Dear NY Faith & Justice,
On election day I was overcome as I stood in the voting booth, holding pictures of my ancestors. I wept. My mother called earlier that day and gave me the idea, saying she had done the same thing that morning. Their memories were with us in the voting booth and our votes were for them.
Then, that night, I sat around a television set in the Bronx with NYFJ leaders and partners, when CNN announced Sen. Barack Obama is now President-Elect of the United States of America. Immediately there were tears and screams and jumping on furniture and more tears. Like much of the rest of the country, the gravity of that moment struck us to the core. This was a turning point for our nation 143 years in the making.
My mother called in the midst of the maylay. She said, "It feels like The Emancipation Proclamation - Part 2." As I looked at the nation's elation symbolized by waving flags across the country, I sensed she was right. On November 4th, we were set free... again. This time it wasn't only Blacks, but all of us were set free from the strangle-hold of racism on the very soul of our nation.
No matter how we voted, we can recognize this breakthrough moment.
When the initial elation subsided, the NYFJ leaders and partners sat in a circle and began to ask the question: "What next?"
- Orlando Crespo (Latino Ministry Director, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship) said, "Before we do anything, we must fiesta to mark this historical moment."
- Next, prayer for our country, our next president, and our world in the transition.
- Finally, the group agreed we must get to work. President-Elect Obama and our elected congressional representatives will need movements like ours to hold them accountable for the changes they promised. They will not be able to bring the needed change without us making it clear, "This is what the people want."
To conclude our Election Week journey and to kick off the next phase of our work together, New York Faith & Justice will gather this Saturday for a faith forum On The Bridge. A broad array of leaders will engage that question, "What next?". Please don't miss this incredible opportunity to hear directly from local and national leaders in faith and culture about next steps for the church in this new era.
Sojourners just posted a few of my own relfections on Evangelicals, race and Election 2008. I value your feedback. Please click here to read it and write back to share your thoughts...or share them with us on Saturday!
Election Week Finale!
Saturday
NOVEMBER 8
Worship | Arts | Deep | Connection | Practical | Justice | Community
"What Next?"
A Dialogue: Christians in the Public Square post-election day
@ All Angels Church
Saturday, November 8, 2008
12 noon - 2pm
Doors open at 11:45am
Join Lisa Sharon Harper (Executive Director of NY Faith & Justice and author of Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican or Democrat) for this dialogue with distinguished leaders in faith and culture, including:
- Jamie Moffett (Director, "The Ordinary Radicals")
- Derrick Boykin (Northeast Organizer, Bread for the World)
- Becky Garrison (Author, Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church)
- Rev. George Gregory (Pastor, Morningstar Church-New York)
- Rev. Annie Rawlings (Council for Witness to Society and the World, PC-USA Presbytery of New York)
- Rev. Dr. Peter Heltzel (Professor of Theology, New York Theological Seminary)
- Dr. Douglass Puffert (Professor of Economics, The King's College)
- Rev. Jose Humphreys (Pastor, Metro Hope Church in East Harlem)
Directions
All Angel's Church
255 West 80th Street
(between Broadway and West End)
New York, N.Y. 10024
Take the  train to 79th Street
Walk north on Broadway to 80th Street
Turn Left
Go to 255 West 80th Street
or
Take the  or  train to 81st Street
Walk west to Broadway.
Turn left and walk one block south to 80th Street
Turn right
Go to 255 West 80th Street
Map It!
Peace and Joy,
Lisa Sharon Harper
Cofounder and Executive Director
New York Faith & Justice
www.nyfaithjustice.org
(o) 212.870.1201
(f) 212.870.2220
|
