The Birmingham Method
Redemptive Resistance
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There are key reasons the 1963 Birmingham Campaign moved national consciousness in a way that nothing before had, that it, as Martin Luther King put it, "Literally subpoenaed the conscience of a large segment of the nation to appear before the judgement seat of morality on the whole question of civil rights."
One of those is because of the stark contrast on display for every American to see -- on the one hand, armed members of the institutions that had taken oaths to protect our rights, instead, with their full fury and hatred on display, violating both those rights and their oath, and on the other, unarmed Americans, including children, refusing to either hate or run. And Americans, even as they sat down in front of their TV dinners, saw the whole thing. And it changed us.
That fateful spring was the turning point for us as a people. But it didn't just happen. Participants in the march had to both undergo training and make their own vow, signing a pledge that required them to do far more than put their lives on the line. A key tenet of that pledge they signed was, “Pray daily to be used by God in order that all men and women might be free.”
They were asked to show America what it meant to be a better people. To hold love in their hearts -- even for their enemies. And again, it changed us. For those resisting, this was never just about freedom for African Americans in Birmingham. It was about freedom for everyone -- "all men and women". All of us. Not just some of us.
The Birmingham Method is a faith-rooted, redemptive resistance training approach based on that same spiritual ethos, on the hard-won understanding of what humanity looks like, and on the commitment, conviction and fortitude that turned a local protest into a national movement, that secured for them the moral high ground, and that made that movement unstoppable.
That fateful spring was the turning point for us as a people. But it didn't just happen. Participants in the march had to both undergo training and make their own vow, signing a pledge that required them to do far more than put their lives on the line. A key tenet of that pledge they signed was, “Pray daily to be used by God in order that all men and women might be free.”
They were asked to show America what it meant to be a better people. To hold love in their hearts -- even for their enemies. And again, it changed us. For those resisting, this was never just about freedom for African Americans in Birmingham. It was about freedom for everyone -- "all men and women". All of us. Not just some of us.
The Birmingham Method is a faith-rooted, redemptive resistance training approach based on that same spiritual ethos, on the hard-won understanding of what humanity looks like, and on the commitment, conviction and fortitude that turned a local protest into a national movement, that secured for them the moral high ground, and that made that movement unstoppable.
Projects
1. Be Reconciled - Seminar based on the Sermon on the Mount's Matthew 5:23-24, which teaches that the burden of reconciliation is on the offender, helped historically white congregations recognize that being anti-racist means both rejecting racial constructs and actively engaging in reparative justice.
2. After Exodus - Support groups for survivors of anti-LGBTQ+ religious abuse and victims of conversion therapy, including the kind that leading proponent Exodus International eventually recanted of.
3. Redemptive Resistance Network - "One question," said poet Staceyann Chin, "How to fight fire with warmth." The Redemptive Resistance Network is an activism and advocacy training based on the Four Actions covered in This Land Is Your Land -- Looking Deeper (Wisdom), Doing Better (Justice), Drawing Closer (Kindness), and Reaching Higher (Conscience), and that teaches the fundamental--and indispensable--difference between hating injustice and those perpetrating it, killing fascism and killing fascists. Between working on behalf of just some of us or all of us.
4. Response + Ability - A milestone in 12-step programs is Step Four: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” At the heart of this step is a practice that goes against so much of what, throughout our lives, we’ve been taught. “Deny, deny, deny” becomes our mantra, and even when we claim the buck stops with us, we’re actively trying to find a way to pass it. One way of understanding responsibility is by breaking it down into its parts: response + ability, or the ability to respond. It seems counterintuitive, but there’s real power in admitting our shortcomings – in owning a poor choice we made or action we took. Because if the poor choice was ours to make, rather than one that was made for us, then we’re free to both make it right and make a different choice. Response + Ability is an interfaith network of congregations who see the work religious repair, restoring what faith has broken, as not just central to their mission, but what they owe society.
2. After Exodus - Support groups for survivors of anti-LGBTQ+ religious abuse and victims of conversion therapy, including the kind that leading proponent Exodus International eventually recanted of.
3. Redemptive Resistance Network - "One question," said poet Staceyann Chin, "How to fight fire with warmth." The Redemptive Resistance Network is an activism and advocacy training based on the Four Actions covered in This Land Is Your Land -- Looking Deeper (Wisdom), Doing Better (Justice), Drawing Closer (Kindness), and Reaching Higher (Conscience), and that teaches the fundamental--and indispensable--difference between hating injustice and those perpetrating it, killing fascism and killing fascists. Between working on behalf of just some of us or all of us.
4. Response + Ability - A milestone in 12-step programs is Step Four: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” At the heart of this step is a practice that goes against so much of what, throughout our lives, we’ve been taught. “Deny, deny, deny” becomes our mantra, and even when we claim the buck stops with us, we’re actively trying to find a way to pass it. One way of understanding responsibility is by breaking it down into its parts: response + ability, or the ability to respond. It seems counterintuitive, but there’s real power in admitting our shortcomings – in owning a poor choice we made or action we took. Because if the poor choice was ours to make, rather than one that was made for us, then we’re free to both make it right and make a different choice. Response + Ability is an interfaith network of congregations who see the work religious repair, restoring what faith has broken, as not just central to their mission, but what they owe society.
We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them. – Albert Einstein
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. – Elie Wiesel
Avoid, rather than check. Check, rather than hurt. Hurt, rather than maim. Maim, rather than kill. For all life is precious, nor can any be replaced. – Pilot episode of Kung Fu
Even if our motives are presently misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. - MLK
One question: how to fight fire with warmth. - Staceyann Chin
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. – Elie Wiesel
Avoid, rather than check. Check, rather than hurt. Hurt, rather than maim. Maim, rather than kill. For all life is precious, nor can any be replaced. – Pilot episode of Kung Fu
Even if our motives are presently misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. - MLK
One question: how to fight fire with warmth. - Staceyann Chin