Member congregations pledged to pursue 100 percent voter registration and mobilization and pastoral leadership issued challenges to elected officials and candidates on Thursday at Metropolitan Congregations United’s public meeting, held at St. Alphonsus Liguori “The Rock” Catholic Church on North Grand Boulevard in St. Louis.
“Politicians count votes, and they ignore school districts and communities that don’t come out to vote,” said the meeting’s final speaker, Minister Michael Atty of Trinity Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Florissant. “Are you committed to getting 100 percent of registered and informed voters to the polls?”
After requesting more of a Baptist-style response to his call, Atty seemed satisfied that his colleagues in Metropolitan Congregations United (MCU) would answer that challenge.
Steve Stenger, Democratic nominee for St. Louis county executive on the November 4 ballot, was challenged by Rev. Erin Counihan, pastor of Oak Hill Presbyterian Church in St. Louis. He was the only county executive candidate who accepted the invitation to attend the meeting and answer questions publicly.
Stenger said if elected he would develop a plan for restructuring the Children’s Service Fund to establish preventative services and he would create and advocate for a better community policing plan using models and training developed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Stenger also said if elected he would appoint to the county police board people mindful of racial profiling data and the need for greater diversity in area police departments.
Counihan was joined in questioning Stenger by Sierra Smith, a resident of Canfield Green Apartments, where unarmed teen Michael Brown was shot at least six times and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson on August 9. Her comments brought into sharp relief the reality of the people who started the protest movement and have suffered its worst abuses, despite the inordinate amount of attention paid to a few reporters who were arrested and released.
“My children had to witness his body laying in the street for four hours and the blood coming down the street,” Smith said, describing the immediate aftermath of Brown’s shooting. “They were traumatized by the militarized police response.” Because of the way police barricaded in Canfield residents during the protests, she said, “We felt like caged-in animals.”
The ongoing protests in Ferguson strongly shaped the public meeting, and pastors and educators from North County were well represented at the podium.
Rev. Emmett Baker, pastor of Beth-El Baptist Church in Bellefontaine Neighbors, spoke of the urgent need for Medicaid expansion. Carolyn Randazzo, a retired Ferguson-Florissant School District teacher who chairs MCU’s education efforts, outlined the community learning center model that the group hopes to institute and expand, and called for the formation of a Community Education Council to advise state education officials.
The dominant tone by all speakers was to seize the moment opened by the protestors to create a movement for progressive change.
“We must no longer have short-term demands without long-term strategies,” said Rev. Dietra Wise-Baker of Liberation Christian Church, which worships at RAC in University City. “They don’t mind us protesting as long as we’re not organizing.”
Organizers estimated the size of the diverse audience at 650. All were challenged to volunteer and assist with Medicaid expansion, educational improvement or voter mobilization, and more than 150 individuals volunteered, according to organizers
MCU will host two follow-up events in September: “100% Campaign” Orientation,” 6-8 p.m. September 9 at Zion Travelers Missionary Baptist Church, 351 Chambers Rd.; and “Courageous Sacred Conversation about Race,” 4-8 p.m. September 11, location TBD. For more information, contact Rev. David Gerth, executive director of MCU, at david@mcustl.com.
