who have witnessed people their age die too soon. They’re witnessing a new wave of gun violence in streets once known as their playgrounds. They’ve grown up in the shadow of white supremacy recast with an alt-right political agenda.

They’ve seen too much. When will it stop? Does anyone care?

The timing couldn’t be better. The outcry following the murder of Jamal McClinton Coltrane, 31, intensified conversations regarding fighting gun violence. Coltrane was involved in “Bikes Up, Guns Down,” a group dedicated to derailing gun violence with dirt bikes.

Coltrane was the 39^th person to die from gun violence in 2021.

Durham is faced with a “State of Urgency.”

Wendell Tabb, the award-winning Performing and Visual Arts Director of Theatre at Hillside High School, says the play captures the thoughts and emotions of the young people in his drama program.

“With so much violence and unrest going on in the world, it was easy for me to consider a show that would address such social justice issues as Gun Violence, Police Brutality, Racism, Discrimination and Poverty to name a few. I wanted to do my part as a change agent. My commitment to our school and community led me to create an original play to address these social issues,” Tabb said.  “I am proud of the voices that Hillside students have given to these topics that are having a major impact on their lives daily.”

This is Hillside Drama Department’s first major stage production since the pandemic upended their season of shows in March 2020. “State of Urgency” will run Friday, November 12^th at 7:15 p.m., Saturday, November 13^th at 3:15 p.m. and 7”15 p.m., and Sunday, November 14^th at 3:15 p.m. All tickets can be purchased online at: www.seatyourself.biz/hillside.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to not only entertain, but to inform and educate our community on contemporary issues plaguing our society, specifically our youth," William Logan, principal at Hillside High School, said. "This is a great chance for our students to make a difference in the lives of their peers."

Tabb is calling for “all hands on deck” with a call to end gun violence. Organizations committed to change have booths at the play. It’s a collective exhale of enough is enough.

 Every great movement in American history began with a vision from young people. They often see the world with a perspective hidden by people too old to recognize the brewing chaos hindering dreams.

It’s a “State of Urgency”.

All hands on deck.

Who will Durham Black voters support to replace U.S. Congressman David Price?

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The lineup of potential candidates to replace U.S. Congressman David Price feels like a pileup on Highway 40 during rush hour traffic. The clash between Cary, Chapel Hill and Durham is a reminder of the impact of road rage when too many people are headed in the same direction.

Voters are advised to buckle up while doing their best to avoid reckless drivers.

Rumors of Price’s retirement have circulated for years. Candidates have waited, patiently, for the announcement. State Senator Wiley Nickel, 45, announced his campaign with the news of a whopping $253,000 raised within hours of Price’s press conference. He was ready to go before hearing “ready, set, go.”

Nickel was elected to represent the 16^th state senate district in 2018. He was groomed as part of Vice President Al Gore’s team from 1996 to 2001 and worked as a member of Barack Obama’s White House national advance staff from 2008 until 2012.

Nida Allam, 27, is first Muslim American woman elected to political office in North Carolina. She was sworn in as a member of the Durham Board of County Commissioners on December 7, 2020. With less than one year of service as an elected official, Allam announced her candidacy for congress on Monday, November 8.

Allam served as the Political Director in North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and New York for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and as an organizing director for Justice Cheri Beasley’s campaign for the North Carolina Supreme Court.

State Senator Valerie Foushee, 65, joined the legislature in 2012. She represented district 50 (Orange and Durham) in the state house before becoming a State Senator after Ellie Kinnaird retirement from District 23. She has deep roots in Orange County politics, having served on the Board of Education for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School from 1997 to 2008 and the Orange County Board of County Commissioner from 2008-2010.

Floyd McKissick, Jr, 68, is known both for his name and work as a longtime Durham politician. He is the namesake of his father, the former leader of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and founder of Soul City in Warren County, NC. After serving on the Durham City Council from 1993 to 2001, McKissick, Jr. was selected by the Durham Democratic Party to fill the vacancy in the district 20 senate seat after the death of Jeanne Lucas. McKissick was the chairman of the Durham County Democratic Party, which raised questions related to conflict of interest in the selection process.

On March 17, 2004, he was disciplined by the NC State Bar for professional misconduct involving a conflict of interest. The bar determined that McKissick inappropriately represented both sides in a 2000 dispute involving the estate of an elderly man.

