The Southern ACTION Coalition: A More Fair and Balance Representation of the Black Faith Community

Last updated on: August 17, 2012 at 8:42 am by Andre E. Johnson

The Southern ACTION Coalition: A More Fair and Balance Representation of the Black Faith Community 2012-08-17T08:42:00-05:00 Andre E. Johnson

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.

by Earle Fisher

R3 Contributor

When the President made his stance regarding Same Sex Marriage I feared that there would be a certain backlash from a contingency within the black church. What I didn’t prepare for, however, was the media’s local and national recapitulation of the black preacher, church and community being consistent with the stance of a particular segment. If one is novice or untrained regarding the particularities and diversity of the black faith experience it may be easy to assert that all black people of faith are homophobic, hypocritical, anti-intellectual and that black faith leaders are all pimpish priest and not prophets. To be clear, there have been a few exceptions projected nationally (and even fewer locally, in Memphis). Yet, in a broader sense there seems to be a strategy by some to demonize, reduce and re-project black faith as buffoonery at worse and misguided spirituality at best. This mythical, monolithic portrayal has seemingly diluted the divinity of our complex faith, expressions of love and hope in the American Democratic system and cast it as a divisive and demonic display of opportunism.

I believe God calls us all in our various vineyards to raise our voice (not always in agreement, that’s unison, but still in harmony) to adequately represent the beautiful hues of our humanity and the complex cords and tones of our theology to continue to help us progress. We must find a way for all of these voices to be adequately and authentically represented.

For instance, on the issue of marriage equality, the black faith community is varied in its perspectives and convictions. The problem emerges when one faction of our community is portrayed as speaking for all of the community (i.e. the Coalition of African American Pastors – I’m an African-American pastor… and they DO NOT speak for me!). We need a more fair and balanced representation of who we are.

To that end, we have been led to form the Southern ACTION Coalition (SAC) – a diverse cadre of thinkers and ministerial leaders who are deeply committed to a faithful representation of the diversity of theological thought and practice that represent the legacy of the black church. We seek to provide a fresh and relevant perspective as well as offer substantive suggestions and actions that will advance the cause of social justice in our various faith communities. While we honor and appreciate the work of other ministerial organizations, we aim to offer a new vantage point that seeks to demonstrate a more representative group of ministry leaders.

Going forward the SAC will be faithful in our pledge to be a body of faith leaders who “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” Our goal is to empower, educate & inspire the entire community, including those from different backgrounds of faith (and those who do not identify themselves with any particular faith) through action.

Below is our press release we issued on Thursday, August 16, 2012

THE SOUTHERN ACTION COALITION PUSHES “SOULS TO THE POLLS” CAMPAIGN Local Body of Ministry Leaders Call for Diversity in Political Talk & Initiatives

The Southern ACTION Coalition (SAC) is a diverse cadre of thinkers and ministerial leaders who are deeply committed to a faithful representation of the diversity of theological thought and practice that represent the legacy of the black church. We seek to provide a fresh and relevant perspective as well as offer substantive suggestions and actions that will advance the cause of social justice in our various faith communities. While we honor and appreciate the work of other clergy organizations, we aim to offer a new vantage point that seeks to demonstrate a more representative group of ministry leaders. Moreover, we desire to depict varied viewpoints of the black church while not assuming that our community must arrive at a singular opinion about any matter simply because we share ancestry.

The SAC currently consists of 15 local ministerial leaders and 12 local ministries. Other leaders in the greater Memphis area and beyond are in the process of pledging their support and involvement, collaborating where they feel led. In light of the scope of social ills that plague our communities, we have decided that the first of our many public presentations and stances will focus on the November 2012 election. Voter apathy and suppression have inspired us to begin to develop the “Souls to the Polls Campaign.” This campaign is an extension of efforts that have taken place around the country – therefore, we stand in solidarity with any group who is involved in similar efforts to register, identify and transport all voters.

Furthermore, the SAC, while varied in regards to our individual stances on marriage equality, is collectively committed to ensure that our local communities are informed and inspired to participate in the November election. We believe that the issue of marriage equality should not skew our vote one way or another and definitely ought not to deter us from voting at all. Moreover, we do not assert that one opinion regarding any political issue can sufficiently represent all of the black church given the varied denominations of churches and diverse experiences of each believer.

Going forward the SAC will be faithful in our pledge to be a body of faith leaders who “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” Our goal is to empower, educate & inspire the entire community, including those from different backgrounds of faith (and those who not identify themselves with any particular faith) through action. For contact information, please call 901-303-8898

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 15, 2012

English Bible Translations

Next Post

August 17, 2012 Religion talks are everywhere

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Amy Steele Andre E. Johnson Book Reviews/Series Brian Foulks Call for Chapters Carol Howard Merritt Classes Conferences Contributors Crystal St.Marie Lewis Daniel White Hodge Earle Fisher Eulogy Fredrick Robinson Guest Contributions Henry McNeal Turner Institutes Interviews Joseph Boston Katherine Whitfield Kimberly Peeler-Ringer Lectures/Roundtables Natalie Bullock Brown R3 Book Series R3 Contributor Rashad Grove Readers Reflections Symposiums Teaching Traci Ellis Travis Harris Uncategorized Video

Select a Month June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 October 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 November 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 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz