African-American clergy take a stand for immigration reform

From the Globe News Desk

Reform would help “make the promise of America a reality” for all, say pastors.

On March 24, hours before thousands marched for immigration reform in San Francisco, the leaders of six prominent African-American congregations in Oakland gathered at the Federal Building and proclaimed their support for humane immigration reform.

Photo by Gerald Lenoir, Black Alliance for a Just Immigration

Brian Woodson, pastor of Bay Area Christian Connection, introduced the event. “We are African-American clergy who, in order to form a more perfect union in which all may pursue life, liberty and happiness, come together to speak, organize, march and move on behalf of comprehensive, just immigration reform,” he said.

Clergy leaders joining the event included Rev. J. Alfred Smith Jr. of Allen Temple Baptist Church, Fr. Jay Matthews of St. Benedict Catholic Church, Rev. Phil Lawson of the East Bay Housing Organizations, Fr. Greg Chisolm of St. Patrick Catholic Church and Rev. Clarence Johnson of Mills Grove Christian Church.

Smith, Allen Temple Baptist Church’s senior pastor, took inspiration from both the Bible and the Declaration of Independence. “We stand here to send forth a message that we are all God’s children,” he said. “Our sacred scriptures let us know that we have a very serious obligation to the most vulnerable in our society. We can’t sit idly on the sidelines while there are forces that try to move into our own communities and tell our people that we are not part of the same human family … All of us are interconnected in this great web of mutuality.”

Chisolm shared a story from his congregation that dramatically illustrated Smith’s point that “when one hurts, we all hurt in this society.” In 2008, Chisolm baptized the son of a Latina woman and her African-American boyfriend. The joyous occasion was punctuated by mourning; the baby’s grandparents were being deported the next week.

Among his parishioners, “there was instant identification with what it was to be targeted for who you are … with a family that did not have the skills to fight against the law and power of the state. Every single family in my congregation, both black and Latino, could tell the story of how precariously the safety of a family depends on who you are,” he said.

“We understand that immigration is an issue that some will use to divide one worker against another worker, but we are here to stand together as working people,” Woodson remarked. “We understand there are forces which seek to reduce human beings to commodities, but we will not be bought and sold.”

Lawson added, “We must insist that immigrants have a pathway to citizenship — full citizenship, not second-class or third-class — because we know from our own journey that our ancestors were less than citizens when they were violently brought here as immigrants.”

The Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, the Black Alliance for a Just Immigration and the East Bay Housing Organizations co-sponsored the event.

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