On July 7th,
2016, Alton Sterling was shot down and killed by an armed Policeman. Shortly after
this was the murder of Philando Castile, and the Dallas police shooting. A lot
of tragic events have occurred in the United States this past week. Many people
have been questions and Savannah Hartman has the answers. Savannah Hartman is
the Pastor at Banner Church in Tampa, Florida; she is also the CEO of “Market My
Mission”, which is an organization that promotes non-for-profit organizations
and churches. Savannah Hartman was among many people who spoke out about the
injustice that face the Black community as well as the world. She shared a
video on Facebook that has been viewed 17 million times. The video has a very
powerful message that this nation has yet to receive. Here are a few lessons
that Savannah Hartman teaches in her video:
1.
Educate and
Acknowledge white privilege
Savanna starts off
first acknowledging and even apologizing for her white privilege. She
explicitly states, “I wasn’t born rich but don’t get it twisted my white skin
is my privilege.” It starts with educating oneself, no matter what the color of
skin, and acknowledging that there is a such thing as white privilege.
2.
Talk about the issue
“The past doesn’t
disappear when it’s offensive to you.” Savanna stresses that race, privilege,
and not injustice is something that needs to be talked about. That we cannot
just shrug it off and cast it to the side. Just because something makes us feel
uncomfortable doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be heard. If the nation wants to
progress it starts with facing the problem even if it makes us feel
uncomfortable.
3.
We are all the same
“We act like they are
poor, and gross, and make fun of their clothes, yet we keep their culture,
style, and weaves.” This may seem Black and White but this applies to everyone.
Everyone has heard the saying, “The only race is the human race,” which is completely
true because a lot of times as people we like to think that just because
someone else has a different skin color or a different background that they are
somehow different when really they are not.
4.
Senseless Behavior on
all sides are wrong
The Dallas police
shooting, riots, and the Black victim that have died due to social injustice is
all wrong. No one is right here and no one is able to get away with this. Not
all Black people are thugs just like not all police men are bad.
5.
Christ Preserved all
of our lives by dying on the cross
“Stop blaming them
like their deaths were deserved. We all deserve death, but our lives were
preserved by Christ’s work on the cross, He paid for our sins so we don’t have
to make mistakes again.” By Christ dying on the cross for us we have a new
chance at life. We are able to be reborn and it all starts with love.
6.
Walk in LOVE
“Don’t scream, and
don’t fight start walking in love. Take the masks off your eyes and remove your
gloves.” Ephesians 5:2 tells us to walk in love, because Christ has loved us
and sacrificed His life for us. It is easy to fight fire with fire, because we’re
hurt and angry, but do not forget God knows that this nation is hurting give it
to Him and he will fight your battles. We all need to try to understand what
each person is going through no matter what color of skin they have.
7.
Changing the future
and being accountable for our actions
As we near the end
Savanna starts saying how it is important to have a better future, and how we
still have to be accountable for our actions. “We can’t change the past, but we
can change what’s ahead. We can change who we are so less people are dead, with
accountability for our actions and a voice for our cause. We can form new
statues, and create new lives.
8.
It starts with YOU
“It only takes one
person to stand up and say: ‘I want to stand up for this, [because] this is not
the way.” All it takes is for one person no matter what race he or she is to
stand up for justice. If someone stands up, then we all will follow and we can
look forward to a brighter future.
9.
Prayer does change
things
We can continue to
try to solve things the way we want to but in God’s word He says, “My people
are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I
will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten
the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6) As human we
are a fallen and flawed creation we can try to figure things out on our own,
but look at what has happened. We have caused many Black men to lose their
lives, innocent policemen to be killed, and riots. We are so focused on
creating movies like The Purge and so many other distractions that we forgot to
fall on our knees and pray. Wake up America, and realize that we cannot solve
everything on our own. We need to fall on our knees and pray.
Here is the video clip you can watch here on your own:
