海角大神

The Rev. James M. Lawson聽Jr.聽is a Methodist minister whose theories and strategies of nonviolence were used in the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. His new book 鈥撀犫�淩evolutionary Nonviolence: Organizing for Freedom,鈥� a collection of his talks and dialogues 鈥� is a 鈥渉ow to鈥� guide for the next generation.

In a wide-ranging conversation, edited for length and clarity, Mr. Lawson touched on the war in Ukraine; an FBI investigation of dozens of bomb threats against historically Black colleges and universities聽this聽year; last year鈥檚 Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol; and lynching, which became a federal hate crime today when President Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law.听听He told the Monitor that most聽changes in聽history聽aren鈥檛 wrought by violence, but聽by聽鈥渃hanges of the mind [and] of the spirit.鈥�

When you speak of 鈥渞evolutionary nonviolence,鈥� what do you mean by revolutionary?

The old concepts in Western philosophy and politics that put the emphasis upon violence as the key to revolution miss a major discussion. Most of the major changes in the human journey have been changes of the mind, of the spirit, intellectual discoveries, discoveries of where we are in the universe.聽The biggest illustration of what I鈥檓 talking about is the Rosa Parks-Martin Luther King campaign of the civil rights movement, between 1953 and 1973. We shot at no one. We did not take up arms. We rather armed ourselves with the love of God, and the love of ourselves, and the love of others, and insisted that enmity could be defeated.

With dozens of聽bomb threats聽at HBCUs this year, how can this insidious intimidation be countered?聽

We had the same kind of insidious intimidation in the 鈥�50s, 鈥�60s, 鈥�70s and 鈥�80s. We also had the bombings 鈥� the overt violence, but also white mobs allowed by the police to try their intimidation of our quiet sit-ins or poster walks.聽What you鈥檝e described is a steady part of the history of our country.

So, in that history, is the civil rights struggle in the U.S. at a higher聽or聽a聽lower stage now?

We鈥檙e at a higher stage聽and a more perplexing stage.聽Racism wasn鈥檛 talked about on public stages in the聽鈥�40s, and the聽鈥�50s, and聽鈥�60s. Lynching was talked about by the Black press, but the white press stayed away聽from it largely. I started reading聽The New York Times and 海角大神 as a high school student in the early聽鈥�40s.聽Neither of your papers really helped me with the issues of lynching and segregation. The Black press did that far better.

Jan. 6 is perhaps a new level of violence that we have never experienced as a nation. One cannot say that that was a legitimate demonstration because it was not peaceful.聽Across the nation, there ought to be a careful study of the Declaration of Independence. It is a very clear spiritual, moral, political statement about who we human beings are. At what point is that being taught, so that a public emerges in our country which will not do threats to people, threatening bombing, or doing the Jan. 6 business as聽[a]聽form of political, social, human discourse in the United States?聽

How do you talk to kids about nonviolence?

The Little Rock Nine is the best illustration.聽I asked them how their parents and the NAACP asked them to behave. And they said, 鈥淲e were told not to fight back.鈥� So I said, 鈥淲hat the NAACP and your parents meant is not, not to fight back, but not to fight back like the hostility you鈥檙e receiving. You鈥檙e already fighting back with your character and with your courage of going through the halls of Central High School with often persistent heckling and intimidation.鈥� 聽

I asked them, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the worst thing that could happen to you?鈥�

One of the girls said to me, 鈥淭he bombing!鈥� A boy would take a rock or a steel ball and wrap it in paper and hurl it at them.

So I asked, 鈥淚s it possible you could stand still, and hold your breath, and then pick up the bomb off the floor, and carry it back to the person who you knew threw it?鈥�

And that鈥檚 precisely what a couple of the girls did in their resistance.

What did that resistance achieve?聽

One boy was obstinately unbearable with his language.聽Carlotta Walls told me that [his] 鈥渂omb鈥� hit the wall on the side of the room and fell, and she says she was trembling. And she did take a breath. She picked it up and carried it back to that boy鈥檚 desk. She said he turned all kind of complexions and could not speak. But the next morning, when she walked into that class, that boy said, with a big smile, 鈥淕ood morning, Carlotta.鈥�

There are a lot of stories like that. You can discern that there is a way of acting that does help personal and social transformation, and that鈥檚 what I call nonviolence or soul force.聽

In the book you urge 鈥渞esisting the venom in our society with a quiet 鈥榥o.鈥欌�� What about Ukraine?

I have no doubt that in that scenery of Ukraine, all kinds of people are being more faithful to the power of their lives than to the violence.聽Most ordinary people in the world do not support the power struggles that hurt and maim other people. That is generally work of the kings, and principalities, the power brokers who have not yet recognized the alternative ways to use power.