RELIGION AND LIFE

Labor Day Resolution

Once again Labor Day feting time has arrived and Eastern Parkway in the people’s republic of Brooklyn will be the stumping ground for some three million people. Those people will unite to party, to spend money and to feed their nostalgia of carnival in the Caribbean. On one hand, the Labor Day celebration seems to be a one-day ‘quick fix’ solution to relieve the year of stress that poor people (who are over 99% black) have endured all year long. On the other hand, the Labor Day fete is a convincing and overwhelming indication of the energy and potential of the poor/black community.

There are several questions that should be examined against the backdrop of the Labor Day event. Some of those questions include the following:

What long-range projects can be developed to ensure that the skills of costume artists have lucrative jobs all year round?

2. What forums can be created for the dancers and singers to use their gifts and skills to educate their community throughout the year?

3. For the church community – How can the church programs be structured to utilize the gifts of the Labor Day organizers and participants even if they are not believers?

This point must not be dismissed too easily for the simple fact that every gift is given to a person by God. And the apostle Paul says that God does not take back a person’s gift. What this means is that even though a person may use his/her gift in a destructive way or in a way that simply gratifies the base human instincts, that gift is still a God-given talent and it should be harnessed by the Church. There is an important implication here too; namely, that in the process of utilizing the gifts of the unsaved, the community of faith actually gets an opportunity to evangelize the unsaved.

4. How is it that political leaders who hail from the same territories as the Labor Day crowd are unable to unite them to have a greater stake in this town?

Perhaps this is a rhetorical question. It may be rhetorical in the sense that it already suggests that because the political leaders are from the same territories (Caribbean, Central and South America etc.) their mindset is the same; and therefore we are dealing with a case of the blind leading the blind. In other words, it seems to me that the political leaders who originated in the territories mentioned above come to North America and have either refused to, or are unable to emerge into formidable American citizens who understand how America works and how they need to organize their people for efficiency and influence.

There are many more questions that I can ask. However, I will simply encourage you, the readers, to ask some questions of your own. Then you should find groups and individuals with whom to discuss these questions; for it is out of these kinds of discussions that many interest groups, activist groups and change agents emerge. The American land is the Promised Land for millions of people. Yet so many people are suffering and starving in this land of plenty. And sadly, many of us – both leaders and commoners alike — blame the people who are suffering for their plight, when in fact we are all part of a system which is locked down and exclusive for only the people who have the ‘right complexion’ and ethnicity, and those who have the ‘right connections’ to power.

On this Labor Day, every leader who goes out on the Parkway should make the following resolution: "Over the next year I will do all in my power to work at organizing my people to have influence in my community by creating forums for them to use their talents, learn about the ways in which they can maximize their gifts and cultivate a sense of obligation to work with and to support each other’s business and enterprise." This is a beginning. This must also be the resolution of people who are not public leaders, but who are leaders in their own right any way. What I mean by this is that a single, identifiable leader can only be a leader if he has followers. This means that in effect the followers are ‘the leader’ from the standpoint of the oneness of a group. So if people will individually resolve to support each other and to form strong groups that will speak with one voice, there needs not be a person who occupies an office or who wears a title. There only needs be a body of likeminded people who are determined to become a part of each others’ survival and growth. Make your Labor Day resolution and move beyond the mindless feting or carnal display of the human id.

Dillon Burgin is a Pastor, an author and a playwright. Email your response to him at: dillonburgin@yahoo.com