I first came to know about Sojourners because of NY Faith & Justice. NY Faith & Justice (which worked with Bronx Health
REACH back in 2010-2011) was born out of an
inspiring conversation that Lisa Sharon Harper, Rev. Dr. Peter Heltzel, and others
had during a Sojourners conference, after a deep
faith-rooted visit in Congressman Rangel’s office in Washington, D.C. back in
2006. NY Faith & Justice was formed
to unite the church & speak out for social justice in NYC. Other Faith & Justice networks were
formed in other cities, such as Boston, Ohio, and Portland. The faith leaders who formed these justice
networks all remained connected to Sojourners.
They have also formed partnerships with many other organizations such as
college campus groups like InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship, and national associations of various Christian
groups. One notable partnership has been with CLUE
(Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice) in Los Angeles, CA. CLUE, and Alexia Salvatierra in particular,
has developed a model of organizing and working with elected officials that is
rooted in the core of our faith called Faith-Rooted
Organizing. CLUE staff travels
around the country and the world conducting these trainings that leave
participants feeling empowered and hopeful.
In
spring 2011, NY Faith & Justice organized one of these faith-rooted
organizing trainings in NYC at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan. This was a one-day training where faith
leaders from all over NYC were able to attend and learn the nuts and bolts of
faith-rooted organizing. Then, in fall
2011, NYFJ organized another faith-rooted organizing training, this time at
Walker Memorial Baptist Church in the Bronx, which was an entire weekend-long training,
including Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday afternoon, culminating in
an “action” on Monday morning. Since
then, Lisa Sharon Harper has left NY Faith & Justice to work full-time for
Sojourners in Washington, D.C., as the Director of Mobilizing. Now, in summer 2012, I recently had the
opportunity to attend a faith-rooted organizing training at the Sojourners
national office – the “Organize2Mobilize”
training.
For
those of us who have no formal community organizing training, the faith-rooted
model is quite refreshing. As a group,
we define faith-rooted organizing and how it differs from secular
organizing. We answer questions such as,
What are the ways that faith can contribute to the larger movement for justice
in our world? and, What are the gifts of faith that we can bring to the table? Through scripture study, analysis and
reflection of stories of others in the Bible who organized and spoke
prophetically about justice, we learn how to apply those same approaches to the
social realities we experience today. We
learn to identify our own faith-rooted motivation, to tap into the power of
faith and story-telling that is abundant in marginalized communities; to
minister to people with power and to see recruitment through God’s eyes. But
first we learn to identify the core “lie” that society is blindly feeding us
about a particular issue, the Biblical antidote to the lie, and the clearest
manifestation of the lie.
While
these ideas have been codified by Alexia Salvatierra, Lisa Sharon Harper and
their colleagues at CLUE and Sojourners, they are not new. They’ve been around
for years… and have been the method by which some of history’s most renowned
justice seekers have approached their work.
Gandhi saw an injustice in his country as the British colonialists outlawed
cloth spinning so they could take the techniques they learned in India back to
Britain, and sell it back to India at an inflated price. Taking this skill and trade away from the
natives was the clearest manifestation of the “lie” (that colonization was
“good”). Gandhi took the nonviolent
resistance approach (a Biblical antidote, as we see in Jesus’ teaching to “turn
the other cheek” or “walk the extra mile” (Matthew 5:38-41)) and told people to
spin their own cloth, despite what the English said to do.
In
a similar way we see Rosa Parks’ effort as a faith-rooted approach. The lie, that it was okay to segregate people
of color, was most clearly manifested in segregation on the bus, because blacks
were only allowed to sit in the back of the bus. The spiritual antidote is that all people are
created equal. Hers was also one of nonviolent
resistance.
The
Occupy movement clearly identified the lie that accumulation of wealth does no
harm, pointing out that corporations are (and should not be) treated as people,
and that the public sphere is owned by private corporations.
Antonio
Torres from Bronx Health REACH and
Christ the King Catholic Church pointed out the core lie that the church is believing
today, that it’s not the place of the pastor to cross the line into discussing
social issues. Another similarly connected lie is that money is the only force
that can create substantive policy change, while the spiritual truth is that
people power can be an effective counterweight to money’s loud voice.
