Daily post 003 of 260
On Sunday I joined scores of other concerned Memphians for the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH) Issues Convention at Lindenwood Christian Church in Memphis. Some 43 local organizations, most of them religious congregations, brought their people to help decide which of the most pressing issues facing our community that the coalition will concentrate its collective efforts and resources on. I was there (pictured above at the arrow) as part of the Neshoba Unitarian Universalist group. [WMC-TV Action News 5 covered the event.]
Memphis exemplifies the brokenness of America. The inequities that course through every segment and every corner of America manifest themselves in our city in extreme poverty, racial tensions, and especially in the inadequacy of housing, healthcare, education, and transportation for an unconscionably significant segment of our citizens. Consistently listed among the most violent, most impoverished, most unhealthy cities in the nation, Memphis urgently needs solutions. Government cannot do the job. The “private sector” is unwilling to do the difficult and expensive work necessary to address the most pressing needs. Well-meaning activists cannot solve this city’s overwhelming problems on their own.
My despair, often bordering on cynicism, about Memphis lifted in the sanctuary of Lindenwood Christian Church as a diverse and passionate crowd of citizens committed to tackling the city’s most pressing challenges came together peacefully, cooperatively, democratically. Together they decided on three issues to focus their efforts: Economic Equity, Education Reform, and Immigration and Intercultural Equity.
Now the hard work begins. ♨
