Frida Berrigan’s Statement at Liz McAlister’s Sentencing

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, UncategorizedLeave a comment
Liz_and_kids_2_(1)
Liz with her kids Kate, Frida, and Jerry

Liz McAlister, the eldest of the King Bay Plowshares 7, was sentenced on Monday via video to time served, three years supervised release and for a portion of the restitution for the seven of just over $30,000.

Frida Berrigan offered the statement below before her mother was sentenced.

Good morning, friends, My name is Frida Berrigan and I am here to speak on behalf of my mom, Elizabeth McAlister, one of the co-defendants in the Kings Bay Plowshares. I’m here in New London, Connecticut with my husband Patrick and our three kids, Liz’s grandchildren- Madeline, 6; Seamus, 7; and Rosena, 13. My brother Jerry is also here, with his wife, Molly and Liz’s other 3 grandchildren, Leah, 10; Jonah, 13 and Amos, 16. My sister Kate and her partner Karen are also here, they are now Liz’s roommates and live up the street a few blocks.
Continue reading “Frida Berrigan’s Statement at Liz McAlister’s Sentencing” →

On Racial Justice and Evolution

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, RaceLeave a comment

jyarlandBy Jyarland Daniels, executive director of Harriet Speaks

*Re-posted from social media (June 9, 2020)

One day I will write a book (as too many people continue to ask me to do). And a chapter of that book will be my evolution as it relates to race, racial justice and racial equity work.

That chapter will go something like this:

For much of my child and young adulthood, I was suffocated by racism, but didn’t recognize it as such. Later, I had my own personal awakening. The removing of the scales that clouded my vision started in college and in my early corporate life. In my protest, I walked away from a very lucrative career in business. I have receipts of what I have given up to do this work. Yet, I have no regrets. I only regret that I left bodies in my path. In my harshness and reactionary ways, I didn’t stop to consider that power is important to making change and somebody still needs to have a seat at the table; because, if you aren’t at the table then you are on the menu. I didn’t stop to consider that speaking up to in a way that allows you to heard is just as important as speaking up. Continue reading “On Racial Justice and Evolution” →

Apocalypse of Whiteness

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race3 Comments

whitenessBy Jim Perkinson, a sermon for St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (Detroit, MI)

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. (Paul, heading off to Rome and ultimately, his death, in II Cor 13:11)

Farewell.  The entirety of the message for today.  Farewell to the world you thought you knew.  Farewell to the country.  To certainty.  To your identity.  To the expectation of progress, well-being, comfort, a good end.  And maybe, most important of all, farewell to the story we have been living in.  We live inside stories—a whole mess of stories—origins stories, initiation stories, trickster stories.  Leslie Marmon Silko says at the end of the day, when the dominators come, when the colonists come, when the supremacists come, when the humans come (if you are a fish or plant or mountain top) all we have are our stories (yes, even non-human creatures probably have stories they live).  But if we are the ones who have been doing the dominating, the colonizing, the reducing, being the “human masters over” everything else as the Psalmist unfortunately says—then what our responsibility comes down to is narrating—and embracing—an “ending.”  How do we end and end well?  Continue reading “Apocalypse of Whiteness” →

Blessing Liz McAlister

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, UncategorizedLeave a comment

LizMcalisterArrest2001This morning at 9am Elizabeth McAlister will be the first to be sentenced for her action as part of the Kings Bay Plowshares.

The sentencing itself will take place with a video conference at 9am tomorrow. An audio link is provided by the court for public to listen. Dial 1-888-684-8852, enter the call access code 2296092 and enter the security code 1234.

Last night community gathered over zoom to hold a blessing and liturgy in preparation. Here is the closing blessing for Liz by Bill Wylie-Kellermann.

In the name of the One who creator and sustainer of life; the One who is Lord and servant of all creation; and the Spirit that calls us together as one, let this blessing be. Continue reading “Blessing Liz McAlister” →

Day of Fasting and Focus

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

ppcFrom Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival:

Join us Monday June 8th, two weeks after George Floyd’s death, for a Day of Fasting and Focus which will culminate at 5:00pm when we are asking people to stop where you are for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in silence in honor of the time George Floyd had the literal knee of the state on his neck.

Take the pledge to participate in a National Moment of Silence in Honor of George Floyd and other victims of police brutality on Monday at 5pm EST. Continue reading “Day of Fasting and Focus” →

More is at Work than Passes for the News

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

SehestedBy Ken Sehested

Almost every breakthrough begins with a breakdown. Goodness is not thereby assured; then again, neither is our breath, day by day.

We hope to be effective; but our perseverance is not hitched to efficacy. We insert ourselves, compassionately and intelligently, because that’s who we are. (Or at least who we are becoming.) Continue reading “More is at Work than Passes for the News” →

Looting

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nickRev. Dr. Nick Peterson  (right) says he was just shooting from the hip in these posts last week. We say he was shooting straight for our heart. 

I mean if we want to talk about looting, let’s talk about the “stolen properties” that structure the entire existence of this horrible project. America is a testimony to the sanctity of white looting. #pentecost

Looting in 1607. That’s when the first “permanent” English settlement was established on the “James” river.

Looting, 1607

What 4 centuries, not days, of “looting” look like. Continue reading “Looting” →

Pentecost as a Riot of the Unheard

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MinnyBy Ric Hudgens

This Sunday, May 31, 2020, Christians celebrate the Day of Pentecost. It is a celebration rooted in the Hebrew “Feast of Weeks” (Shavuot). Christians around the world observe it on the seventh Sunday after Easter. The Biblical origin of the sacred holiday is the Book of Acts, chapter 2, which describes the “descent of the Holy Spirit” upon the earliest church. Continue reading “Pentecost as a Riot of the Unheard” →

10 Ways

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MinnyFrom Mark Van Steenwyk of The Center for Prophetic Imagination, on the ground in Minneapolis.

Here are 10 ways to support the struggle for justice in Minneapolis.

1. Add your voice to this list of demands from Reclaim the Block and Black Visions.

2. Support the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a widely respected bail fund for those arrested in protests against oppression. Continue reading “10 Ways” →