Hello and welcome, its good to be here in person with you all. My name is kim daniels, i am the director of georgetown universitys initiative on catholic thought and life. I want to thank all of you for joining us in person and online for this important public dialogue on the 60th anniversary of the march on washington for jobs and freedom, keeping the dream alive. [applause] we are so grateful to have so many of you joining us today. With a full house here, over 1600 people joining us online and many more joining us via cspan. 60 years ago today, more than 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the march on washington for jobs and freedom. Dr. Martin luther king sent to all of those gathered and watching throughout the country, i have a dream. Words that would inspire so many at that time and in the years to come. The leader of washingtons Catholic Community at the time delivered the invocation earlier that day. The archbishop had encouraged d. C. Catholics to participate in the march, local catholic parishes in groups and schools offered housing and hospitality, and special masses were held at the cathedral of st. Matthew and the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception and many other churches. That day, the archbishop called on all to shun violence, knowing that the meek shall inherit the earth. He called on everybody to live in dignity, justice, charity and peace. He said it was just as vital we know it is just as vital today as 60 years ago and it can also be just as heartwrenching. As we begin, lets pause to remember and pray for Angela Michelle carr, a jayla gary junior, and another man who were killed in jacksonville by a racist gunman who first went to a historically black university immediately before the shooting. Tonight, we have brought together a Remarkable Group of leaders to discuss where we are falling short in achieving dr. Kings dream and how we are keeping it alive. Joining us today our sister anita baird from the daughters of the heart of mary and the founding director of the archdiocese of chicagos office for rasul for Racial Justice. Marc morial, president and ceo of the National Urban league, one of the original sponsors of the march on washington 60 years ago. He also served as mayor of new orleans and president of the u. S. Conference of mayors. Hes a graduate of Jesuit High School in new orleans and the university of pennsylvania and most important, georgetown law. [laughter] another hoya. Andrew priya is the amateur chair and professor of theology at georgetown. Lets give them a hand. [applause] andrew was a former professor in the Theology Department at Boston College. Last but not least, lauren rella for, political director at a Christian Organization committed to advocacy for social justice. She works on developing and implementing policy strategy and advocacy efforts. Lauren is a graduate of Boston College and has from catholic and has an msw from catholic university. Moderating is john carter, he served for over 20 years as director of the office of justice, peace and Human Development at the u. S. Conference of catholic bishops, and in the late 1970s, worked for caretta scott king at the National Committee for full employment. Please join me in welcoming this Remarkable Group of people for this important conversation. [applause] john thank you for that gracious introduction and getting us off, remembering the people of saturday as we focus on the good of the march saturday as well. Kim mentioned, and one of the owners of my life was to work caretta scott king in the late 1970s on issues of employment. When you work with the king family, you are sucked into everything. Worked on the holiday, the center and everything else. I dont think caretta king got the credit she deserves for standing with martin and carrying on his legacy. Their home was bombed, the fbi attacked their family. She continued to work to carry on the dream. In those years with caretta, i basically learned three things from her the struggle is ongoing, the work is never done, setbacks are temporary, and love and right will prevail. Number two, fundamentally the cause is moral and spiritual, and a religious obligation. Number three, Racial Justice and Economic Justice are fundamentally linked. In fact, inseparable. She constantly reminded us that martin was killed standing with sanitation workers in memphis. Those three lessons guide our discussion tonight. We thought it was important to come here tonight on this date and at this place 60 years ago, 250,000 people gathered. Any people in the hall were there . Congratulations, thank you. [laughter] i know there are several online. Several of you know father kemp. The catholic standard has a wonderful review of some of the catholic leaders who were part of that. But they came together and against all odds changed a nation. That was 60 years ago. 186 years ago, father Thomas Mullaney sold 272 men, women and children. Part of the proceeds of that sale paid and made possible the future of the university will regather tonight. This is a copy of the bill of sale. Dr. King in his i have a dream speech come up before he got to i have a dream, he said the nation owed black people a promissory note and the march had come to redeem that note. This university is trying to honor the promissory note and tonight is about how all of america should honor that note. Some things have changed and something is not. Weve had a black president , we have a black Vice President. John lewis went from being a troublemaker that cardinal boyle objected to to being a distinguished National Leader and member of congress. But Voting Rights are not secure. I looked at the program from the march 60 years ago and two things struck me. One, it was almost all men. [laughter] women