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A Report on the ThirdWord & World SchoolJune 7-14, 2003, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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PHILADELPHIA ... … PENTECOST ... … AND DR. KINGThe theme text of the School was “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” by Rev. Martin Luther King, a speech delivered April 4th, 1967 at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City. We referenced this text throughout the week, reflecting on King’s historic challenge to build a unified movement against racism, poverty and militarism—and its disturbingly contemporary ring. [Excerpts from this speech appear in red throughout this report as seen immediately below.]
COURSESMorning Bible Studies: Music and Drama: Intuitive Roads into Scripture - Ange Smith and Charlie King The Economy of God: Biblical Economics and Our World - Will O ’Brien and Hilda Campbell “Woman, Great is Your Faith!” - Ruby Sales and Joyce Hollyday A Spirituality of Recovery and Resistance - Margaret McKenna and members of the New Jerusalem Now community A Call to Faithfulness: The Church in the City - Andre Johnson and John Hirt Women’s Wisdom in Trying Times - Elizabeth McAlister and Kate Berrigan The Church as Movement 101: Core Biblical Narratives - Kazi Joshua and Shane Claiborne Paul as a Builder of Alternative Communities - Kathy Grieb and Michelle Brix Jesus in the Desert: Vision Quest as Nonviolent Test - Jim Perkinson and Rose Berger Jesus as Nonviolent Activist: Gospel Reflections - Ched Myers and Isaac Miller Violence and Nonviolence in Biblical and Later Jewish Traditions - Arthur Waskow and Monica Medina Afternoon Courses:
Movement History as Biography: Listening to the lives of Elizabeth McAlister, Bayard Rustin, Tony Henry, Ruby Sales, & Richard and Phyllis Taylor - Facilitated by Ched Myers Introduction to Social Analysis: Understanding the Moment - Kazi Joshua, Katie Day, and Amy Dalton Resisting War, Proclaiming the Gospel: The Nonviolent Tradition of the “Catholic Left” - Jackie Allen-Doucot and Art Laffin with other members of the Atlantic Life Community Restorative Justice: The Personal and Political Character of Reconciliation - Facilitated by Elaine Enns (pictured above) with various presenters Towards Economic Justice at Home and Beyond: Tools for Critical and Creative Economic Thinking - Barry Shelly and Janet Wolf (below, center)
Building Up a New Nonviolent and Just World - Ruby Sales and Dee Dee Risher Tremors of the Spirit: Art and Social Transformation - Jim Perkinson and local presenters Movements of the Spirit: Local and Global Struggles For Justice - Lee Cormie and Isaac Miller Building a New Poor People’s Campaign for Justice - Willie Baptist and Ed Loring Life Together: Alternative Communities as Response to Violence - Murphy Davis and Jennine Miller
FROM THE SANCTUARY. . . From there we traveled across town to worship at the historic Church
of the Advocate, a venerable Episcopal church located on 18th St and
Diamond Avenue in the heart of black Philadelphia (above left). On this
Pentecost Sunday we celebrated the Spirit and marveled at the beautiful
art work adorning the sanctuary, which tells stories of African American
. . . TO THE STREETSThree exposure tours attempted to give local contextualization to King’s “giant triplets” of militarism, racism, and poverty: A "reality tour" of local urban poverty—originally designed by the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU)—was led by members of the simple way (a local intentional Christian community). It visited several neighborhoods devastated by welfare economics, lack of health care and the criminalization of poverty, and noted the sharp contrast between this systematic underdevelopment and the millions of dollars of investment capital flowing into center city to attract tourism. The tour also chronicled ways in which marginalized folk survive these difficult circumstances, engage in creative acts of resistance and humanize tough conditions through art and gardening.
A third tour focused on issues of race, looking at several sites representing ways that urban institutions contribute to racial oppression. The preserved site of Eastern State Penitentiary was the first mass incarceration unit built in the country, and profoundly influenced the subsequent prison industry (right). Next was Girard College, a school for orphan boys built in the 19th century and desegregated in the mid-20th. This was followed by a visit to two sites in west Philadelphia where the postindustrial forces of white flight, urban blight, redlining, and re-gentrification are visibly evident, and a debriefing at a neighborhood Baptist church.
