Why I Still Fight

I was reading a letter of Martin L. King the other day and I found inspiration for my continuing to fight against racial injustice and judicial corruption against all odds. He wrote his letter from the jail.  I thought his letter puts Colin Kaepernick’s position though inarticulately stated and my position in perspective. I will take this post to explain and repeat some of the letter. Perhaps it will put things in perspective for some.

My son said to me one day, “Mom, you should let this go and get on with your life.”  I would love to have done as my son was requesting, but my persecutors who have such racial hatred and evil intent to destroy me and everything I stood for and worked for all my life would not let me go. They continued to steal and destroy all of my mementos, honors and awards that I had accumulated. Then starting in December, 2016, they began to threaten my life and made two attempts on my life. They began to tamper with my medication. Perhaps they were trying to threaten me only. They began to steal from my purse and key ring. I cannot imagine how someone could get this close to me without my seeing them. I decided to publish my book in two volumes when it was stolen twice. My computers were destroyed several times. They were hacked so many times I could not keep up. They continued to steal all of my legal files, intercept my mail, and steal all of my possessions. They even stole my father’s picture. I moved four times and they continued to stalk me. I caught them on my cameras. I showed them to the police. They came back and destroyed my cameras. They stole my car. They kept it for four days and stole all my legal files that I kept in the trunk of the car. I moved and they stole all of my legal files, book, clothes , dishes, silverware and rooms of furnishings, library books. They continued to burglarize my home at least one or more times a week. My alarm system recorded two or more burglaries a day at times. They were relentless. They took both licenses but they were not satisfied. They want to destroy me. They robbed my safety deposit box at Capitol One Bank and stole all my certified court records. They will not stop.  They must be stopped.

I am reminded of Dr. King’s statement: ” Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  There are just and unjust laws. St. Augustine used to say that “unjust is no law at all.” MLK used to say: “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.” Any law that degrades is unjust. St Thomas Aquinas said: “An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just.” MLK in his letter referred to the hidden tension that is always alive with injustice and racism. Fighting injustice brings this tension out in the open where it can be seen and dealt with. Kaep saw the tension and injustice with the killings of Blacks last summer in 2016 and spoke about it. It was the elephant in the room that no one was talking about. Dr. King explains that ” racism and injustice are like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up. It must be opened up with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light. Injustice must be exposed with all the tension it creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of natural opinion before it can be cured.”

Kaep is viewed as an extremist by owners. They are afraid that he will create a Tebow like effect. Kaep had never been a Tebow. He is more skilled. MLK argued that Jesus was an extremist for love. “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and persecute you.” Amos was an extremist for justice:  “Let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” Paul was an extremist for christian gospel  “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Was not Martin Luther an extremist? “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.”  And John Bunyan, “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.” And Abraham Lincoln: “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.” And Thomas Jefferson: ” We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…..  The real question to be asked is: will we be extremist for hate or love? This question is as relevant today as it was in MLK’s day. Will we be extremist for the preservation of injustice or justice? MLK further stated that in that dramatic scene on calvary hill, three men were crucified. We must never forget they were crucified for the same crime—the crime of extremism. Two were extremist of immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other Jesus Christ was an extremist for love, truth, goodness and thereby rose from his environment.  Perhaps then as now, the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremism. MLK went on to say that he had hoped the white moderate world would see this need. Perhaps he was expecting too much.  He went on to say that few members of the oppressors can understand the groans and yearnings of the oppressed. Not many things have really changed. Few even today have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action that MLK spoke of.  For me,  the Church is still the body of Christ that MLK talked about.  I, like the early Christians am too intoxicated with God to be intimidated by the crooks in the judicial system. I, like Kaep cannot be deterred by  criticism and the loss of a future license. These crooks took my licenses and cost me a million dollars in income. They were not satisfied with that;  they came back and destroyed all my personal possessions, law books and records. Their actions were from the racial hatred of old. They could not tolerate a Black female practicing law in their town. They will not be successful forever because my goal and the goal of America is freedom and justice. This is such personal animus and hatred.