saying. Women sang. Mahalia jackson told martin to tell them about the dream. On saturday, it is not all men anymore. The most important thing for me was dr. Kings 15yearold granddaughter, Yolanda Renee king, who lit up the crowd. So that is different, thank god. The other thing that struck me is most of the speakers half of them, in fact were religious speakers and there were precious few on saturday, and that says maybe something about the religious community but also about the movement. Tonight, we invite religious leaders, we invite women, we invite you in the lot of others to think about what the marks meant and what it calls us to do now. Black unemployment, black people twice as likely to be jobless 60 years ago and that is still the case. Black poverty was twice what it was for whites, still the case. And two weeks after the march, four little girls died in a bombing in birmingham, and two days ago, three people were killed by racist violence in jacksonville. Some things have changed some things have not. To talk about what needs to change, we have a Wonderful Group that kim introduced. I want to invite each of you as an opening thought, tell us 60 years ago, hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to demonstrate for jobs and freedom , it is important to remember that. What was the most Important Message and impact of that march then and what does it call us to do now 60 years later . Lets begin with marc. Marc good evening to all. Let me say thank you to you and georgetown university, its always an honor to come back to your alma mater and share thoughts. I want to thank the copanelists here. I just had the pleasure of spending two hours in the roosevelt room at the white house with president biden, Vice President harris, the king family and 12 to 15 civil rights leaders. To share with the president and reflect on the moment and talk about the issues that are so prevalent today, with respected that meeting was planned many weeks ago. It turned into a discussion stemming from what happened in jacksonville. The reminder, the stark reminder that racially motivated hate and violence is too common in america today. Whether it was jacksonville or buffalo, the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh, el paso, Mother Emanuel Church i could go on. How can violence be a weapon so common to affect our fellow citizens . That has been bearing and weighing on my mind. As i left the march, i was proud to speak on saturday. My late predecessor, the great whitney young, was one of the original big six leaders who convened the original march. As soon as i returned to my hotel room and turned on the television, there it was. One minute later, my phone rang and it was the assistant attorney general, who informed me she said, i am giving you a heads up that we think we have a racially motivated hate crime in jacksonville. I said, i am looking at it on the news but they are not staying racially motivated yet. It is a reminder of where we are. I want to make a couple of other points in the opening. It was shared with us, the role that the catholic archbishop of washington played in the 1963 march. I was born and baptized in the Catholic Church. The catholic faith i adhere to honors, respects and places social justice, Racial Justice and Economic Justice, as a primary tenet of our faith. I appeal to those of you of the catholic faith to not allow the continued to munition dimmun ition of that as a fundamental tenet of catholicism. It is critical, and i think you mentioned it, that all faiths of america meet this moment of racially motivated violence the effort to undermine american democracy that we face in this nation today. We have to meet this moment with will, with passion, and with truly a great and powerful commitment. 60 years ago was a seminal moment in american history. It was perhaps one of the most important moments in american history. We have got to recognize that in this moment as we gathered for the 60th anniversary, that as much as we can celebrate steps forward and progress and things we are proud of, it is untenable and shocking to me that there is still so much work left to be done and still forces in this nation and across the globe that seem to want to live in an era long past. We have to be united in our commitment to a nation and a world based on the values of inclusion, opportunity, justice and tolerance for all. Thank you so much for having me today. John could one of my colleagues close the door . Would be great if the students heard of this but we dont need to hear them. [laughter] marc left the white house and the president to be here and we are glad he had his priorities straight. [laughter] sister, you were a young woman in chicago. To the march mean then and what does it mean now . Sister baird thank you for having me, im honored to be on this panel. This is a historic moment. I was 15 years old when the mark happened and i told john, i wanted to go desperately but my mother thought there might be violence. She said you are not leaving home, and i regret that to this day. I remember watching on television and i dont know about other states, in illinois, you have to take drivers education to graduate. I was taking it that summer and i did not go to class, i was glued to the black and white screen. It was a moment of great hope and also a moment of reckoning. There was a sense that the nation was at the point where we were willing to turn the page and began to walk in a different direction. So many lives have been sacrificed. Just to be recognized as a human being. You talked about the promissory note we are still waiting to collect on that. It is still coming back and bouncing because we are failing as a nation. When i look at where we were then with hope and moving