Good news only can be declared in light of a problem. And the problem is that in far too many instances, our society's actions reveal that Black lives don't matter. Extrajudicial killings, police harassment, and intimidation of Black people is a this-worldly anti-gospel. #BlackLivesMatter offers itself as a succinct, holy antidote.
Some people are put off by such specificity - don't all lives matter? Isn't all life sacred? The result is the counter-hashtag popping up everywhere as a critique: #AllLivesMatter. It tries to universalize the answer. While it is a "true" statement, it is also completely irrelevant and contributes nothing as a response to Black oppression. It actually obscures the problem. It forgets that the gospel always addresses concrete problems. The problem is not that everyone is a target of the police; hands are not reaching for weapons when persons like myself, a white man, interact with them. #AllLivesMatter drains the specificity out of the good news. A generic gospel is no gospel at all.
There is no better time to remember this fact than during Advent. Jesus was born in a specific time and place, and lived a specific life amidst Roman Empire and occupation. This birth helps us prepare for the divine revealing itself in our world as good news for our problems today. Good news is Black lives being respected by authorities. Good news is accountability when oppression and executions occur. Good news means bringing down powerful prosecutors from their thrones and lifting up the lowly, for #BlackLivesMatter!
I've written in other e-newsletters about God's preferential option for the poor so I will not repeat them here. Essentially, we can best show that all lives matter when we address first and foremost the places where that good news is denied in the lives of our sisters and brothers. The gospel is in the streets this Christmas - go and do likewise.
Black lives matter,
Timothy Murphy
Executive Director