I am encouraged by the wealth of support that is building up for Kaep. Democracy is alive and strong. Our democratic values will also withstand the threat of Donald Trump who appears to hate America and everything it stands for like our institutions and the White House that he calls a dump.  At least Kaep appears to embrace the values of love, justice and good. He had the courage to speak out against police brutality at a time that his celebrity could get attention and make us look at the evil without rose colored glasses.  He did this at a cost to himself. He knew the risk. He now says that he will no longer kneel when the National Anthem is played. He will protest in a different way. Kaep is young. People cannot see the personal conflict he went through and is still going through. They do not see the change from a clean headed young man to a man with an afro. He was reared by white parents that delayed his experience as a Black man in America. It was that same love and support of white parents that gave him the courage to speak out. This is something that a typical Black in his position might not have done. He had been cushioned in his white environment. He thought things were equal because of his life experience growing up in the white world. He was uninitiated about the risk as a typical Black man who had encountered racism all his life and lived in that environment would have been. He is paying the price. We should show him love and support for his courage. He is our brother. He only recently realized it and had to speak out. He is now viewed as an extremist. The question now as in MLK’s day is which extemist will we support. Will we support the extremist who advocates for justice, love and goodness or will we support the extremists who want to stand for hatred, evil and injustice. Which American will we stand with?  I was so proud to see the response of Americans when they were faced with this question with the XL Pipeline. I was so proud to be an American when I called for us to support the Souix and stop the dogs, cold freezing water and rubber bullets being used against the Native Americans. Twice the ex-military showed up and supported the Native Americans. These were the Americans we know and love. No longer will we tolerate that kind of treatment of Americans and be silent. We as a people are better than that. The owners of the NFL and the American people are better than this. We cannot allow a few people to destroy someone or something that stands for good and against an evil and something unjust like racism and the judicial system.

My personal inspiration came from my clients and friends. I was sitting in church one day and a former client came up to me and asked if I remembered her. She told me that I had represented her. “When I was in jail and I heard you were representing people, I prayed that I would get you as my lawyer. I have been praying for you and you showed up in church today. I hope you will help my son.”  I wanted to cry. I silently screamed in my head about the injustice of what had happened to me and was continuing daily. I cannot leave home for a minute. My home or any place I visit is burglarized. Friends do not want me to visit their homes. When attempts on my life began, this was my limit. I had to do something. I remembered when I did not get licensed to practice law in Michigan. Former clients gave me the will to fight injustice and evil. They would greet me on the street with such happiness to see me. One client told me that I saved his sister’s life. Another told me I saved his life. Each time a client greeted me with those affirmations, I knew that I had been on the right path. Each day when I want to quit my fight against the judicial system and the corruption that I have uncovered, I think of the lives that have been lost and the people currently imprisoned because of the corruption. I cannot stop. Jesus, the extremist for love,made the ultimate sacrifice for me and others. MLK and the Blacks and whites of that time sacrificed for social change. They survived. Kaep will survive too. We must not allow his starting a conversation about injustice in the system that everyone knew about anyway end his career. We must stand up and support him and fight injustice where it raises its head. Evil, hatred and injustice should never become our norm. We have a double standard. We elected a man as president who bragged about grabbing women in their “p…y” because they are pretty which is against the law. We will tolerate this kind of injustice. Yet, we do not want to allow a Black man to play football because he did not want to stand for the Anthem because of the hypocrisy this displayed when there was so much injustice going on in America. He was not privy because of his upbring to the racism experienced daily by the Black man in America. He seemed to be learning about Black history in front of our eyes. We should have hurt with him to realize the hypocrisy. He saw contradictions and did not really know how to respond but knew that he could not continue to be silent.

I knew I had to fight to get my license back. My work is not over. I am still needed. I have to continue to be an extremist for good, justice and love. My God is love. He sent his extremist of love, Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us.  I must continue to be so intoxicated with God that I cannot be intimidated by threats and setbacks. My son says, “good will always reign over evil.” Good Americans and owners will not allow evil to destroy someone who is sometimes confused but stands for good, justice and love. Americans will stand up for justice because America and democracy stand for freedom! Speaking up for those concepts should not be punished. Let us continue to pray that some team will need Kaep and will have the courage show him the love and mercy that God would show to any of us. Extremism can be good. We should support the good extremist that stands for love, justice, and good.