PART I/II

By SHELIA BLAND

We gave up a relative
To the status quo
Not voluntarily, of course

–When you say “we” what do you mean, exactly?

Well, I wasn’t there.
No one was there really.
We aren’t guilty in that sense.

–Then what are we talking about?

We are not guilty
None the less, we are all responsible

–All responsible?

Yes, all responsible.

–But no one can give testimony, because
no one was there…

We cannot give testimony, no.
But we must bear witness…

It was sometime
One time
Anytime.
In any case, it was a past event.
Yesterday—
Last year—
Last century….

Yet, I can assure you
It happened.

We were rule followers
We got along
We got ahead

This was true
Yesterday—
Last year—
Last century.

We were not of the one percent
Barely of the ninety-nine percent—
More like the zero percent.
This was true
Yesterday—
Last year—
Last century.

We were the servants
We were the sharecroppers
We were the enslaved

We were the prep crew–
The cleanup crew—
The salvage crew—
The sewage crew—

We did the dirty work—
Work others disdained to do.

We were rule followers
We got along
We got ahead

We did the meanest of chores
We got along
We got ahead

We moved up the menial ladder
From fieldwork
To house work

We followed the rules—
And helped keep the system in place.… Read the rest “POETRY: Kiziah’s Story”

This fall there will be a new landowner in our neighborhood. Although no money exchanged hands, on May 22nd the land transfer was celebrated with a ceremony and drum circle. Christians worshipping at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church and leaders from Indigenous Protector Movement forged a relationship over the last three years that linked our value of stewardship. Stewardship of our faith and stewardship of the land.

The journey Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church took began with truth-telling in 2019: the truth-telling work of uncovering and learning our history, the truth-telling work of confession, and the truth-telling work of decolonizing Jesus and our faith. We came to recognize the truth that our church has done unspeakable harm to Indigenous communities. Harms in the name of “the church” and specifically harms in the name of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. In the 1920s the Ladies Club raised money for an Indian Boarding School in Wisconsin. In the 1950s as the boarding school closed, one of the last directors came to Minneapolis and had an office out of our building on the corner of Chicago and 23rd.… Read the rest “Reparations of Past Harms Leads to Stewardship of the Land, Justice & Love for the People”

On July 4, 1776, the leaders of the American Revolution declared independence from Great Britain and boldly proclaimed that “all men are created equal”. Yet its promise of equality sharply contrasted with voting rights to which only white male property owners were entitled.

Since those beginnings, the long struggle to expand voting rights and secure equal representation in pursuit of the nation’s ideals has unfolded. Grounded in First Amendment rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and petition, individuals and movements have advanced voting rights to create a more inclusive democracy. Yet each advance has been met with persistent and powerful opposition that has worked to slow or reverse progress.

The history of voting is a story of struggle, activism, and efforts to uphold equality, representation, and democracy. This article traces the history of progress in American democracy over the past 250 years through protest, amendments, legislation, and Supreme Court decisions. The lesson of this history is that ongoing vigilance is essential to achieving and preserving an inclusive, representative government.… Read the rest “The Long Struggle for Voting Rights”