Why Black Community Care Is Sacred
Do you have someone or a group you can turn to when you’re in trouble? Do others often turn to you? One of our most sacred responsibilities is community care, especially safety. Just like the universe watches out for us, we’ve got to watch out for our community.
“He makes peace in your borders.” – Psalm 147:14.
While Spirit is always watching out for us, sometimes exercising faith means trusting God to guide us as we take extreme efforts to keep our communities safe.
The Black Panthers’ “policing the police” as a form of community care comes to mind here. This historic organization started as a radicalized community watch group.
When Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panthers in 1966, its original name was the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. At that time, tensions between the Black community and the police were at an all-time high.
Malcolm X had just been assassinated, and San Francisco police officers had shot and killed 17-year-old Matthew Johnson.
The Black Panthers’ first community organizing effort was to patrol the streets. Armed with guns, they monitored police activities in Black communities throughout Oakland and neighboring cities. Their goal was to end police brutality.
Even as the party expanded, everything the Panthers did centered community care, protection, and survival efforts.
The Black Panthers had a 10-Point Program that centered community protection.
What 10-Point program can we implement within our own communities?
It is our responsibility to keep our communities safe. Keeping peace within our own borders might mean returning to methods that “police the police.”
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