When a group of us formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conferencewe chose as our motto: ‘To save the soul of America.’ ...In a way we were agreeing with Langston Hughes, that black bard of Harlem, who had written earlier: O, yes, I say it plain …So it is that those of us who are yet determined that America will be are led down the path of protest and dissent, working for the health of our land.
Wednesday was our day of rest, with a morning Village meeting followed by an afternoon off. In the evening the School re-gathered downtown at Old First Reformed Church for our public worship service. After a rousing Pentecostal processional (1, 2, 3 above) the W&W choir sang under the direction of Valerie Lee-Jeter. We heard sermons from Rev. Ruby Sales of Spirit House (4), Jim Wallis of Sojourners, and Rev. Nelson Johnson of the Beloved Community Center, and then had the traditional passing of the “torch” from representatives of the original Detroit consultation to the Greensboro (5 below), Tucson and Philadelphia Schools (6). And of course Ange Smith reprised her memorable performance of “His Eye is on the Sparrow” (beginning of report, right). The worship service was followed by a candlelight procession through downtown (7, 8), passing by the federal courthouse, the Liberty Bell, the federal prison and the new Constitution Center as a away of highlighting the contradictions of freedom and oppression that characterize the city and the nation. At each place meditations and prayers were offered, followed by a refrain of Pentecostal fire-blowing by simple way activist Shane Clairborne (beginning of report, left).
PLENARY SESSIONS -
PUBLIC MEETINGS
VILLAGE LIFE
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Philadelphia
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Word and World~PO Box 1623~Greensboro, NC 27402~336-230-0330~info@wordandworld.org |
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The
third Word & World School was our largest to date, with some 140
participants from as far away as Australia and as close as the neighborhood.
Faith based activists came from a variety of movements: disarmament,
immigrant rights, economic justice, antiracism, globalization from below,
prison justice, labor, and more. The School was hosted by Chestnut Hill
College in north Philadelphia. Several of the staff of this Catholic
co-ed school participated in our classes and their Spirituality Institute
co-sponsored our public events. The fact that we were located in an affluent
area reminded us of the issues of class, race and power in this still
divided city, and of the dangers of trying to live radically in the heart
of the empire. Indeed one could look down on the city from the hill and
weep, like Jesus over Jerusalem, at the disparity between rich and poor,
making us more determined to organize for justice and peace. 
The
School took place during the celebration of Pentecost, the traditional
feast of the “birth” of the church in the Spirit. This theme
was evident throughout the week, culminating in a march through downtown
Philadelphia where participants gathered at symbolic sites of oppression
and chanted “Catch the Spirit!” as Shane Claiborne breathed
plumes of fire into the night sky (cover photo; at right, dancer Jacqueline
Jones leads processional at mid-week worship).
There
is a River: Streams of Radical Biblical Tradition - Facilitated by Bill
Wylie Kellermann with various presenters 
Martin
Luther King, Prophet of Nonviolent Revolution - Nelson Johnson 
Sunday
was local exposure day. It began with a general orientation to and history
of the region. Steering Committee member Ched Myers introduced the King
speech, an amazing piece of American public oratory that provides an
integral and still relevant analysis. Local organizer Amy Dalton then
offered an overview of the political economy of race and class in post-industrial
Philadelphia. Ed Nakawatese of the American Friends Service Committee
then gave a brilliant thumbnail history of social change in the region,
from the Quaker experiment of William Penn to contemporary labor and
welfare rights movements. 
resistance,
struggle and triumph (above right). After service and over lunch the
pastor, Rev. Isaac Miller, related the history of this parish under the
leadership of the late Rev. Paul Washington—a place where Black
Nationalists could hold conferences, where Black Panthers could seek
refuge from police harassment, and where the first women in the Episcopal
Church were “irregularly” ordained in 1974. 
