FORUM
United States: a nation
wrestling with open wounds
Derwin
Mongomery
Guest
Columnist
Earlier
this year, I
preached a
sermon series
titled,
"Wrestling
With Open
Wounds". The
premise of the
series was to
convey that all of us have injuries that
have often been neglected and left untreat
ed. Whether it was the wound of a broken
home, a broken heart, or even wrestling
with depression or the trauma of rape, we
all have wounds. I admonished the congre
gation to realize that before healing from
any wound, it was first necessary to
acknowledge that they were in fact wound
ed. Failing to acknowledge these injuries
will delay the healing process. Have you
ever gone to the emergency room and told
the nurse I am here, because everything is
OK?
Today we look at this Nation, a great
nation in many aspects ? a worldwide
political force with great military power
and a leader in the world economy ? but
in spite of its strengths, we are a wounded
nation.
Our past and our present have wound
ed us. And over time, these wounds have
been left open and untreated. When
wounds are left open, they are subject to
infection, and become much more difficult
to treat. The only way a person like Dylann
Roof could commit such a heinous attack
against humanity is because he saw no
value in the lives of those he murdered.
The lives of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney,
the Rev. Sharonda Singleton, Myra
Thompson, Tywanza Sanders, Ethel Lee
Lance, Cynthia Hurd, the Rev. Daniel L.
Simmons Sr., the Rev., DePayne
Middleton-Doctor and Susie Jackson. His
actions are an expression of this Nation's
infected wounds. This is why people feel
the need to remind the Nation and the
world that Black lives do matter.
As an African-American pastor and an
elected official, this could have happened
to my congregation, my colleagues, my
father or my friends.
This act of domestic terrorism serves
m*. x i mmmrn. m
as an example of what can happen when
we refuse to treat our wounds. We must
acknowledge as a nation, and as a people
that while we are indeed injured from our
past, we must not persistently move for
ward and accept our calamities as our
future.
This hate is a reminder of the now
puss-filled wound, self-inflicted by a
group of people within our nation who
have historically dictated whose lives
would be valued. This practice was inter
nalized, stitched into the fabric of our day
to-day existence, and built on the backs of
the marginalized. So when faced with acts
of malice to an unfathomable degree, what
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would lead anyone to believe, 150 years
later, a nation would be fully healed from
such a sickness?
Still today some are taught that they
have privilege, because of the color of
their skin. It is here where the wound
grows deeper. When individuals witness
members of their beloved community
recklessly gunned down by some law
enforcement officers, that wound grows
deeper. When people of color face a crim
inal justice system that seems to be built
for their entrapment rather than support,
the wound grows deeper.
My prayer is that we do not use this
moment to push political agendas that only
treat our wound on the surface. Yes, there
is a need to address issues of gun violence,
and yes, churches may need to implement
security ministries to make sure their
parishioners are safe, but this does not treat
the primary wound of internalized hate.
We must commit ourselves to reconcile
our hearts and face the truth: that we are
injured and must begin intensive treatment
of our wounds. This is the only way we
will extricate the infectious hate that has
grown in our open wounds.
It is a true statement that "darkness
cannot drive out darkness; only light can
do that." Likewise, "hate cannot drive out
hate; only love can do that."
Derwin L. Montgomery is a Winston
Salem council member who represents the
East Ward and is pastor of First Calvary
Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.
The killings in South Carolina are a setback in American race relations
James B.
Ewers Jr.
Guest
Columnist
Racial
tension in
this country
took an unex
pected turn
for the worse
o n
_ Wednesday
[June 17]
with the killing of nine African- Americans
in Charleston South Carolina.
The accused killer, Dylann Roof, 21
years old, was apprehended in Shelby,
North Carolina the very next day. It
appears this will be tried as a hate crime.
In my opinion it should be.
When you are brazen and bold enough
to go into a Wednesday night prayer serv
ice and Bible study, sit through most of it
and then open fire, hate is the word that
should characterize your actions.
The city of Charleston has come
together to condemn this act of violence.
The descendants of slaves and slave own
ers joined hands as prayer vigils were held
all day into the evening.'
The mayor and the governor of South
Carolina have asked for prayer and peace
for the citizens of the city and the state.
Nikki Haley, governor of the state,
said, "The heart and soul of South Carolina
was broken." President Obama offered his
condolences to the families, in particular to
that of Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who
was the pastor of Emanuel A.M.E. Church,
where the shooting took place. Reverend
Pinckney was one of the nine people
killed.
I listened to the breaking news in shock
and disbelief. Didn't America le^m any
thing from the Birmingham, Alabama,
church bombing that killed four little black
girls 52 years ago during the Civil Rights
era?
1 have always thought of churches as
safe places. Yet again, 1 always thought of
schools as safe places. We know now from
the school shootings in Colorado and
Connecticut that they are not safe places
for students. As a result, in cities across
America, we have school resource officers
with guns who protect our children and
teachers.
