John Heid in the Courtroom

John Heid on Trial. March 29, 2017

Eddie Bloomer in 'cuffs

For the past 3 days, John Heid and Eddie Bloomer were on trial in Hennepin County Courthouse for the arrests at the Black Lives Matter/Twins Home Opener/Catholic Worker Faith and Resistance Retreat action last April. This was the final in a series of 5 trials, which concluded in two acquittals, dismissal of charges against many of the defendants, the conviction of 8 who requested jury trials and the acceptance of a plea agreement for others. (I was in this latter group due to the uncertainty surrounding my dying father’s situation – not wanting to be in the middle of a 3-day trial at the time of his passing.)

It was a great honor to sit in on at least parts of 4 of the trials and hear the clear testimony of fellow codefendants describe why they took part. Although much of the trials focused on technical legal minutiae like where exactly were you standing (were you technically on “Metro Transit property”?) instead of the message we were trying to convey, defendants who were eager to take the stand tried to embody the signs we carried: “White Silence Equals Violence” by breaking silence around the police killings of Jamar Clark and other black young men in our metro area.

Yesterday and today, John Heid, going pro-se (representing himself rather than using a lawyer for defense), spoke clearly and passionately. It was difficult to take notes because so much of what he said was note-worthy. Here is the gist of what I wrote down.

·      The conscience of the community is an essential part of a democracy.

·      He is committed to Kingian nonviolence – following the practice of Martin Luther King, Jr.

·      My intent was to raise awareness [of the public] when all other attempts seemed to have failed.

·      King teaches us to “raise the tension” –create a “creative tension”. This process is not an easy or painless one; it is akin to “lancing a boil- in order to get to the infection” and begin the healing process. The cancer that must be addressed in our body politic is racism exacerbated with notions of white supremacy throughout our nation.

·      We take a “civil initiative” (some use terms such as “civil disobedience” or “civil resistance”) to both pressure our government and its “leaders” as well as take personal responsibility ourselves when the state has failed to right an injustice. As a Quaker, John stated he had “civil responsibility” and as a citizen he has a “civic responsibility”.

·      Conscience must inform our view of the law. There are times (such as now) when “we have to leave the comfort of the sidewalk for the dissonance of the streets” – referring to being willing to risk arrest rather than just holding a sign on the sidewalk or leaving the street after an arrest warning is delivered. “I don’t just go into the street to raise havoc”, he stated, explaining his principled commitment to nonviolent direct action attempting to address social injustice. “When lives are at stake, laws need to adjust accordingly.” Sometimes one has to violate a law like rushing into a burning building to save lives despite trespass codes. “Racism is that fire today and it is burning down our houses and destroying our souls.”

·      “What is important is not where I stood – but rather what I stood for”. This, in response to Prosecutor Patrick Marzitelli’s attempt to get John to admit that one of his feet might have been on “Metro Transit property” in a photo the State entered into evidence. Although I’m certain John was not technically “trespassing” at the time the “leave or arrest” warnings were given – (he had moved further away from the light rail tracks as the vigil/protest progressed) – he wanted his emphasis to remain on what he stood for – and why- rather than exactly where his feet were planted.

·      Telling the jury that we can’t build a nonviolent world using the tools of violence, John called out the names of Jamar, Philando, and Cordale – “may they rest in peace; a peace they never found in these cities”.

·      At the closing arguments, the Prosecutor told the jury they were to consider “just the facts and the law” -oh, and “common sense” , setting aside their feelings and sentiments about the Black Lives Matter movement or anything else. To which John Heid, when his turn arrived, countered with “You [the jury] are to be the conscience of the community”. You have a responsibility – the ability to respond. “You, today, are acting as the soul of this community.” My intent, John stated clearly, was to take a claim of responsibility for the troubles of our society. I was trying to prevent further harm and address the harms of the past. It was my conscience that brought me here- not a criminal intent. WHY I stood where I stood informs my intent.

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Alas, the jurors decided to follow the pleas of the Prosecutor. Both John and Eddie were convicted on all charges.  But lest you think this was a defeat, John Heid smiled his Quaker smile during a break in the trial, saying to me, it doesn’t matter if I get convicted or not as long as we can speak some truth in this courtroom. Thank you, brothers, for lives full of witness and conviction!

Embodied Solidarity

Embodied Solidarity by Steve Clemens. April 13, 2016

To the casual observer, the sight might have been striking to a proponent of “American exceptionalism”: 25 activists who appeared to be white according to our nation’s obsession with racial identity, arms linked together, taking instructions and directions from a group of black women. Blocking the tracks of the Light Rail transit system as well as two adjacent streets, this action shut down the traffic outside Target Field for the Minnesota Twins home opener.

