[What Would Michael Say?]

I have been thinking and praying and pondering how to respond to everything that has been going on surrounding racism, what the black community is going through right now and how white people are responding. Should I post a black square? Should I share someone else’s Instagram story to enlighten myself and others? Should I keep checking social media as it just makes me more frustrated? I had to pause, gather myself and write this. So here it is.

I just have to start by saying that my heart is really heavy for the black community. Black lives do matter a whole lot and black voices need to be heard right now. Especially those that rise above the chaos, speak truth and give clear unifying vision. 

One of the biggest passions in my heart is racial reconciliation and ever since I moved to Nashville I have been investing in the lives of young black teenagers, many of whom do not have positive male role models in their lives. One of these guys’ names is Samari. I love Samari. I met him at my church’s youth group where I was helping out and we started hanging out regularly. I would go to his house, pick him up, we would grab a donut or a milkshake, he would teach me some dance moves, we’d talk about Spider-Man - all of his favorite things. 

One day I was dropping him off and we were parked outside his house. It was one of those moments where you are just sitting in the car in silence and peace, pondering whatever thoughts may come to mind. All of a sudden completely out of the blue Samari says “I miss Michael”. I looked at him kind of confused. “Who is Michael?!” I said, thinking it was a childhood friend or maybe some uncle who passed away. He looked at me as if to say ‘you should know who Michael is’ and he said matter a factly “Michael Jackson!”. Now, at the time Samari was probably 12 years old, which means he was around 5 years old when Michael Jackson passed away. I chuckled to myself because the way he mentioned “Michael” made it sound like it was his best friend whom he grew up with.

But later as I thought of that moment with Samari, I realized that Michael was his biggest role model even though he never met him in-person and was so young when he died. Samari loved all his songs, knew some of his dance moves, of course Samari referred to him in the first person because he was at the top of his list of heroes.

So in the midst of everything that is going on right now, it made me think… what would Michael say?

I think that Michael was revolutionary. He shaped culture and pioneered music much more than people realize. I believe in the power of words. The words that we speak shape the way that we think, but even more so, the words that we sing become a part of our identity. His words shaped the identity and beliefs of so many people.

One of my favorite Michael songs is “Man in the Mirror”. It is such a beautiful song speaking about Change and Personal Responsibility. In listening to this song I realized, Michael already has said something and I think it’s time that we listen:

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways. No question could have been any clearer, If you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make that change”.

It’s that simple and it’s that hard. 

I see a lot of people fired up about injustice over racism right now. And a lot of them are white, which is good because it shows that they care. But for a lot of those same people I have never seen a black person in any of their Instagram pictures, in fact I don’t know if they even have one close black friend. It’s a lot easier to post a black square than to take the effort to get outside of your comfort zone and actually become close friends with a black person. To invest in that relationship knowing that the perspective and value that that person will bring to your life will be the very thing that helps dissolve the invisible walls of segregation in our society. Actions speak much louder than words and I love what Michael said. Let’s not just point at a problem and get angry, let’s realize that we are part of the problem and see what we each can do differently to bring about a solution. 

We need people in our lives that are different than us. People who have different opinions, skin colors, and ideas. If we were to be drawn to those kinds of people instead of huddling in our comfortable circles that look exactly like us, then there would be a lot less noise on social media right now because people would be more concerned with having actual conversations with each other instead of posting their one-sided opinion and leaving it be. I think it’s important that we listen before we speak. We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much. I am grateful for Samari because being around him opens my eyes to what the world looks like from his perspective. And it looks a lot different than mine. 

I also need him to help me learn how to not dance like a white boy. 

But that will take a little bit more time ;)

May your actions show that your love is strong,

Joseph

p.s. I didn’t post a black square and I didn’t go to any of the protests either. But I have spent the last 6 and a half years consistently investing in young mens lives who are black, mentoring them, learning from them, grabbing Chipotle with them. I think relationship is more important than anything we post on social media. A lot of people are hopping on the bandwagon of standing up against racial injustice right now. I encourage you to make an honest assessment of your friendships. How many of your close friends are black? If the answer is 0 then start by changing that before trying to change a systemic thing. If you can’t change yourself, then you can’t change a system. That’s my two cents.