#FergusonOctober

The revolution is now.

Drums beating
People marching
Youth leading
Mike Brown means we gotta fight back

Elders talk
Young folks walk
Occupy
Defy
Never give up the fight

“Wade in the Water” demands to be heard
Heavens open
God troubles the waters
Repent for our sins
Holy water cleanses us
The whole system is broke as hell

They claim assault
While we march on
I will not comply
I will not resist arrest
Hands up,
Don’t shoot

Arrested for walking
Arrested for prayer
Arrested for song
This is what theology looks like

Peace disturbance?
The blood of a child of God has stained our streets,
And I go to jail?
And I am charged with peace disturbance?
No justice, no peace

In the back of the van
In the tiny cells
In the handcuffs too tight
We aight.
‘Cause

“Freedom” echoes off the walls
As the revolution is sung
There is dancing in the jail
They think it’s a game?
They think it’s a joke?

The revolution is not a secret
The revolution is loud
The days of hush arbors and coded messages are over
Angry-passionate-love is demanding to be heard
Young sisters are shouting in the streets
Will the world listen?

It makes you uncomfortable
‘Cause you are comfortable
Try to think how we feel
Marked from birth
With a skin color that looks to many like a bullseye
That’s why we in the streets
Whose streets?
These our streets!

Causes are combining
Thank you Lupe
The interconnectedness of injustice is on display
Clergy puttin’ their hands up
Hong Kong puttin’ their hands up
Palestine puttin’ their hands up
LGBT puttin’ their hands up
Will you put your hands up?

This ain’t no bumper sticker movement
This is not about the tee-shirt
People are fighting for their lives
Not for the vine, tweet, or post
The revolution will not be televised,
The revolution will not fit in your bulletin
And while Twitter may point the way,
Young black bodies are the revolution.
You can’t stop the revolution.

I am so tired
But so inspired
By the youth in the streets
Who refuse to be beat
And explain to the world that
#BlackLivesMatter

Bigger than Ferguson
It must be bigger than Ferguson
It will be bigger than Ferguson
How will the ‘ville show it’s bigger than Ferguson?
How will you show it’s bigger than Ferguson?

So what’s next?
You tell me.

*****

AUTHOR BIO AND CONTEXT: David Wigger is a senior at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where he is pursuing his M.Div. with a Concentration in Black Church Studies. He is currently doing Field Education work at Presbyterian World Mission, in the Young Adult Volunteers office. David and his spouse Amy served as YAVs in 2011-2012 in Ratta, Kenya.

David returned Tuesday from the “Weekend of Resistance” in Ferguson, MO. David and Amy, along with fellow LPTS students Zach Heimach and Beth Ruhl, and LPTS professor Shannon Craigo-Snell (and son Jacob) participated in a four day series of protests and civil disobedience dubbed “FergusonOctober”. The events of the weekend were a continuation of the protests that have occurred in Ferguson/St. Louis every night since Michael Brown was shot on August 9. David and Shannon were among the approximately 50 people, mostly Clergy, arrested during Monday’s acts of civil disobedience throughout the greater St. Louis area.

For coverage of continuing events, David suggests following the threads #FergusonOctober, #BlackLivesMatter, #Ferguson, and #OccupySLU, along with @akacharleswade on Twitter.

Read a recent statement from Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, Director of the Office of Public Witness, on the killing of African American boys and men.