State of the Country Report
April 26, 2022 — May 1, 2022
Greetings, Bishop Julius Harrison McAllister, Supervisor Joan Marla McAllister, Presiding Elders Guyton, Owings, and Anderson, Pastors, Delegates, and Members of the 200th Session of the New York Annual Conference,
James Baldwin said, “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost all of the time.”
We are in rage when we account for the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 had on Black and Brown communities as we face nearly 1 million deaths since March 2020.
We are in rage that Black women are three times more likely to die during childbirth due to health disparities such as access to quality health care and structural racism.
We are in rage when we survey the state of our crumbling democracy and the assault on the fundamental right to vote. The violent insurrection on January 6, 2021, was an attempt to overturn the peaceful transfer of power and install a fascist dictator in the United States.
Unprecedentedly, 19 states have enacted 34 laws across the country targeting early voting and absentee ballots to suppress the vote in direct response to the overwhelmingly Black and Brown turnout that elected the first Black Woman, Vice President Kamala D. Harris, to the second highest position in the land,
We are in rage with gross inequity across the nation that leads to a widening racial wealth gap that leaves Black households with 12% of the household wealth of Whites.
We are in rage as we are on the precipice of a catastrophic nuclear war with Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. But unfortunately, the constant escalation of rhetoric between global war powers and the insatiable transfer of wealth and weapons are not pathways to peace.
It is evident that humanity’s inventions of poverty, militarism, and racism are harmful to the climate as we bear witness to disastrous environmental devastation and decay. We are approaching an existential deadline for the planet to reduce carbon emissions, end deforestation, and transition to a clean energy economy.
We are in rage because the state of our country is in disrepair.
Yet, we, the 200th Session of the New York Annual Conference, believe in the power of holy rage to transform society, as evidenced by the witness of Jesus Christ turning over the tables of money changers in the temple.
It is with righteous indignation that we commit to bringing forth revolutionary witness during these unprecedented times.
We must resist through committing ourselves to radical love in action through the power of non-violence.
We must recommit ourselves to training our youth, congregations, and communities on the power of our history as change agents who have braved slavery, Jim Crow lynchings, segregation, and the great migration to resist mass incarceration, anti-critical race theory, voter suppression, and economic inequity.
Therefore, we, the members of the 200th Session of the New York Annual Conference, proudly proclaim the Renaissance is NOW as we redeem the soul of America.
We recommend that each church engages in the “Resurrect the Vote” Campaign to register, educate, and mobilize voters leading to the midterm elections on November 8, 2022.
We recommend that each church hosts a freedom school to train youth and young adults in the history and struggle for Black liberation this summer during Vacation Bible School or Church School.
Humbly Submitted,
Reverends: Stephen A. Green, Kahlil James, Tamoya Buckley-David, Tyra Frazier, Sanayi Beckles Canton, Anna Marie PoseyDelegates: Vanessa Sherwood, Dianne Mack, Denise Badge
