Dear Alliance Family,
We are just a little over a month into the new administration, and I know for many of us it feels as though it has been a lifetime. As we wrote you a few weeks ago, it is important to stay grounded, encouraged, and hopeful even during these chaotic, turbulent, and intentionally overwhelming times. But we know how hard it can be as it feels as though our society is changing rapidly, overnight, and for the worst—values we hold sacred are being ignored, customs that have been the norm are sidelined and disregarded, laws are being openly broken, institutions we have trusted are being dismantled, and many of us rightfully worry for our lives, livelihoods, and freedom. The things we have feared are now a reality, and in some cases worse than we could have predicted. Each day we read the news, we hear of orders that seem to punish organizations—from universities to hospitals, government agencies to nonprofits, businesses to even the church. Each week, whole sectors of society find themselves in the crosshairs of new attacks on their work. For the past month we have been living in a country that feels unrecognizable, unstable, and unrelenting in its willingness to do evil and punish those who seek to do good. In the most biblical sense, it feels like we are living in apocalyptic times.
And at a certain level we are. I know it may seem dramatic, but the tradition of apocalyptic literature was written so that the truth may be “revealed,” so that people would be able to “see” more clearly. The book of Revelation literally named as such, was not so much to predict how the world would end, but to help the people see the contemporary world in its clearest form so that they could do their part so the world could remain. So that it would eventually get better. But it could not get better if they did not know what they were up against, if they did not understand who they were dealing with, and they did not truly figure out the stakes and best position themselves accordingly to respond. This is why the writers repeatedly speak of what they see and what they hear. The writers are devoted to describing the world as it is. But given the stakes, they must use coded language and symbolic imagery. They must use wise speech and new strategies. The writers of Revelation want to help their people survive the moment by showing it to them for what it is, so that together it can be something different, something new.
Given this interpretation of the book of Revelation, what do you see? What is being revealed to you? What are you understanding? I ask these questions because I believe in their answers lie the tools we need to endure and perhaps even prosper in this moment. I encourage you not to skip over these questions—even if they seem too intellectual or not action oriented enough— because these questions will help us see, understand, and figure out how best to respond.
Over the past few weeks I have asked these questions as I have seen our community under attack. I’ve asked these questions as I’ve seen the work I have devoted myself to basically become undone overnight. I have asked these questions amidst significant personal loss and despair. And based upon what I have seen, based upon what’s been revealed to me, I have come to understand a bit more of what we are up against. I have come to see that we really do face powers and principalities, that we really are living under the weight of empire and the threat of despots. It’s not metaphorical or symbolic but actual and real. And in this moment we need the wisdom of the apocalyptic literature more than ever. Wisdom that calls us to have a slightly different posture, to move at a slightly different pace, to fly at a different attitude so that we all make it to the other side. Now let me be clear, I’m not suggesting capitulation or submission, we can’t be True followers of Christ and ever do that. But what we must do in this moment is take our time, listen clearly through the noise, sift through the chaos, root our feet, fix our eyes, and find our voice so that we can make the tools we need to confront this moment.
I say this because In the past few weeks there have already been an overwhelming amount of requests for the Alliance to respond to the actions of the new administration, and in the coming months and years there will be many more opportunities. As a small staff and team, we will do our best to join in the important fights as best we can, but given our limited capacity we will not be able to say yes to everything that is asked of us, even when we strongly believe in those efforts, such as a the lawsuits filed by our other denominational and ecumenical partners. But please know that we are doing our part to resist the actions of this administration by enacting the clear antiracist vision we received nearly a decade ago. A vision that is bold, hopeful, and necessary at a time when major foundations of our liberal order are failing us or are being made obsolete; a vision that requires us to learn from new sources, such as the womanist tradition and the Black radical tradition; a vision that calls us to move slower so that we can go farther, look within so that we can confront the world around us, and keep doing things that we know are right in our heart and soul like using our platform to give voice to trans and other Black women preachers. That is what the Alliance is doing, and this is what we encourage you to do. Let’s make our country better by continuing the work we have already started to make space—diverse, equitable, and inclusive space—for the most vulnerable people in our society and learn from what they have to teach us. Let’s continue, as Melissa Harris Perry said of Black women, to try to walk straight in a very crooked room, to be that light in the darkness, to speak about a God who lifts up the lowly and scatters the proud, to be the theological home for all those who believe in freedom. And I know that when we do this, in prayerful partnership with God and one another, our country will be transformed, our world will be healed, our souls will be free and together we will see something new—on earth and in heaven.
Peace Blessings
Pastor Elijah
Reverend Elijah R. Zehyoue, Ph.D. serves as the Co-Director of the Alliance of Baptists. In this role, he is leading them through an effort to become an anti-racist organization. As a historian, theologian, pastor, preacher, and professor, Elijah is committed to using his many gifts to help people of all walks of life do the head, heart, and soul work required for our collective liberation. He is a graduate of Morehouse College (B.A.) and the University of Chicago (M.Div.) and Howard University where he earned his Ph.D. in African History. His dissertation focused on White Supremacy and its impact on the Origins of the Conflict in Liberia. Additionally, Elijah teaches African and African American Studies at the university level. Prior to coming to the Alliance, Elijah served on the pastoral staff at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Elijah is originally from Liberia, West Africa and grew up in Baton Rouge, La.
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