On February 4, 2021 IM4HI organized a faith discussion on “the Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This piece was specifically written to the religious community who were criticizing his efforts during the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. We invite you to use this study guide to uncover the ways this piece can shape our organizing today and empower us in this political moment. Within the study guide is a video link to listen to our event speakers like Rev. Larry Foy, faith organizer Hilda Cruz, Rev. Phillip Lawson, and a prayer from Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb. Also enclosed in the study guide are discussion prompts, links to the text, and access to our power point slides.
by Cecilia Vasquez, Communications Manager, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
“I do not think of political power as an end. Neither do I think of economic power as an end. They are ingredients in the objective that we seek in life. And I think that the end of that objective is a truly brotherly (and sisterly) society, the creation of the beloved community.”
—Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1966
This month we honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy of achieving racial and social justice through faith-rooted organizing. Often his faith and spiritual nonviolent campaigns and organizing are lost in textbooks and secular accounts. In our event, “Radical King, and Prophetic Voice” we brought to the forefront that his faith beliefs were at the core of his organizing and radical vision.
At Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, faith and spirituality are at the foundation of our organizing. Faith-rooted organizing is more than engaging individuals and congregations as a base but centers spiritual values in every step of community organizing. It means centering and practicing our spiritual values as we create systemic social change. It comes from a place of love and is centered in the sacred. It reminds us to honor the humanity in everyone, Yes, everyone! Faith-rooted organizing demands that we have integrity between our means and our end goals, because process matters. Simply winning a campaign is insufficient transformation, and beloved community is what we truly desire. Faith-rooted organizing utilizes the unique gifts and liberating traditions of faith communities as a part of larger movements. We see and put to use the gifts that everyone has to offer in social movements. Faith-rooted organizing taps into ancient symbols, moral teachings, and spiritual practices that come from a place of love that replenishes the spirit to continue in the movement.
We believe that all people are sacred across bars and borders. This means centering the experiences of those most impacted by policies of incarceration and immigration. We honor their pain, care for their spirit, and support their leadership. We achieve this by offering programming that walks alongside people on their journey from arriving to the United States, living incarcerated or in detention, and post-release support. We value programming that fosters leadership to those closest to the problem and people of faith. Together we are guided by values of solidarity and compassion, advocating for new and just solutions. Together we realize community transformation as we dismantle the ways people of color are criminalized through our carceral and immigration systems.
We create ongoing spaces to learn about structural racism, white supremacy, and anti-Blackness in the United States. We engage in the difficult and necessary conversations to assure we are practicing integrity in our journey towards beloved community.
Be part of our Faith-Rooted Organizing on the ground today or sign up for an upcoming Faith-Rooted Organizing Training, as we hold them annually! To learn more about current campaigns and how to get involved, click here.
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity would like to thank our Congregational Sustainers for being part of a special group of congregations, our pillars of financial support. We appreciate and value you, our Congregational Sustainers, who make an annual gift as a gesture of our partnership and shared work. With your support, we are building the power of congregations across our state to be catalysts for change.
This year you helped to sustain some of the most vulnerable people in our society during this pandemic: recently arrived immigrant families and those incarcerated in our prisons and detention centers. You helped provide physical support, advocacy, and hope during trying times.
As Dr. King states in the quote above, human progress and change doesn’t just happen, but occurs through “tireless efforts” from “coworkers with God” like you. Thank you for being co-workers of God in partnership with us, especially during this pandemic!
Here are a few highlights of what we were able to accomplish through your congregational support this year.
Accompaniment
Walking with 300 immigrants: 300 immigrants in crisis received hands-on support through accompaniment and advocacy efforts. Through the incredible trained accompaniment volunteers and faith leaders, we helped release people from detention, defended them against deportation, offered financial assistance, spiritual support, emergency housing, and other resources. Short term and long term volunteers wrote letters to those detained, created accompaniment teams, and showed up to do advocacy.
Emergency Relief Fund: In the face of COVID and its devastating economic consequences, we helped 50 immigrant families and formerly incarcerated individuals receive economic relief through our emergency fund, dispersing $40,000 to support food, rent, and other basic needs. Requests continue to come in as the economic crisis continues for many.
Advocacy
Faith & State Policy: We have been vocal moral advocates for releasing more people from prisons and detention centers, beginning with the most vulnerable, to save lives and stop the spread of COVID. We organized faith sign-on letters and meetings with the Governor’s and Attorney General’s office to bring the call for compassion, mercy, and release signed by over 53 congregations and 600 faith leaders.
Success in Calls for Releases: This advocacy has been successful: we have won the release of twelve individuals, and all the remaining women detained at Mesa Verde Detention Center. Adelanto Detention is now at an all-time low of 350 persons. This demonstrates that not only is detention harmful, but it is also an unnecessary and pointless part of our immigration system. This year we continue the fight to ensure that ICE stops detaining new people and refilling these empty beds. We continue to demand clemencies, commutations, and releases for those in prison and they remain full and hotbeds of Covid-19.
Winning Reforms in LA: This year, when our country began to question more deeply institutions of policing and prisons, we engaged people in Los Angeles in education and campaigns to begin shifting resources from over-policing to community mental health and homeless services. This year, we will continue to engage people of faith to reimagine public safety in more humane and compassionate ways.
Thank you once again for supporting us in 2020. We look forward to the work ahead in 2021.
We hope you continue to engage in our 2021 local and statewide initiatives focused on reimagining public safety and community care. Join our efforts in federal advocacy that calls for criminal justice and immigration reform that is inclusive, compassionate, and corrects past harms.
Please share this word of thanks with your congregations. If you would like me or one of our wonderful staff members to come to preach or speak to your congregation, we would be more than happy to visit in 2021. I look forward to hearing from you!
