Protest

Index - Posting 11 April 2007 Vol. 3:7

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:6

We manifest our frustrations in a variety of ways and sometimes in being true to ourselves, our protests surface at the most appropriate and inappropriate times. As a member of a black religious scholars group, I was invited to the Service to Commemorate the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Act on Tuesday, 27 th March at Westminster Abbey. It was an official occasion marked by the presence of Her Majesty, The Queen and His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh, the Prime Minister and the elite of the religious community. Representatives attended from a wide ranging number of faiths and churches, including Armenian, Baha’i, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Shia Muslim, Quaker, Interfaith and Free Churches as well as the religious leadership of other African, African Caribbean and British Caribbean Churches and organisations. Following The Processional, we received The Bidding namely;

Welcome in the name of Christ who sets all free. We have come to give thanks that two hundred years ago, by Act of Parliament, wherever British sovereignty extended, the slave trade was abolished. We have come to remember the commitment and courage of the group of abolitionists, black and white, male and female, who gave much and risked much to end the cruelty of the transatlantic trade in slaves. We have come to reflect, in penitence, on the destructive power of a terrible evil, and on the ways in which its effects are still manifest in the world today. And we have come to respond, by committing ourselves to pray and work for a world in which no-one is enslaved.

The traditional Anglican service was interspersed with various readings, songs and testimonies by people of African descent and interlaced with cultural renditions provided by the mmenson, horns made of elephant tusk, used in West Africa and the sounds of African drums preceded the Abbey bells rung in “whole pull and stand.” The Freedom 200 Chamber Orchestra (behind which I sat) provided wonderful accompaniments with appropriate symphonies, concertos and fugues.

After The Address by the Primate of All England and Metropolitan, an African Pastor recalled the eleven million Africans enslaved and transported during the four centuries of the transatlantic slave trade and the Anglican Dean began The Confession and Absolution.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Let us therefore confess our sins in penitence and faith to our gracious Father, who ransoms us, heals, restores, and forgives.

Before he was able to pronounce Absolution, an individual arose from the transept opposite where I was sitting and within ten feet of the Queen, loudly announced that those present should be ashamed of themselves and that the Service was an insult to black people. He had been galvanised into action by “the indignity of being told to kneel and pray for forgiveness of a crime he and his ancestors were victims of and not the perpetrators.” He was eventually removed by ushers and security after bringing the Service to a ten minute standstill. Referred to as a “screaming protestor” by one tabloid newspaper, this act of protest contrasted with the under reported presence of a coalition of social justice groups, protesting outside the Abbey. The Black Britain website identified their objective as “campaigning for posthumous recognition and glorification of abolitionist freedom fighters and martyrs who were criminalised, persecuted and even executed during their struggle for liberation.” The African Caribbean Evangelical Alliance, of which I am a member, said of the Service.

it missed the opportunity to deeply reflect the sentiments of the African and Caribbean communities…a significant number of African and Caribbeans who attended the service share the view that it was an important and appropriate event to have, but felt quite strongly that there was insufficient opportunity for inclusion and due recognition of the impact of the slave trade on our history and heritage...There should have been some space to depart from the script and speak the unscripted language of the heart.

Every Easter we journey through a traditional script. My Jesus was executed for being politically unacceptable and an offence to religious orthodoxy. He dared to challenge the religious Establishment; he refused to compromise or to dilute his message of inclusion and justice. For this unacceptable and “inappropriate” protest, he paid with his life and in so doing, became a symbol for all of us to hold fast to our inner convictions, regardless of the cost. By only emphasising his death through the “spiritual message of the Cross” we deny the political and religious implications of the fullness of his life and his passionate commitment to us. I went to Westminster Abbey expecting church tradition and religious orthodoxy. For inclusion and justice, I look elsewhere – to Jesus.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)

May the Holy Spirit of God continue to speak the unscripted love of Christ, for you.

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