forward and where we are at today, it calls us to vigilance and to realize this freedom we cannot take for granted. Many lives were lost. We have to remain vigilant and also remain hopeful. You said faith faith leaders were there. I have concerns today because we are not hearing the voices of our faith leaders, particularly catholic faith leaders. That is a concern. As dr. King said, it has to be faith, it has to be love, it has to be the gospel. John in some ways you represent a new generation of leaders. For you, the march is history, not something you wanted to go to but something you heard about. What was the significance and how does it push us forward now . I also want to extend my incredible thanks, sincerest thanks to all and the Incredible Opportunity to say hello cspan, because i am a cspan nerd. [laughter] i have three cspan tshirts at home. To share a stage with such powerhouses, and i want to especially thank the work youve done to make it easier for me to be visible in the spaces i am, especially when you occupy the first and only space. The trauma of that can wear and tear so i appreciate the work others have done and the trauma they have endured so it is easier for me. I think in particular when i think about the march, i did ask my relatives in part because i am a fifth generation native to the area. My grandmother grew up in georgetown and was locked, and the house they grew up in, they would say the wheatley butler home but i would say the butler wheatley home, because the wheatleys owned the block and they have slaves in the home. They hid two confederate soldiers in the basement where the slaves lived. This is the home i very black family grew up in for many generations. While that may be the past, the past is still prologue. I asked my uncle robert what the march meant, because i said, you see a lot about people sharing stories about the positives am like give me the real t, what was going on then . Michael shared a similar story that his mother and father would not let him go because he was too young and they were afraid of violence and not necessarily violence from our own. Violence because every night they would have dinner and after dinner you would watch the news this is a tradition we still carry on and its probably why i do what i do, because ive been watching the news and asking questions since i was five years old. My uncle said all they were seeing was violence, black people being hosed down, being shot, antiblackness, hatred. It sounds a lot like the reality we are living in. When he said that, it really struck me. I know we talk a lot about the hope but i think what really struck me was the fact that between then and now, the antiblackness so pervasive. Willing talk about racism we really need to talk about the antiblackness aspect of racism, which is very specific and explicitly targeted at anything perceived as black or from the african diaspora. The fact that all of those black people were gathering in a city that was still very much segregated, where my grandparents were not allowed in, were not served at Many Department stores. Black people to come into a city like that where our safety was not guaranteed was monumental. It meant black people could gather en masse and still be safe, which historically has not be a thing. We still see dories of the black people in groups being terrorized and harassed. This is not new. Not only that, it was black people standing up, and while there were some edits, as john lewis experienced in his speech, to be forceful about our own lived experience as opposed to having it dictated to us about as per to have this opportunity, while predominantly male, to say this is what it is like to be black in america. I am tired of you telling our story, im going to do it myself , that is really powerful. It may seem very basic for some people but in a society that consistently seeks to modify and edit and mold your voice and experience and tell you have to appear and talk for someone elses comfort, to show up authentically and use your authentic black voice is a blessing. To do that in the midst of real, clear danger and be in a city where you are talking about your socioeconomic rights, but not be served at a counter, a lot of that is still the same. I think about again, the pervasive antiblackness that will show up. We will get to this later, but i think thats part of the reason why weve made progress, but visibility does not mean actual progress. If you hate me, you can despise that i occupy the same room as you viewed john as you. John thank you. Enter, welcome to georgetown. How did your first class go . Enter it would andrew it went well. Thank you for inviting me on the panel. John i went to the absolute source. [laughter] at Boston College, they love you and we will love you at georgetown. Picking up on what lauren said, yuko edited a volume on antiblackness and christian ethics. As a theologian, how do you look back at 60 years ago and the challenge now . Andrew as a theologian when i think about the march mime struck by the fact that so many people, not just speakers but those attending, were motivated by religious faith. They believed that nothing was impossible for god. They were up against seemingly insurmountable odds, forces they rightly regarded as people as evil. A lot of power arrayed against them and they thought nothing was impossible for god. As king with the point in a famous sermon, he said our god is able. What that means is if you are on gods side, the side of truth and justice and compassion, nothing will ultimately thwart what you are going for. That doesnt mean there will be setbacks, that doesnt mean there will not be violence along the way, but it does mean there is something larger at stake that is driving us and strengthening