Tales from Grand Rapids on May 30th
On May 30th, a friend and I went to downtown Grand Rapids around 6:30 p.m.
We met up with close to 5,000 other young, old, white, black hispanic, straight, gay, christian, agnostic, and atheist people. Clothed in black with masks on we gathered, barely socially distant, in Rosa Parks circle.
This was the March for Change.
We started and ended in Rosa Parks circle, going around the block past the downtown police office and secretary of state building. Slowly and reeking of the newly legalized marijuana the procession ambled its’ way downtown through the street completely filling the entirety and spilling over through the sidewalks and alleys as demonstrators attempted to get to the front of the procession.
In an article by Andrew Byers that was posted on Christianity Today he cites Douglass Murray who addresses the crowd mentality by saying that the foundation of Woke Activism is outrage. I agree, but I don’t think that is the entirety of it.
I definitely saw outrage, but I also saw despair, confusion, hurt and support. I saw pain and suffering, expressed in multitudes of ways.
Byer describes the constant outrage for and against social justice on social media. While I cannot disagree that social media has led to a very unfortunate evolution in the movement, it seemed different in person.
But then 8:00 p.m. hit. There was a shift, as the sun began to set there seemed to be a new crowd. The demographic changed from a representation from across GR to a much younger crowd. In the alleys there were white kids having photoshoots with the march in the background. The chants became far more aggressive and fervent. The tone changed from cathartic to self-righteous. Within 30 minutes my friend and I sensed what was about to ensue and so we left, as did the majority of those who started the march with us.
Upon arriving home I saw my parents glued to the news and their thankfulness that I had arrived home as there was a fire in downtown Grand Rapids started about 15 minutes after we had left. For the next three hours we watched the live coverage of the suburban white boys and girls who were out of the house for the first time in two months. Accompanied by the leftover protestors the new rioters lit fires, chased flashbangs and rushed the police.
The next morning however was Sunday. The Lord’s day. Starting at 7:00 in the morning and continuing throughout the day, hundreds of parishioners declined their living room congregation and chose to instead clean up the city. For hours our community came together in the second act of unity in two days. The love and care we as a community had for each other was truly inspiring.
In Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes the authors speak on what it truly means to be colorblind. As white men we have a habit of ignoring ethnicity and color. Rather instead of learning how to approach it in a loving and correct way.
I don’t have the actual answer. In the march I was one of the confused. During the riots, I was absent. In the cleanup, I was present. What I have learned, is that in social justice, words without inaction truly is indicative of the inaction Byers mentions. If we as Christians are going to be effective with social justice, we need to pair our words with corresponding actions.
