Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
Fighting for the DREAM: A Major Victory in Arlington

Fighting for the DREAM: A Major Victory in Arlington

Last updated on: January 14, 2018 at 5:37 pm by Jeff Hood

Fighting for the DREAM: A Major Victory in Arlington 2018-01-14T17:37:53-06:00 Jeff Hood

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

WFAA/ScreenShot

We don’t get many outright victories. The work is hard and moral victories are what we are most accustomed to. While the knowledge that we are steadily moving the cause of justice along is satisfying, it is always a beautiful thing when justice breaks through swiftly and mightily. Just this past week, I saw it. The hand of God moved in a way that was as remarkable as it was unmistakable.

Just a few days ago, I wrote these words:

When I heard that the North Texas MLK Parade invited Texas Governor Greg Abbott to be their Honorary Grand Marshal, I figured it was a joke. No human with even the slightest inkling of intelligence would think that inviting Abbott was a good idea. However, it seems that there was a dumbass in the mix. The dumbass has no respect for the people that Martin stood with. If so, they would’ve invited a keeper of the dream not a killer of the dream.

What were they thinking?

Migrants dying on the border.

Transgender folks can’t go to the bathroom.

Black folk getting poorer.

The rich getting exponentially richer.

People getting executed in Huntsville.

Healthcare being slashed.

Schools going unfunded.

The evil bullshit just flows like water.

This is the guy they think needs to be the Honorary Grand Marshal?

Those who choose to participate in this event have sided with politics over Martin…politics over God. Good and evil is clear in this situation. The organizers have chosen evil. They have proven themselves to be just as evil as Abbott. Which leads me to forcefully declare…

This ain’t no damn parade.

This is a damn charade.

In the midst of our anger, we held a press conference. Each of us took terms lambasting the decision to invite Governor Abbott. Our words traveled all over the Metroplex and then went national (thanks to NPR). The sponsors of the parade started to feel the pressure and began pulling out. Then, we kept turning up the heat. Ultimately, the organizers of the North Texas MLK Parade did not have the money to pay the permiting fees. As we were about to hold another press conference, we got the good news.

Canceled.

I have no doubt that if we had not held that initial press conference, the North Texas MLK Parade would have gone on as planned. Gov. Abbott would have been at the head of the parade waving and smiling and the injustice would have continued unabated. We couldn’t allow that shit to go unchallenged. We were the last bastion of resistance.

Make no mistake…

We fought for the DREAM and won.

There are those who have criticized us. They have said that we should have promoted dialogue. They are ignorant. How are you going to dialogue with somebody driving by on a float? Gov. Abbott didn’t care about anything but a photo-op.

Now, there will be no photos. There will only be the historic local parades sponsored by local businesses with local people. That’s exactly the way it should be.

Here in North Texas, the DREAM still lives and it is our job to make sure it never dies.

Amen.

North Texas MLK Parade

Previous Post

January 13, 2018

The Money: A Parable of Sorts (Part 4 of 8): The Exit

Next Post

January 16, 2018 The Money: A Parable of Sorts (Part 5 of 8): The Violence

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Danny & Jeff fresh writings latest poetics north texas fellowship of reconciliation Sermon theology from death row Thoughts Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who leaped for joy after being healed at the Temple gate (by Peter, in Jesus' name)?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A rich man A Pharisee A blind man A lame man