During
this particular training I found the outlining of the Thresholds of Recruitment
to be one of the most thought-provoking and useful exercises to go
through. Lisa started off this session
by telling her own narration of some of the key turning points in her life
which brought her to Christ. But politicians
are people too, and we can be part of their journey of transformation by using
the moral authority that our faith provides us, to help expand their ideas of what
it means to have courage to give a preferential option for the poor. In the
best cases this will not just influence the way the politicians vote on bills,
but also the way they talk to other legislators. People of faith have the power
to move legislators to speak prophetically about the importance of treating all
people with equality. By returning to the Commandment to treat your neighbor as
yourself, to be your brother’s keeper – we can remind legislators what it means
to make sure that we take care of kids even if they are not our own. To take care of people living in areas that
might be disproportionately affected by a potential new industrial site that
emits excessive pollution; that are disproportionately affected by climate
disruption (the US has 4% of the world’s people but emits 25% of the world’s
greenhouse gases); or that cannot properly benefit from programs that were set
up to supposedly help lift people out of poverty, because of unaddressed
barriers and red tape keeping people from utilizing these resources most
effectively. To make sure that our
agricultural policies are not set up in such a way that undermines the economies
of other countries, destroys the naturally renewable resources God has provided
for us, and promotes diet-related diseases disproportionately among the poor
because subsidies make unhealthy products much more affordable than healthy
foods. If we can get Congressmen/women
and other legislators to see the human and on-the-ground realities of what their
policies look like in communities, this will bring them closer to understanding
specifically what they need to advocate for when they are developing and voting
on policies.
During
the training we heard from several cutting edge social justice thinkers of this
country, one of which was Tom Perriello, former US Congressman from Virginia,
who advocates use of moral authority and believes in people-powered politics
(he didn’t take lobby money as a Congressman).
He’s worked on and taught justice-based security strategies, and has
helped lead a resurgence of moderate and progressive faith leaders advocating
on issues of poverty, economic fairness, tolerance, and environmental
stewardship. He helped launch Faith in Public Life, FaithfulAmerica.org,
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and Catholics United. Perriello currently serves as the President
and CEO of the Center for American Progress (CAP) Action Fund and Counselor for
Policy at CAP. CAP is a nonpartisan
political think tank and advocacy organization that works to raise the level of
policy debates through commonsense communication, such as its coverage
of the Nuns on the Bus Tour and criticism of the Ryan budget.
Perriello’s
words of wisdom for working with legislators include helping them realize what
will be good for people while also making the legislators look good; using
facts and moral authority; and asking legislators why they came into public
office.
We
also heard from Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, President of the Skinner
Leadership Institute who has served as the Executive Director of the
Congressional Black Caucus as well as many other boards, including the Christian Community Development Association. Dr. Williams-Skinner is an advocate of going
in to visit elected officials with prayer, as the spirit of compassion helps to
humanize the legislators one is addressing.
She suggests adopting Jesus’ indignation about how poor/low-income
people are being treated, and speaking with a posture of “I don’t agree with
your position, but help me to understand it.”
Many times legislators want the best for their constituents but often
times their facts are missing or wrong.
We can work to correct this misinformation by telling our own stories
and providing factual information.
Sharing
a panel discussion with Dr. Williams-Skinner was Larisa Friesen Hall, Director
of Major Gifts at Sojourners. Larisa stressed
the importance of identifying what posture we address people with – we should
try to understand where the rich politicians are coming from (75% of people in
Congress are millionaires) such as by watching Fox. We must emphasize that budgets are moral documents
and that it’s righteous to be concerned about people. While there is a lot of dirty money in
Congress, the act of redemption is possible, if politicians decide to take
money from something bad and turn it into something good. Resources she suggested to look into further
include Bolder Giving and The
Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen.
Tim
King, Chief Communications Officer for Sojourners, and Eric Sapp from the Eleison Group led a session on “Messaging
to Move Legislators.” The Eleison Group
leads educational campaigns to align what’s right with what works politically
and economically, and empowers progressive activists to connect authentically
with the faith and values of vet voters.
They’re proponents of approaching faith in the public square from a
place of humility. The Eleison Group specializes in media messaging – targeting
messaging for specific audiences (not the “general public”), getting to the
root of what people’s values are. For example, in Texas, anti-corruption is the
message, not anti-corporation. At the
end of the day there are ways to reach the same policy goals, but just using
different messaging tactics.
Sapp
advocates for making sure values are integrated into our messaging, and that people
can answer the question, Why do you
believe what you believe? People make
decisions with their hearts, not with their heads. He noted Obama’s moving campaign speech in
2007 (which spoke to people’s hearts) when he was a Senator vs. his transactional,
verbiage-heavy approach used when he became President (which spoke to people’s
heads). While the “what” of policy can
be complicated, the “why” (message) should be simple. Messages should be communicated in terms of
right and wrong, keeping the end goal (telos) in mind. When communicating with
legislators, we need to stay humble and honest, and keep our messaging
memorable and simple. It was suggested
that environmental advocates reframe the message being used in advocacy,
because the current messaging isn’t working. Some politicians will shut us out if we
mention the words “climate change” (which raises disputes about scientific
validity) whereas “creation care” hits at the same issue but touches on the
moral imperative to be stewards of the Earth. Our messaging should also include a way to
make the leader look good. It’s
important to point out that the poor pay the greatest price for our actions
relating to the environment; however, what will appeal to many electeds is to
let them know that America is losing out on an economic future (as China takes
over the solar panel industry, for example).*
Tim
King added that public figures that make public statements should be held
publicly accountable. We should critique
people we often agree with to keep pushing them forward. (“People are too nice to Obama.”) As Tim says, it would be nice if Obama gave a
heartfelt faith-based account for the poor.
