By Rev. Linda Banks, Contributing Writer
Those of us who paid attention in government class understand that protests are as American as apple pie. Americans were protesting before America was officially born. White people have protested. Black people have protested. Women have protested. The LGBTQ community has protested. Muslims and Jews have protested. Some believe that we have a God-given right to stand against injustice and others believe we have a constitutional right to fight for what is right. Yet, it always boils down to the same thing: We have the right to protest.
We have the right to protest and we have the right to be treated equally and fairly when we protest. Even if we are engaging in non-violent civil disobedience, our American ideals demand that we are treated with dignity and respect while the authorities deal with our civil disobedience. On September 9, 2018, actress Piper Perabo published an opinion article on CNN.com titled, “I Was Arrested for What I Believe In.” Perabo detailed her protest experience at the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Her planned civil disobedience led to her prompt arrest for disrupting the hearing.
The Capital Police took Perabo and a few other women to the basement where they were handcuffed with white zip ties. The police took their possessions and loaded them onto a van bound for the police station. They were searched, fingerprinted, and photographed. Perabo said that it was hot and that it took hours before she was released. I appreciate Perabo’s protest.
I also appreciate the protests of people standing up for poor people everywhere through the Poor People’s Campaign. During the summer of 2018, they were also arrested for what they believed in: the eradication of systemic racism, a living wage, suitable housing, reliable health care, and a fair justice system for all. Our own the Rev. William H. Lamar, IV, the pastor of Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, DC, was arrested by the Capitol Police along with other leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign. However, something strange happened then. Their story did not end like Perabo’s story.
Instead of being released within hours, the Rev. Lamar and his colleagues spent the night in jail because they dared to protest the condition of poor people in this rich country. They did not interrupt an official government hearing. They simply stood, prayed, and sang on the steps of our United States Supreme Court to bring attention to the great and growing wealth disparity in this country. For that, they were offered a bologna sandwich on white bread with American cheese, two vanilla creme cookies, red Kool-aid, and water both for dinner and for breakfast the next morning. They slept in roach-infested cells on metal slabs without pillows or blankets. When outside of their cells, they were handcuffed and shackled for nearly 30 hours. This is the price of the protest if you are lower class, uneducated, and without a lawyer or if you stand with and for them.
The Rev. Linda Banks is an itinerant elder currently serving at Metropolitan AME Church under the leadership of the Rev. William H. Lamar, IV. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from James Madison University, a Master of Science degree in Gerontology from Baylor University, a Juris Doctorate degree from The University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and a Master of Divinity degree from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University.
