Let me tell you what I love about my multi-all-the-things community. If it looks like injustice, we’re trying to take it down! Somebody’s hurting God’s people? We are not having it. We’re standing on the side of love, and loud about it!
This Sunday, in the spirit of Juneteenth, the Middle Collegiate Church Reparations Task Force has organized a day of action and conversation against the Peter Stuyvesant Statue in Stuyvesant Park. This event is not just a gathering but a bold statement against the commemoration of figures like Peter Stuyvesant, who significantly contributed to the slave trade and perpetuated anti-Semitism in 17th-century New York City. We plan to give props to the Black and Indigenous people who were enslaved and oppressed, whose contributions and sufferings have often been overlooked. Our event challenges and causes crucial reflection on the white supremacist narratives that are celebrated in public spaces—including antisemitic and xenophobic tropes—and hopes to inspire actions toward a more inclusive and truthful representation of history.
The action will include a series of speeches—from a diverse cadre of leaders like Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, members of Middle Church’s Reparations Taskforce, the Stuyvesant Square Neighborhood Association and me; performances; provocative action; and interactive discussions led by historians, and activists. It will be a platform for voices championing justice, equality, and historical accuracy.
Come plot a love revolution with
during worship at East End Temple at 11:45a. I’ll preach a sermon about collective liberation called Ain’t Got Time to Die. Then let’s go be loud about a statue of a racist in Stuyvesant Square Park.Don’t forget to tune in on Tuesdays to Zayn Silva and Tiq Milan helping us think about Trans liberation.
Until freedom, and with fierce love!
Jacqui