us in these struggles. When i think about that and compare it to the sort of activism we seeing lately, i am of two minds about it. On the one hand, occupy, since black lives matter, since me too, have seen a resurgence of activism. Weve seen people fighting for racial and economic and gender equality. People going into the streets and leaving they can change something. That has been great. On the other hand, at the same time, i think we are living through an era characterized by a lot of anxiety. A lot of discouragement. A lot of doubt and distrust, where we are not trusting that religious and Political Institutions can do the right thing or make any meaningful, sustainable change. I really wonder if we still have that faith that can move mountains. Ive been sitting with that and i dont know the answer to that, but i think the march on washington challenges us to try to reclaim that mountain moving faith of our ancestors and to believe that seemingly impossible, even the racket was change can happen for our society. I believe that is the sort of change we actually need. But i dont think we are going to get it unless we find a way to believe in it again. John wow. What a remarkable panel. [applause] im going to come back to each of you with a followup question and im going to start with marc. As i read about your life, i was struck by four things good i think you were one of 14 black students at Jesuit High School in new orleans . Marc yeah. John you became the mayor of new orleans. 20 years youve been the leader of the urban league. And on saturday when i heard you, you were the person that talked most clearly about Economic Justice. Why do you think civil rights and economic rights, Racial Justice and Economic Justice go together, and what should we be not today be working on today . Marc one thing people tend to forget is the best known civil rights case, brown versus board, was about economic rights. And the challenge to separate but equal was about black students that had to walk to school and white students whose school was closer and they had a bus. It is important to recognize that when rosa parks refused to give up her seat, it was about transportation rights. The Civil Rights Act of 64 was about employment discrimination, public accommodations the right to eat at a lunch counter, the right to hold a job. Economics is intertwined into the Civil Rights Movement and eat those and struggle and it is often forgotten that in the 19 60s, there were four what i call justice initiatives for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the voting right act of 1965, the jobs and antipoverty programs of 1966, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. There has been an intertwining and i believe we have to restore the organization i lead places primacy on Economic Justice right to a job, right to a quality job, the right to build a business, own a home and have assets. That is what we do on a Public Policy front end to a wide array of programs. We have some work to do to elevate Economic Justice for social justice is key, that in this nation, economic parity is crucial. Economic parity is the key to quality of life. It is the key to the ability to take care of yourself and the next generation. I thought, for everyones benefit, the National Urban league has issued a ddd call to action. The first is defend and fix democracy. The second is demand diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of american life. Campuses, classrooms, courtrooms, boardrooms, factory floors and the like. And the third is the feet poverty. Because you said it at the top where we have made the least relative progress is in the economic arena. The analogy we embrace at the National Urban league is black people, and to some extent latinos as well, are like the caboose on the economic train. When the Unemployment Rate goes down, it goes down for black people as well but it is still twice what the white rate is. You can look at the same thing when it comes to the poverty rate, homeownership rate my business formation rate. Rate, business formation rate. We have a 23 trillion economy. Our economy is the largest in the world and it is as large as the second and third economies, china and japan, combined. Yet for the past 30 years as our economy has moved from a five to 6 trillion economy to being a 23 trillion economy, the relative Economic Standing not only of black people and brown people and white people, but the Economic Standing of the bottom 2 5 or 3 5 of our population has not kept pace with economic growth. That is why there is so much economic stress. We have a new face of poverty in america people who work all the time. Sometimes they have college degrees. Some work two jobs and still have a hard time in ends meet. John thank you for context and witness. Lets shift a little. Sister, youve been a Racial Justice pioneer in our church you were the first chief of staff to cardinal george. He asked you to start the Racial Justice office in chicago. You have been a leader of the black sisters conference. Youve been a leader in your own province and religious community. Some things have changed we have an africanamerican cardinal here in washington tonight. He is at Howard University dedicating a sister. If you walk to the back of this place, you go to the sister thea bowman chapel. A lot of things have changed a lot havent. Sister thea said being black while catholic is like being a motherless child. You have been a religious leader where has the church moved forward, where has the church been in the way and what do we need to do . Sister baird good question. [laughter] and we dont have all night. [laughter] let me also say that Cardinal Gregory is a native of chicago. [laughter] we have given him to you, so you are