McKissick was appointed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission by Governor Roy Cooper for a term expiring on June 30, 2025.

Mike Woodard, 62, has served in the North Carolina Senate since 2013. Before being elected to the State Senate, Woodward was a member of the Durham City Council from 2005 to 2013. He’s also an administrator at Duke University and the Duke University Health System.

Price was first elected to Congress in 1986. He was reelected for three terms before losing in 1994 to former Raleigh police chief Fred Heineman by a margin of less than 1%. In 1996, Price defeated Heineman in a rematch. Price has maintained control of the district for 33 years.

Key among Durham Black voters is the role of Tracy Lovett, Price’s longtime district liaison. Lovett is the daughter of Willie C. Lovett, the former chair of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and member of the North Carolina Democratic Party Executive Committee. Before his death in 1992, Lovett won the primary to represent Durham in the State House Representatives. As a District Liason, Lovett has sustained relationships with Black Durham residents making it easier to embrace Price, a congressman with no natural ties to Durham.  

Wiley’s strength is in Wake County, where he has garnered several high-level endorsements. Foushee, a Black woman, is attractive to Durham’s Black community, but her limited ties to Durham is a challenge before the primary.

McKissick is a known entity with deep ties to the Black community. Some fear his past issues regarding conflict of interest will be used against him in a head-to-head race against a Republican candidate. McKissick, like all Durham based state politicians, has never been challenged by a Republican.

Woodward is candidate with longevity of service. Recently, he fought proposals to make it illegal to teach Black history in public schools. He knows Durham culture and the issues that resonate with residents.

Black voters desire a Black representative. Black women desire a Black woman.

In the race to Congress, Durham Black voters’ matter.

 

 

 

 

Can Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam get elected to Congress despite having a Black people problem?

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COMMENTARY – Few people are surprised by Nida Allam’s announcement that she’s running for U.S. Congress. It’s been expected before she was elected to serve on the Durham Board of County Commissioners just over a year ago. I repeat, just over a year ago.

Durham was a step to the next step. Win one to get one. In this case, a small fish in a small pond in hope of becoming a big fish in the ocean.

Some people say it’s too soon. She hasn’t served long enough. Others say she hasn’t done enough. She hasn’t paid her dues. The Democratic Party elite are interested in a candidate who has a proven track record. It’s not cool to step in front of the line.

That’s true, but there is a more pressing question when it comes to Allam’s candidacy.

Allam, the first Muslim American woman to be elected to office in North Carolina, has a Black people problem.

Members of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People claim Allam made a promise not to vote to terminate former Durham County Manager Wendell Davis. If true, she broke her promise. More troubling is her lack of sensitivity after the vote was made.

After a series of reports on Rev-elution, regarding discontent among Black residents, Allam supported the agenda set by Wendy Jacobs, the former chair of the board.

When Durham County employees requested a meeting with members of the board to discuss concerns after Davis’ dismissal, Allam remained silent. When community leaders pressed the board to follow the recommendations of both the county/city appointed Racial Equity Task Force and James E. Coleman, the attorney hired by the county to investigate racial bias and unfair treatment in county government, Allam failed to force accountability.

On March 8, Allam blocked the recommendation of County Attorney Lowell Siler to secure the services of The Robert Bobb Group to offer racial equity training. Allam sided with other commissioners to pursue training after county staff brought two more training proposals to review. Board Chair Brenda Howerton was the only member of the commission to oppose the plan.

Allam followed the argument stated on social media by members of People’s Alliance and The Durham Association of Educators. They noted Robert Bobb’s past as a consultant in Detroit, MI. Some Black residents watching the virtual commissioners meeting noted disdain in addressing Bobb and Siler. Both men are Black.

On March 22, The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People released a statement requesting commissioners apologize for the “blatant disrespect shown” at the meeting.

“The community witnessed first-hand how certain county commissioners treat Black County staff and a Black consultant seeking to provide much needed, individualized services,” the letter read.

Allam, Jacobs and Heidi Carter released statements refuting charges of disrespect. The three commissioners stated their reluctance to employ the services of The Robert Bobb Group was rooted in favoring procurement practices that seek multiple bids.

Allam agreed with the assessment of People’s Alliance, the mostly white Durham based political action committee, that Davis’s contract should not be renewed because he’s too moderate and is paid too much.

Black residents haven’t forgotten Allam’s role in the unravelling of race relations in Durham.  

