Of course I LOVED Black Panther.
We got to see the glory of what could be without the evils of colonialism.
We got to see the struggle with understanding the difference between serving and saving a nation.
We got to see the struggle with the tempations of isolationism (and the possible dangers of openness, but still, we are left with the supremacy of bridges over barriers).
We got to see the mixture of tradition and inovation.
We got to see the complicated dance of fighting oppression without emulating the oppressor.
We got to see the difficulties of being a good leader while also being a good person, a person whose values inspires the leadership rather than being sacrificed in the name of leadership.
And we got to see the pain caused by even well intentioned dishonesty.
A high regard for science and technology was featured.
An almost all Black cast, no white savior (though the importance of being an ally was featured), the beauty of shamanic religion, and super bad-assed women warriors were all part of the mix.
The governing council was gender balanced and age diverse.
And, the message that war should always be a last resort was unambiguous.
We also saw the danger of having an unprepared, illegitimate ruler fueled by hate and anger assume power.
To Queer eyes, there was even a moment for LGBTQ people...a child was left behind/sacrificed to protect a lie (how many children have been abused, rejected, psychologically tormented to protect the lie that heteronormativity is sacred and anything else is damnable?)..the pain that caused impacted him and others for years thereafter.
The film was beautiful and sophisticated and the social, philosophical, theological, psychological, and political messages artistically communicated could fuel a graduate level academic project (and probably will). All of that with breath taking vistas and thrilling action (and a sweet love story). And miraculously, with all of that going on, it wasn't scattered; it wasn't too much. It remained coherent, focused. The film was entertaining and empowering at the same time. By almost every measure, it is a truly great film.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Monday, February 19, 2018
I Can Say Something Good About Most Presidents, but Not Trump
PRESIDENT’S DAY
Today I reflect on President Ford trying to bring healing and normalcy after Watergate.
I recall President Carter as one of the most moral and decent presidents in U.S. history.
I remember President Reagan appointing the first woman to the Supreme Court.
I remember President Bush organizing (with James Baker) a global coalition that quickly and decisively liberated Kuwait from Iraq. I also remember him signing the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I remember the charm and erudition of President Clinton (and the strong economy he presided over).
I remember the 2nd President Bush appointing the first African American Secretary of State and the first woman National Security Advisor (who later became the first Black woman Secretary of State).
I remember President Obama being an orator, a diplomat, and a constitutional scholar as well as the first African American president, appointing the most diverse cabinet ever, appointing the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, and overseeing the most gains for LGBTQ Americans in US history.
I recall Hillary Clinton being the first FLOTUS to hold elected office and being the first woman to head a major party presidential ticket (and making history by winning the poplar vote in that election - “the people’s president”).
I can say at least one good thing about every president in my lifetime (I was too young to remember Johnson, who did increase the safety net making life better for may Americans, and I barely remember Nixon); from Ford on, there was something admirable about each president. Until now.
Without being partisan or petty or intentionally mean, I honestly cannot say one good thing about the current president’s skill, intellect, character, motives, or achievements.
On this President’s Day I celebrate the good that was done by all the presidents of my lifetime (choosing to not focus on mistakes or philosophies and policies I might have disagreed with)...except the current one. And that, truly, makes me sad (and more than a little nervous). Nevertheless, may our nation find healing and reclaim its potential and promise.
Today I reflect on President Ford trying to bring healing and normalcy after Watergate.
I recall President Carter as one of the most moral and decent presidents in U.S. history.
I remember President Reagan appointing the first woman to the Supreme Court.
I remember President Bush organizing (with James Baker) a global coalition that quickly and decisively liberated Kuwait from Iraq. I also remember him signing the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I remember the charm and erudition of President Clinton (and the strong economy he presided over).
I remember the 2nd President Bush appointing the first African American Secretary of State and the first woman National Security Advisor (who later became the first Black woman Secretary of State).