We
also had the honor of hearing Jim Wallis (founder of Sojourners) speak. He spoke about the power that the faith
community can hold in Washington, D.C., and gave the example of Sojourners’
role in organizing evangelicals which ultimately led to a change
in immigration policy. At the end of
his captivating speech, he said that the difference between events and
movements is sacrifice and asks, “Where is your moral courage?”
Beau
Underwood, Campaigns Manager at Sojourners, provided some tips on planning our
Capitol Hill visits which would occur the next day. A few pointers which are useful for any visit
with an elected official: time is
limited, so be sure to control the agenda; make a clear ask; and determine
follow-up. In the actual meeting, be
sure to introduce yourself & explain why you’re there, have a storyteller
speak who can offer a reflection (ideally from personal experience), and lay
out the issues and share your faith-informed perspective. In accordance with the National Mobilizing
Circle, we were to ask Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. Supporting data is valuable and should be
presented, but people of faith are not expected to be policy wonks – the strength
of people of faith lies in our ability to make moral arguments. But as for the supporting data: according to the
Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities, extending tax cuts for those who make between
$250,000 and $1 million would cost the US $366 billion over ten years, making
programs (i.e. relating to health, environment, social services, foreign aid
& other programs for the poor etc) very vulnerable to cuts.
Wendy
Tarr from Clergy & Laity United for Economic
Justice in L.A. provided some additional tips for faith-rooted
advocacy. It’s important when speaking
to our political representatives that we foster relationships with them. Relationships
can open doors, change minds, and ensure our voice is heard. After the visit, note what the member/staff
said and any commitments made. Develop a plan for following up and providing
any additional information requested by the office.
One tenant of faith-rooted advocacy is using religious symbols in delegations. The one we used with Senator Gillibrand’s and
Schumer’s offices was that of milk and honey (making a just decision) vs.
bitter herbs (making a decision which perpetuates injustice). (While the food analogy from the Old
Testament is nice, I took it a step further by saying that policies which
promote cheap, unhealthy food in the American diet is more like feeding poor
people a bag of Doritos instead of a piece of fruit.)
Now what?
Organize2Mobilize
was a very informative and spiritually nourishing training, and this post only
begins to reveal the valuable components of faith-rooted organizing. Here are a couple of ways to get more
involved:
Sojourners
will be coming out with a new film in October: October 2nd will be
the livestream premiere of the film “Poverty in America,” which highlights
stories of people in poverty across the country. They suggest using this film as an organizing
tool, because nothing is more powerful than stories, and there is no easier way
to tell stories than through film.
(Janee Woods Weber from Everyday Democracy
added that EvDem has study guides on poverty that could complement the film
screening nicely).
Sojourners
also seeks for faith leaders and organizations to join their National
Mobilizing Circle which calls out the budget as a moral document and implores
legislators to treat it as such.
Another
way of recruiting legislators into a relationship and guiding them into
becoming champions for justice is to start with inviting them to “Come and See”
what’s happening in your own community. Tell
them, “before you vote to cut funds, come
and see what
exactly you would be cutting.”
Soon, there will be a faith-rooted organizing training in NYC
at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies for organizing around local
policy issues. More details to come!
--------------
Additional
suggested resources include:
(from
Eric Sapp): http://mediamattersaction.org/message/,
as well as A
Guide to Scripture and the Budget and Ayn Rand & the GOP
vs. Jesus from the American
Values Network
(from Alycia Ashburn): The World Without Us and Oxfam-
Ending Poverty Need Not be at the Expense of the Environment
*In
delving a bit further into messaging for Creation Care with Alycia Ashburn, we
concluded that it’s important to talk about creation care in the context of its
interconnectedness with other issues: i.e. climate justice is hunger
justice. When people do not have basic
necessities such as clean water, wars and spread of infection ensue. Therefore, environmental issues are linked to
national security and are a threat multiplier. In addition, war is costly, and
Republicans care about saving money: former Navy Brigadier General Steve
Anderson saved
the Navy $1 billion by insulating tents. Another costly budget item is healthcare: we
can argue for reducing healthcare costs by investing in clean air, clean water,
and healthy food as preventive measures. But whatever we do we must not pit
social justice issues against each other!
Many Democrats are guilty of this.
The Department of Defense has plenty of
money that can be reallocated to programs which will help protect the poor
and the environment.