It’s too soon. She can’t be trusted to listen to Black voters. She failed to build significant relationships with the people on the other side of the decision to oust the former County Manager.

Can Allam win without the support of Black voters? A clue comes from Twitter.

A shout out from Keith Allison followed by a tweet from Ihan Omar. If Allam has her way, the race for Congress will not be determined by local Black voters. It will be won by the support of the national media and progressive politicians desirous of an addition to The Squad - joining Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ihan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

I advise slowing your roll before jumping into the ocean. The small fish in Durham desire being heard and respected before giving you a lift.

 

Elaine O'Neal becomes Durham's first Black woman to be elected mayor: rekindling the power of Black faith

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COMMENTARY - The Election Watch party transformed into a worship service with family members on stage praising God for the victory.

Elaine O’Neal is Durham’s first Black woman elected to serve as mayor. She conjured a thought from a popular question about Jesus – can anything good come from West End. It was a statement rooted in memories of growing up on streets in the shadow of Duke University and white privilege. It was a statement about days long before Chester Jenkins became Durham’s first Black mayor in 1989.

It was a statement about not knowing the day would come.

Durham’s future mayor held a tambourine in one hand while belting out her praise. Being surrounded by a family choir was another statement. It is about being grounded in something deeper than an impressive resume. The praise is about knowing what guides the work she plans to achieve. It is about a culture entrenched in the pride of the witness of mama’s and daddy’s who encouraged O’Neal to walk with her head held high when trouble dipped into her soul.

The people in the crowd understood what was happening. It was a return to something missing. O’Neal’s win is about more than an election. It reclaims the culture, legacy, pride, and witness of a community cast aside under the illusion of inclusion.

It’s become unpopular to talk about Black faith. The politics of inclusion forces a separation between the world of faith and what happens in the public square. It’s damaging when faith is used as a weapon to exclude people from other traditions. Loving and being community becomes complicated when a political celebration becomes a moment of praise.

There is a more fundamental question. What happens when the faith of Black people is taken away? What happens if we separate the faith of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr from the Civil Rights Movement? What happens if the songs of that movement are removed from the historical canon?  

I’m reminded of the teachings of my former mentor, Dr. C. Eric Lincoln. Lincoln argued, in the world of black sacred cosmos, there is no separation of the sacred and profane. Faith is lived in every dimension of life, meaning the activity of politics is an expression of the life of Black communal faith. It’s part of the history and culture of Black people.

Assimilating into places reflective of the goals of an inclusive culture comes with painful implications. It often requires the abandonment of the heart and soul of a people defined by their common faith. That faith transcends the measures of religion. It’s the core of Black culture. It’s the naming and claiming of more than a Black woman being elected Durham’s mayor. It’s more than her victory. It’s a reminder of what we can achieve together.

That’s what has been missing in Durham. A faith that we are being carried, together. A common dream rooted in a thought – the Lord will make a way, somehow. It’s the search for what Howard Thurman calls the “beloved community” yearning for an irreducible essence rooted in the search for connectedness.  It’s an affirmation that our differences can be overcome by a thirst transcendent of the things that make us different.

O’Neal’s faith is not a tool of separation. It’s the type of faith that Black people have historically used to move mountain. Her faith is a celebration of what we can become, together.

“This is what God wanted. This is God’s will,” a tall Black man announced with a few teardrops to baptize the moment.

I thought of the joy of Black men supporting Black women. The sway of the family choir took us back to former days when gathering on Sunday’s eased the burden of the week. Another reminder of what we can achieve when two or three gather to evoke the gift of a dream.

It’s the day after the election. O’Neal, DeDreana Freeman and Rev. Mark-Anthony Middleton won their elections by landslides. Leonardo Williams narrowly defeated A.J. Williams to join the others on the city council. The exhale of the crowd, when the final tally was announced, felt like a great commissioning after the prophet’s declaration of peace.

It’s time to move some mountains. Come. Black people. Come. White people. Come Latina’s. Join the family of LGBTQIA+1, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Bahai, Hindu, atheist and agnostic brothers and sisters. We may sing different praise songs, but we bring our unique cultures to this mountain.

Eyes closed one last time to absorb the truth of the moment.

Economic disparity, crime, gentrification, unemployment – a few of the mountains in the way of shared prosperity.

Move mountain. Get out of our way.

We the Bull City.