Now looming large on the American
landscape will be an effort to have a police
presence in and outside of our places of
worship. America, what are we becom
ing? Slowly in the eyes of some, we are
becoming a police state. One day we
might be carrying guns into the church
house. It will be like the cowboy channel
that I watch on Saturday morning. It will
be the Wild West in 2015. God is not
pleased with us!
Why does it take some major tragedy
to happen before we see the races coming
together? It should not take mass murder
for Us to understand we are our brother's
and sister's keeper. Can't we have com
munity meetings about the way we treat
one another? Maybe learning more about
our neighbors would be a start. I knew
everyone in my neighborhood in Winston
Salem, North Carolina. Doors left open
and windows unlocked didn't mean rob
bery, it meant trust. Now, we triple bolt
our doors, tell our children not to speak to
anyone and if we run out of sugar at night,
too bad.
The bond for the weapons charge
against Dylann Roof has been set at one
million dollars. How can you kill nine
people in a church no less and have a bond -
set at one million dollars?
Is that the highest that it can be set? If
not, that is a sad commentary on the state
of South Carolina. With South Carolina
being one of the country's leaders in hav
ing hate groups, he could possibly get the
necessary bail money. Now if that hap
pens, shame on the Palmetto State.
How about no bail and place him in an
undisclosed location on suicide watch until
he needs to appear in public. And how
about not letting anyone see him until
absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, there are more Dylann
Roofs out here. They are simply waiting
for the right opportunity to strike unsus
pecting victims. Hate groups have as their
primary objective to extinguish whatever
is good about this great land.
Symbols in this land have a great influ
ence on what happens in a particular
region. South Carolina has the
Confederate flag flying high atop the State
Capitol in Columbia. [The flag has been
taken down from that place and is now on
the grounds of the State Capitol.]
The flag represents a time in history
for black people that we would like to for
get. Yet each day we see that flag brings
back the memories of slavery, injustice and
inequality. It is difficult for me to see how
justice and equality can prevail when there
is a symbol of injustice that serves as a
constant reminder.
Nine people were killed by a handgun.
Guns and gun violence could stop in South
Carolina. Just maybe it could be a signal
for other states to act. Is this the time to
mount the effort? I hope so.
Let us pray for the families of those
affected by this senseless tragedy. Our
country is the greatest country in the
world. Let's act like it.
James B. Ewers Jr. EdD. is a former
tennis champion at Atkins High School
and played college tennis at Johnson C
Smith University where he was all-confer
ence for four years.
He is the President Emeritus of The
Teen Mentoring Committee of Ohio and a
retired college administrator.
He can be reached at
ewers ,jr56@yahoo .com.
Salvation Army's Center of Hope offers help to get back on feet
Tanisha
Moreland
Guest
Columnist
My name is Tanisha
Moreland, and my family
is homeless. We are cur
rently residing in the
Salvation Army's Center of
Hope.
We have a 12-year-old
son who is our world. He is
a very bright and sociable
middle school student. You
wouldn't be able to tell we
were homeless just by
looking at us.
You've probably seen
us in a store or maybe at
church. My husband and I
both have some college
experience. 1 am a nurse,
and my husband studied
Computer Information
Systems. 1 haven't worked
for four years due to a dis
ability. My husband is
i
totally blind, but loves
working. We were evicted
from our apartment
because my husband's
salary did not cover all of
our expenses, including
increasing medical bills.
We had to sleep in our
van for four nights, which
was the scariest and most
humbling experience. We
moved from parking tot to
parking lot hoping to not be
asked to move by the
police. We stayed with dif
ferent friends after that and
moved around between
two cities.
Our son attended four
middle schools before we
left the state. My husband
lost his job last September
I
after his company changed
their billing system, which
wasn't compatible with his
screen-reading software.
We moved to North
Carolina after researching
the best places for employ
ment opportunities for
visually impaired people.
We stayed with people
again but things didn't
work out. We called all of
the shelters within a 50
mile radius, but they were
either full or wanted us to
split -up. We were deter
mined to stay together as a
family because that's all we
had.
We eventually connect
ed with the Interactive
Resource Center in
Greensboro, which helped
us with an address for mail,
job references and social
support. They also helped
us get into the Salvation
Army's Center of Hope in
Winston-Salem. We com
muted between the two
cities until it became too
exhausting physically and
mentally.
The Salvation Army
provided our needed
refuge. It was very difficult
living with 80-plus other
people. There were some
longer-term residents, but
most people left within two
to three months. We arrived
during the winter months to
an unfamiliar cold. We
were given three hot meals
?
a day, a family room where
we could stay together, and
a Case Manager. Our Case
Manager, Noemi Toro, has
been the catalyst for emo
tional support, job leads
and problem resolution. We
are connected to various
community resources,
which are helping us find
permanent housing. My
husband is still unem
ployed, but is interviewing
for jobs. Our son is very
resilient and glad to be pro
moted to the seventh grade.
I am very thankful for
the Center of Hope because
that is exactly what they
have given us.