How We React To Foolishness Is Holy Work
Do you ever tire of taking the high road, letting people make it, and trying to put yourself in their shoes? At what point do we get a break from the foolishness? What is the balance between standing up for ourselves and still being a good person at the same time?
Every night in Bogalusa, Louisiana, the KKK terrorized Black families. The Black community was tired of being hunted and brutalized. Yet they wanted to be spiritually in line with God, especially given what was happening in the world.
Malcolm X had just been assassinated, and federal legislation had been passed granting protections to us for defending ourselves. But this was Bogalusa. The KKK declared open season on Black people.
Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, “We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. “
A group of brave men made a crucial decision: if the KKK was using violence against us, then it was time to give the KKK back that same energy.
Calling themselves the Deacons for Defense and Justice, these Black men patrolled our communities, protected Civil Rights protesters against the KKK, and shot at violent, corrupt police who brutalized Black community members.
True liberation requires a variety of strategies – when times call for the use of retaliation, we must defend our lives and communities by any means necessary. The defense of our people is holy work.
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