A
trip to the waterfront looked at militarism and the rich legacy of resistance
to it. Standing in front of the rusting hulk of the former luxury cruise
ship named “United States of America”—a fitting metaphorical
backdrop—we heard stories of nonviolent canoes blocking warships
during the Vietnam war, and of coordinated longshoreman strikes that
held up arms shipments during the Bangladesh war of independence in 1971. 
Four
times during the week morning plenary panels (right) focused on the stories
of particular struggles, which the School then uses as a lens through
which to view the wider issues. Each plenary began with a five minute
recording of King’s Riverside speech; participants were transfixed
hearing this prophet’s voice, whose words still thrill and sting.
On Monday we
heard from participants in the “Plowshares” movement of nonviolent
resistance to nuclear weapons. School elder Elizabeth McAlister, as well
as Elmer Maas (both pictured at left), Art Laffin and Bob Smith told
the story of the 1980 Plowshares action at King of Prussia, in which
Mark 12-A warheads were hammered upon in the spirit of Isaiah’s
prophecy: “And God shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke
many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares… nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
any more” (Is 2:4). Respondents Sachio Koyen and Jorge Aruaz reflected
on the continuing relevance of such direct actions, and probed questions
of “prophetic faithfulness vs. political effectiveness” in
organizing. 
Tuesday focused
on the story of the Church of the Advocate’s relationship with
the Black Panther movement. Pastors Isaac Miller (at right) and Ann Robb
Smith and several long-time church members recalled the early 1970s as
a time of racial tension and conflict with Mayor Rizzo, and the struggle
of church members to welcome radical activists into the sanctuary, sometimes
at great risk. Dialogue followed concerning current possibilities and
challenges for cross-racial solidarity in Philadelphia and beyond. 
Thursday we
heard from Kensington Welfare Rights Union activists Brooke Sexton, Tara
Colon and Mariluz Gonzalez, who told the story of the “takeover” of
St. Edward’s Catholic church by homeless persons in 1995 (left)
and how that action fit into a broader history of poor people’s
struggles. They also spoke of other KWRU campaigns, including a current
initiative to revive and complete Dr. King ’s Poor People’s
March on Washington. 
In Friday’s
final plenary session Sheldon Lucas of New Jerusalem (a recovery community),
Ed Loring (pictured below on left) of the Open Door Community (a ministry
with homeless people) and labor leader Deborah Compton Holt spoke of
what gives them sustenance. Other School participants then offered testimonies
about how they are able to maintain hope in their organizing work despite
formidable opposition in today’s hard-hearted society. 
The
School was punctuated by powerful public sessions of Word, liturgy and
song. Monday night an open forum at Chestnut Hill featured local movement
leaders Rabbi Arthur Waskow (right), Nijimie Dzurinko and Isaac Miller,
and veteran activists Elizabeth McAlister and Ruby Sales addressing issues
of “Peacemaking in a Time of Perpetual War.” Wednesday night’s
church service brought the School into the community to bear witness
to the Spirit’s fire that animates all our efforts for Kingdom
justice and peace (center spread). Friday night brought a celebrative
conclusion to the week with public performances by School diva Angie
Smith (who drafted guitarist Mike Boucher and tuba player Kristian Johnson
into a jazz trio, below right), veteran movement songster Charlie King
(below left), the “Plowshares Choir,” and several village
poets (Sheila Kingsbury-Burt, Jim Perkinson, Rose Berger) and dancers
(Jacqueline Jones). 
Around
the camp fire there was spontaneous poetry, music, story telling, jokes
and low-key conversation. Our days began with prayer in a variety of
traditions (Catholic, Quaker, Baptist and Taize), and were regularly
punctuated with extraordinary times of communal worship. Spiritual guides
and elders were available to talk with people as the week unfolded, and
healers were busy with bodywork. Small Groups met several times during
the week, providing spaces for intimate sharing, debriefing and reflection
on class and 
plenary content. An excellent “Village Marketplace” was
organized so that participants could sell their wares, and the space
was colorfully filled with not only books, t-shirts and crafts, but also
with a stunning installation of photographs of local struggles by Philly
photographer Harvey Finkle.