I remember President Obama being an orator, a diplomat, and a constitutional scholar as well as the first African American president, appointing the most diverse cabinet ever, appointing the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, and overseeing the most gains for LGBTQ Americans in US history.
I recall Hillary Clinton being the first FLOTUS to hold elected office and being the first woman to head a major party presidential ticket (and making history by winning the poplar vote in that election - “the people’s president”).
I can say at least one good thing about every president in my lifetime (I was too young to remember Johnson, who did increase the safety net making life better for may Americans, and I barely remember Nixon); from Ford on, there was something admirable about each president. Until now.
Without being partisan or petty or intentionally mean, I honestly cannot say one good thing about the current president’s skill, intellect, character, motives, or achievements.
On this President’s Day I celebrate the good that was done by all the presidents of my lifetime (choosing to not focus on mistakes or philosophies and policies I might have disagreed with)...except the current one. And that, truly, makes me sad (and more than a little nervous). Nevertheless, may our nation find healing and reclaim its potential and promise.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
A Pastoral Response to ANOTHER Mass Shooting
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A Pastoral Response to ANOTHER Mass Shooting
By Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral
Fort Lauderdale, FL
SunshineCathedral.org
A high school in Broward County has been attacked. Another mass shooting. More victims. More traumatized children. More devastated families.
There have been almost 30 mass shootings in the US just in the last 45 days. Let that sink in. No other developed nation has such an incomprehensible mass shooting epidemic.
I used to say, “that’s not who we are.” I acted as if each outrageous mass assault was an appalling exception to who we are as a nation. And, of course, the attackers are few in comparison to the larger population. But I can no longer say it isn’t who we are. It continues to happen and we do very little to prevent it from happening again.
Oh, some of us cry, or pray, or yell into the ether that someone should do something. But how many of us demand that our government leaders do something? How many of us use our vote to bring about positive change? How many of us can’t be bothered to vote in any case? Our inaction, apathy, or acceptance of this on-going soul sickness of our nation is showing who we are. I don’t like it any more than you do. In fact, it breaks my heart to say it. But the evidence is clear: As of this moment, this IS who are. We are a nation that allows our children to be sprayed with bullets.
This time, the tragedy is in my county. This time, the violence is on my local news broadcast. This time, the senseless brutality has struck near me. But, of course, it was naive to ever imagine it wouldn’t be my community next.
Aurora showed that this could happen anywhere.
Sandy Hook Elementary School showed that this could happen anywhere.
The Washington Navy yard showed that this could happen anywhere.
San Bernardino showed that this could happen anywhere.
Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston showed that this could happen anywhere.
The First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, TX showed that this could happen anywhere.
The Pulse nightclub in Orlando showed that this could happen anywhere.
Las Vegas showed that this could happen anywhere.
And now, Douglas High School in Broward County.
God forgive me for not expecting it. God forgive me for not shouting from the rooftops many mass shooting ago, “We’re infected with an apathy toward violence and it’s time to repent.”
It’s time for prophetic voices to call for us to beat our swords into plough shares.
This is not a political issue where many sides have merit. This is a nation that calls itself good, democratic, and evolved that has allowed mass violence to happen so routinely that multiple deaths no longer stun us or even remain in our thoughts for long beyond the initial news of the event.
Today, on this Ash Wednesday, on this day of repentance, that is, on a day that calls for a change of heart and attitude, I do lift my voice to call my congregation, my community, my family, and my nation to repentance. Bullets are raining down on us like a biblical plague. Children are dying. We talk and sing and preach about peace when there is no peace. Toxic attitudes come to kill, steal and destroy. And it is time for people of faith, and leaders of communities of faith, to speak up and say, “Enough!”
Let us pray for the victims of today’s violence. But let us not take too much comfort in our prayers, especially if those prayers are not leading us to speak up and to do what we can to change a culture where mass murder is normalized. Let us pray, and then let us be the answer to our prayers.
