{"id":1421,"date":"2014-12-17T07:30:03","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T12:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/?p=1421"},"modified":"2014-12-03T16:01:50","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T21:01:50","slug":"ferguson-and-minjung-theology-intersectionality-solidarity-and-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/2014\/12\/ferguson-and-minjung-theology-intersectionality-solidarity-and-protest\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferguson and Minjung Theology: Intersectionality, Solidarity, and Protest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

by Teresa Kim Pecinovsky, MDiv2<\/p>\n

Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.\u00a0 As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out.\u00a0 He was his mother\u2019s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>\u2013Luke 7:11-12<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the past three months, I have visited Ferguson, Missouri, four times in various capacities: as a teacher, pastor, community organizer, protestor, and witness.\u00a0 When I first visited in August the protestors were still recovering from being tear-gassed by police a few days earlier.\u00a0 Throes of militarized police officers, media, and National Guard soldiers had transformed the small city into a veritable war zone reminiscent of Civil Rights scenes fifty years ago. \u00a0I walked the streets of West Florissant for hours into the evening, watching, talking, and praying with protestors whose grief and anger seemed unbearable.<\/p>\n

When I returned the next week as a community organizer with hundreds of #BlackLivesMatter riders, we marched with the family of Michael Brown.\u00a0 As I watched his parents march in a 105 degree heat index, my heart ached for his mother, Lesley McSpadden.\u00a0 He was his mother\u2019s only son. <\/em>I realized that Michael Brown had become a son and brother to many of us in the Ferguson and greater community; we had lost a precious child of God to senseless and unjust violence.\u00a0 When the burning sun turned into a downpour it seemed like even God joined the crowds in weeping.<\/p>\n

Each time I visited Ferguson, the crowds gathered at the police station with bullhorns, posters, and chants.\u00a0 With her was a large crowd from the <\/em>town.\u00a0 I was especially struck by the young black women who united the crowd and led the protests.\u00a0 These women\u2019s voices rang out, \u201cWhat do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!\u201d The cries for justice in Ferguson would not be silenced by mainstream media, politicians, arrests, or racist rhetoric.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The crowd in Ferguson marching with Michael Brown\u2019s parents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Minjung Theology<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through my time in Ferguson, I am wholly convinced that the intersectionality and solidarity between different marginalized groups is essential for liberation.\u00a0 As I reflected on the grief, anger, and power of Ferguson crowds, I kept returning to the Korean concept of minjung<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cIndigenous Korean people who compose the minjung are the poor, women, ethnic groups, workers, farmers, and peasants who are politically, socioeconomically, intellectually, and\/or culturally alienated, discriminated against, marginalized, and oppressed masses.\u201d[1]<\/a> For Ahn Byung-Mu, the father of minjung theology, ochlos<\/em> (the crowd) in Mark is synonymous with minjung.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMinjung theology is critical reflection on the minjung\u2019s struggle for liberation.\u201d[3]<\/a> Minjung theology, like liberation, black, and womanist theologies, is rooted in a specific social location.\u00a0 Out of the Japanese colonization of Korea from 1910-1945 came the minjung\u2019s cry for liberation.\u00a0 \u201cThe minjung movement ignited in 1970 when Jeon Tae-Il set fire to himself in solidarity with his fellow exploited factory workers.\u201d[4]<\/a> The Korean church was initially silent in responding to the minjung\u2019s struggle.\u00a0 \u201cWhen the young students rose up and carried on a bloody war, the Christian church was silent like a mute who had a spoonful of honey in his mouth.\u201d[5]<\/a> It was not until the church listened to the voice of the ochlos that they developed an interest in freeing them from their oppression.[6]<\/a> Minjung theology is rooted in the interest of the minjung, love for the ochlos, a systematization of joint societal responsibility, and choosing suffering over violence.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
A group of #BlackLivesMatter freedom riders gather for community engagement <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Intersectionality<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Much of what has happened in Ferguson intersects with minjung theology.\u00a0 The Ferguson protestors are the poor, marginalized, and oppressed in their community struggling for liberation.\u00a0 Michael Brown\u2019s murder highlighted the ongoing violence and inequality that black people face in our nation.\u00a0 Standing with the crowds of Ferguson I grew overwhelmingly aware of my privilege as a non-black individual; I have never worried about police violence against me because of my skin color.\u00a0 For so many black people in our country, the struggle for liberation is a life-and-death struggle for dignity and justice.<\/p>\n

This struggle includes intentionally changing the narrative of Ferguson.\u00a0 This change occurs through strategies like social media, creative direct action, and teach-ins.\u00a0 In this way, the narrative of Ferguson protestors parallels what Ahn calls \u201crumor\u201d in minjung theology.\u00a0 \u201cRumor, for the minjung of Jesus, is an effort to ascertain their position by correctly recognizing the historicity of that event\u2026When the experience of the persecuted is distorted publicly, then rumor is created in a collective effort to reveal the truth.\u201d[1]<\/a> In Ferguson, rumor is created largely through social media; protestors, activists, and a few journalists are creating a narrative that contradicts mainstream media\u2019s depiction of protestors as violent, riotous thugs.\u00a0 This counter-narrative unequivocally insists that black lives matter.<\/p>\n

The following Aboriginal activist quotation from the 1970s sums up the heart of solidarity: \u201cIf you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time.\u00a0 But if you have come because your liberation is tied up with mine, let us walk together.\u201d[2]<\/a> When people of all ethnic, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds walk together and declare that black lives matter, the world is forced to pay attention.<\/p>\n