On the other side of this publicly funded stadium, another group of Catholic Workers and local faith community leaders were being led by another group of women of color in blocking a different intersection as some dropped a large “Justice 4 Jamar” banner from the over-looking parking ramp by the main entrance to the ball park. Inside, as the National Anthem was being sung, two additional activists hung banners over the large black wall in centerfield. They read, “ Re-open Jamar’s Case” and “Target Field: End Your Slave Labor.”

Back outside, signs reading “White Silence = Violence”, “White Silence Kills”, and “White Silence Killed Jamar” were directed at the predominately white-looking crowd attempting to enter the stadium. Some shouted encouragement, others angrily “flipped us the bird” or yelled for us to “Get a Job!” We sang, and chanted, led by our cadre of brave black women until the police issued their third warning to leave under threat of imminent arrest for trespass. Our leaders from Black Lives Matter Minneapolis and the Black Liberation Project moved to the sidewalk with the others who had served as marshals as the police started to handcuff those of us remaining who were blocking the train and the street.

Less than two weeks before, my wife Christine and I were invited to be part of a walk along the Minnesota River led by Ojibwa elder, Sharon Day. The women carried a bucket of water drawn from the source of the river in west central Minnesota to be poured back into the river at its confluence with the Mississippi at a place called Bdote by the Dakota people. I was honored to carry the eagle staff behind the woman carrying the copper pail. We prayed for the river, thanked her for her gift of life to the land. We offered tobacco at ceremonies at the beginning and ending of each day of the walk with a moving ceremony at the conclusion of the walk on Friday near the repressive reminder of Ft. Snelling and it’s 1862-63 concentration camp for Dakota women and children. On Wednesday of the walk, we passed the memorial where 38 Dakota warriors were hung by the US Government in 1862 and while the tears and sadness of the memories from our past lingered as we walked, the river, fighting the pollution caused by industrial agriculture run-off, kept calling us to continue our prayerful journey. As the young Native girls threw an offering of corn, berries, wild rice, tobacco and other traditional symbols tied in a red cloth into the river at the end, two eagles circled overhead. I remembered a Native friend who told me that “eagles circling” are carrying our prayers to the Great Spirit.

In another two months, Christine and I will join some Muslim friends at an Iftar – the meal to break the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan at a local mosque. We have done so for the past several years as a way for Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others gather to help break down the stereotypes and walls that often divide Americans. I remember how pleased my Iraqi friends were when our delegation visited the Holy Shrines in Karbala and Najaf, Iraq several years ago.

“Embodied solidarity” is a term used by a Wheaton College professor, Dr. Larycia Hawkins, as she donned an hijab during the weeks of Advent as many Muslims were being vilified in the media at the instigation of some Presidential candidates as well as religious “leaders”. She wanted to show with her body her oneness and connectedness to those often seen as “the other”. It cost her her job at the college, my alma mater after a storm of protest arose from the broader “evangelical” community. I already had many of my own reasons for distancing myself from Wheaton so this merely added to my list of grievances. But I am thankful for her witness and example. I, too, want to place my body in alliance with peoples pushed to the margins in our society, culture, and nation. 

Part of the time outside the Twins stadium I stood arm-in-arm with my dear friend, Kathy Kelly. She had told me in the past,  “Where you stand determines what you see.” I would add to that, “With whom you stand can also change your perspective.” Following the leadership of Lena Gardner and Candace Montgomery of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, the inspiration of Rev. Osagyefo Sekou of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the love and compassion for the water evidenced by Sharon Day of the Indigenous People’s Task Force, the passion of the action coordinators from the Black Liberation Project, and the insights and observations of my numerous Muslim friends has helped give this 65 year-old male who has for decades identified himself as “white” a window into a world of exciting and challenging diversity. Thank you!

As our signs read, “White silence kills.” Let’s break the silence among those who identify in our culture as “white” and recognize that racism against black people hurts me and you. Failure to include queer and transgender people diminishes all of us. We have much to learn (and repent for) from our indigenous neighbors. Muslims need to hear you embody a message of “welcome!” I don’t want to live in the mythical American “melting pot”. We don’t all need to blend together into some unidentifiable porridge; rather let’s embrace our diversity as we embrace one another and determine to reject the cancer of white supremacy which has poisoned our world. And, as Rev. Sekou beautifully and forcefully remind us in our training for “militant nonviolence”, we do this work out of “deep abiding love” and filled with “joy”.