It is humbling to open the gates to that kind of positive power, and we are certain that Pastors Clark and Scott and Minister Muhammad (and everyone else who worked hard to make this happen) are humbled at this special time.
We are reminded of the empowering and hopeful words of a soul singer who was himself called to testify. The Rev. Al Green once sang so sweetly, “Let’s stay together.” Those simple words say so much.
Ecstatic union of the kind created by the Call to Oneness is indeed a rare experience. It’s similar to the magic of falling in love – indeed, the march on Sunday was the community falling back in love with itself. But after love is established comes the even more difficult task of keeping it alive and growing it through the trials and disappointments of everyday life. It won’t be easy, but let’s stay together.
Let’s stay together in the effort to discourage violence. Let’s stay together in encouraging our youth to imagine and accept consequences and struggle to improve behavior based upon realistic expectations of outcomes. Let’s stay together in working, as Comptroller Green has pledged, “to find jobs and other constructive activities for our young men and women.” That is fundamental. Be very sure of one thing: We will not stay together if our families are not anchored by jobs with decent wages, benefits and hope for advancement.
For that reason, we remind this newly and beautifully reunited community that we need the committed participation of others as well. Corporate St. Louis must continue and improve in its efforts to recruit, maintain, reward and advance minority staff and executives. Government officials at every level must also be truly active and affirmative in their affirmative action efforts and oversight responsibilities.
As we stay together, we must also remember the example set by Dr. King. His call to oneness was more than a lovefest. It was a call to struggle against entrenched interests that had denied the advancement of black people. After all these years of struggle, we see many remnants of those dangerous interests, still in the trenches – indeed, sitting in many positions of power. There is much, much work to be done in our own community to uplift (in the words of Malcolm) the brother and sister in the mud.
Since there is no short-term remedy or simple explanation that will lift all of our people from the morass, we need sustained leadership committed to formulating an informed strategy and implementing an effective plan.