Freedom’s Sacred Dance

From our earliest days in that struggle, we realized that the world of deep religious seeking and the world of expansive democracy-building were one world, grounded in the grandest hope and possibilities of the human spirit. Indeed, for many of those active in the Freedom Movement, the motivation to enter the struggle, the courage to move relentlessly forward as nonviolent soldiers against the terror of the white status quo, and the vision of a new, desegregated social order were all fueled by great spiritual and religious resources.

So when some leaders, like our friend Martin King, identified a central goal of the movement in terms of “the beloved community,” and others, like our friend Ella Baker, envisioned and modeled a participatory, expanding democracy, we knew that politics and spirituality belonged together, two manifestations of the same empowering reality.

Everywhere we went, this dialectic of hope, this sacred dance between the spiritual and political, appeared at the heart of the movement. In the jails, where songs and prayers overcame moans and shrieks of pain; in the church-based mass meetings, where action reports and sophisticated strategizing melded into freedom songs, fervent prayers, and testimony sessions; on streets and roads, where protest marches became spiritual pilgrimages “moving on to freedom land,” the dance continued.

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