As a Korean-American, I understand marginalization through my identity as an Asian woman.\u00a0 As an adoptee born into the minjung of South Korea I am intimately aware of how the Korean society I was birthed into shaped the trajectory of my life.\u00a0 I have not and cannot know what it is like to be a black person in America, to live in fear that my life may be stolen away because of a racist system.\u00a0 What minjung theology teaches me, however, is that by drawing from my own experience of marginalization I can open myself up to other people\u2019s experiences of oppression through listening, solidarity and protest.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
VDS and Disciples Divinity House students at the #FergusonOctober Weekend of Resistance. L to R: Rachel Kirk, MDiv1; Ben Jackson, MDiv2; Teresa Pecinovsky, MDiv2; Asher Kolleboi, MDiv3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Solidarity and Protest<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>What does it look like for allies to stand in solidarity with the minjung of Ferguson? The response from allies within the Ferguson and St. Louis communities has both inspired and convicted me.\u00a0 From the beginning community members have shown support for protestors through donating items like water, food, and medical supplies.\u00a0 Libraries and churches opened their doors to makeshift schools so children could still learn while their Ferguson schools were closed due to the unrest.\u00a0 Activists have faithfully stood with and provided legal support for arrested protestors.\u00a0 Instead of ignoring their privilege, white allies have utilized it to help shield protestors from police violence and amplify the message of racial inequality in Ferguson.<\/p>\n

In late August a dedicated team of community organizers planned the #BlackLivesMatter ride to Ferguson for hundreds of riders across the country in two weeks.\u00a0 When the original venue for the #BlackLivesMatter teach-in pulled out, St. John\u2019s United Church of Christ in St. Louis stepped up and served as a physical and spiritual host for the freedom riders.\u00a0 The #BlackLivesMatter leadership mobilized riders to fight for justice for Ferguson and back home in their own communities.<\/p>\n

When the call for supporters came in for the #FergusonOctober Weekend of Resistance, thousands of people joined the Ferguson community in solidarity.\u00a0 On Friday afternoon the protestors showed up at the Clayton Justice Center in pouring rain.\u00a0 In the evening, we gathered at a Latino \u2018Day of the Dead\u2019 memorial and candlelight vigil honoring Michael Brown, Kajieme Powell, and Trayvon Martin.<\/p>\n

On Saturday morning thousands of people marched and rallied for justice.\u00a0 On Monday protestors planned several direct actions that resulted in the arrests of clergy members at the Ferguson police station and activists at city hall and several Wal-Marts.\u00a0 At the St. Louis Rams football game, activists displayed huge signs of protest, and a large group occupied St. Louis University for a week.<\/p>\n

The following Saturday protestors gathered at a Mother\u2019s March to mourn the lives of murdered children.\u00a0 The keening of the women is a sound I will never forget.\u00a0 The cries of these mothers came straight from Matthew 2:18: \u201cA voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Women gathered at the Mother\u2019s March outside of the justice center in Clayton, MO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Ferguson the crowds have gathered after the death of Michael Brown, much in the same way as the ochlos gathered to mourn the death of the widow\u2019s son in Luke 7.\u00a0 Through the lens of minjung theology the crowds of Ferguson are identified as minjung\u2014the oppressed and persecuted black community struggling for freedom in a deeply broken justice system.\u00a0 It is only through different groups intentionally intersecting in solidarity and protest that the cry for liberation and justice can truly be heard and reclaimed for all of minjung.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

*This post was originally published at the Asian American Theological Forum: http:\/\/aatfweb.org\/2014\/10\/30\/ferguson-and-minjung-theology-intersectionality-solidarity-and-protest\/<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

[1]Mitzi J. Smith, \u201cMinjung, the Black Masses, and the Global Imperative,\u201d in <\/span>Reading Minjung Theology in the Twenty-First Century,<\/em> eds. Yung Suk Kim and Jin-Ho Kim (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013), 104.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]Yung Suk Kim, introduction to <\/span>Reading Minjung Theology in the Twenty-First Century,<\/em> eds. Yung Suk Kim and Jin-Ho Kim (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013), 3.
\n<\/span>[3]Smith, \u201cMinjung, the Black Masses,\u201d 104.
\n<\/span>[4]Ibid., 104.
\n<\/span>[5]Ahn Byung-Mu, \u201cMinjok, Minjung, and Church,\u201d in <\/span>Reading Minjung Theology in the Twenty-First Century,<\/em> eds. Yung Suk Kim and Jin-Ho Kim (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013), 95.
\n<\/span>[6]Ibid., 96.
\n<\/span>[7]Ibid., 96-97.
\n<\/span>[8]Ahn Byung-Mu, \u201cThe Transmitters of the Jesus-Event Tradition,\u201d in <\/span>Reading Minjung Theology in the Twenty-First Century,<\/em> eds. Yung Suk Kim and Jin-Ho Kim (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013), 35.
\n<\/span>[9]This quote is often attributed to Lilla Watson; however, Watson preferred it to be attributed to the entire Aboriginal activist group in Queensland.\u00a0 See: <\/span>http:\/\/curiousworks.com\/au\/if-you-have-come-to-help-me-you-are-wasting-your-time-but-if-you-have-come-because-your-liberation-is-tied-up-with-mine-let-us-walk-together\/<\/a> and \u00a0http:\/\/unnecessaryevils.blogspot.com\/2008\/11\/attributing-words.html?m=1<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        by Teresa Kim Pecinovsky, MDiv2 Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.\u00a0 As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out.\u00a0 He was his mother\u2019s only son, and she was a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1576,"featured_media":1422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[502,506,501,500,31],"class_list":["post-1421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-blacklivesmatter","tag-disciples-divinity-house","tag-ferguson","tag-michael-brown","tag-vanderbilt-divinity-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1576"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1421"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1434,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421\/revisions\/1434"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}