Who we are is a country infected with out of control violence and too little righteous indignation about that. But, just maybe, we are also a country that remembers the moral victories of the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s Rights movement, the Marriage Equality movement, and maybe, please God let it be so, we are the kinds of people who are determined to work for what is right again, and to not settle for anything less than the healing our country so desperately needs.
For our country and our culture, I pray the words of a hymn which is also my favorite prayer of repentance:
“Dear Mother-Father of us all, forgive our foolish ways. Reclothe us in our rightful minds, in purer lives thy service find, in deeper reverence, praise.” Amen.
/End/
A Pastoral Response to ANOTHER Mass Shooting
By Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral
Fort Lauderdale, FL
SunshineCathedral.org
A high school in Broward County has been attacked. Another mass shooting. More victims. More traumatized children. More devastated families.
There have been almost 30 mass shootings in the US just in the last 45 days. Let that sink in. No other developed nation has such an incomprehensible mass shooting epidemic.
I used to say, “that’s not who we are.” I acted as if each outrageous mass assault was an appalling exception to who we are as a nation. And, of course, the attackers are few in comparison to the larger population. But I can no longer say it isn’t who we are. It continues to happen and we do very little to prevent it from happening again.
Oh, some of us cry, or pray, or yell into the ether that someone should do something. But how many of us demand that our government leaders do something? How many of us use our vote to bring about positive change? How many of us can’t be bothered to vote in any case? Our inaction, apathy, or acceptance of this on-going soul sickness of our nation is showing who we are. I don’t like it any more than you do. In fact, it breaks my heart to say it. But the evidence is clear: As of this moment, this IS who are. We are a nation that allows our children to be sprayed with bullets.
This time, the tragedy is in my county. This time, the violence is on my local news broadcast. This time, the senseless brutality has struck near me. But, of course, it was naive to ever imagine it wouldn’t be my community next.
Aurora showed that this could happen anywhere.
Sandy Hook Elementary School showed that this could happen anywhere.
The Washington Navy yard showed that this could happen anywhere.
San Bernardino showed that this could happen anywhere.
Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston showed that this could happen anywhere.
The First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, TX showed that this could happen anywhere.
The Pulse nightclub in Orlando showed that this could happen anywhere.
Las Vegas showed that this could happen anywhere.
And now, Douglas High School in Broward County.
God forgive me for not expecting it. God forgive me for not shouting from the rooftops many mass shooting ago, “We’re infected with an apathy toward violence and it’s time to repent.”
It’s time for prophetic voices to call for us to beat our swords into plough shares.
This is not a political issue where many sides have merit. This is a nation that calls itself good, democratic, and evolved that has allowed mass violence to happen so routinely that multiple deaths no longer stun us or even remain in our thoughts for long beyond the initial news of the event.
Today, on this Ash Wednesday, on this day of repentance, that is, on a day that calls for a change of heart and attitude, I do lift my voice to call my congregation, my community, my family, and my nation to repentance. Bullets are raining down on us like a biblical plague. Children are dying. We talk and sing and preach about peace when there is no peace. Toxic attitudes come to kill, steal and destroy. And it is time for people of faith, and leaders of communities of faith, to speak up and say, “Enough!”
Let us pray for the victims of today’s violence. But let us not take too much comfort in our prayers, especially if those prayers are not leading us to speak up and to do what we can to change a culture where mass murder is normalized. Let us pray, and then let us be the answer to our prayers.
Who we are is a country infected with out of control violence and too little righteous indignation about that. But, just maybe, we are also a country that remembers the moral victories of the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s Rights movement, the Marriage Equality movement, and maybe, please God let it be so, we are the kinds of people who are determined to work for what is right again, and to not settle for anything less than the healing our country so desperately needs.
For our country and our culture, I pray the words of a hymn which is also my favorite prayer of repentance:
“Dear Mother-Father of us all, forgive our foolish ways. Reclothe us in our rightful minds, in purer lives thy service find, in deeper reverence, praise.” Amen.
/End/
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