blessed to have him. John we are. Sister baird you know, it is a complex question. As you were saying, born and raised catholic. Often people say why do you stay catholic . I say i stay catholic because i believe in the eucharist. I believe that table calls us to make a place for everyone. Thats what we are called to be. I think the church in some ways has been prophetic and in other ways it has not. I think one thing the church has failed to do is acknowledge that slavery began with the Catholic Church. It didnt again in 1619, with papal bulls issued, talking about those who were nonchristian, enemies of christ, and the kings of portugal and spain had the right to take their lands, and come to this country in take land from indigenous people. The doctrine of discovery, and we are still using that today. The church has not repented for its role in slavery the way i believe it needs to. We talk a lot about reparations reparations isnt just about a check in my pocket and that is what people want to reduce it to. We deserve that, 400 years of free labor . Yes. But the reality is that reparations begins with the acknowledgment and speaking the truth, owning it, and asking forgiveness for it. So the church has written a lot, beginning in the 1950s, because frankly with slavery, the church saw it more as a political issue than a moral issue could you mentioned this university would not be here had not been for slaves. The church became rich in this country. This nation, the wealth of this nation was built on the backs of the enslaved. I think our call as christians is to speak that truth and own it, to repent for it and then be able to stand up and speak for the voiceless. When the holy father was here in 2015 and he met with president obama in the white house, he made a statement i dont know if many people heard it or remember it. But he made the statement that catholics, along with their fellow americans, were committed to being tolerant and inclusive. To protecting the rights of individuals and communities and ejecting all forms of unjust discrimination. He said catholics are as committed as their fellow americans. But we dont see that, we dont see it spoken from the pulpit, the pulpit. We were at the march on washington, we marched at selma, but today weve become very silent and we have sold out to a system that doesnt always have what is right for all people, the dignity of life. We have sold out to life in the womb but could care less that life when it is born. That is the challenge. John the challenge is struggling what it means to own our behavior, acknowledge it and speak it and the response. If i may add something. It is difficult for me to sometimes go to a mass and listen to a sermon or homily that never mentions Racial Justice or Economic Justice. That waxes in the abstract and doesnt speak to the moment. Since i have an opportunity to worship in all sorts of faith traditions we have to acknowledge here we have this Great Catholic University and i was born and raised catholic, the fact that in some cases the leadership of the church is missing this moment. Missing their responsibility today. I say it because i want them to hear it. That they dont interpret Martin Luther king did so brilliantly that he took the teachings of the bible and the teachings of the constitution and he wove them together in a manifesto of american values. He was speaking to people of all faiths, to christians especially, and speaking to those of us who love the constitution and the constitutional traditions and the efforts to make the constitution any full for all people. I think we have to acknowledge, i would be remiss if i didnt challenge the establishment of the church to embrace the president of this university he did something courageous several years ago when he acknowledged the role this institution has played, you talked about it. The north american jesuits have made a substantial commitment. There are some examples, but by and large, the catholic faith today and the organized and established catholic leadership have not lived up to what i think are my expectations. To speak to these issues in their official capacity and to challenge one last thing. This is really important. This is an example. My hometown in new orleans, 1956. Two years after brown. The catholic archbishop of new orleans, issued an encyclical and sought to desegregate the Catholic Schools in new orleans. He faced a vicious backlash, including efforts to boycott, pickets at his home, fullpage ads in the paper condemning the church. He backed off a bit and the schools were not integrated until the first year i attended Catholic Schools in new orleans in 1963. But let me tell you what he did in 1961, 1962, 1963 he excommunicated three politicians for their actions. That is real courage. Sister baird cardinal riddle did that as well. I want to say one thing. We march every january at the church in washington, d. C. , right to life. What would it look like if the church marched for the dignity of all people . [applause] what would that say . John i think we ought to ask andrew that. [laughter] first of all, you missed your calling you talked about preaching. We would take you. Andrew, first of all is important to remember it was reverend dr. Martin luther king. Basically what he preached was a homily. Can you help us respond to this challenge . What are the biblical principles, what are the themes of our catholic social teaching that ought to guide a real response as our colleagues have described . Andrew one thing, the preferential option for the poor, thats what i want you all to remember and burn on your hearts, the preferential option for the poor. God obviously loves everyone in a very personal way. But the preferential option for the poor is a teaching that says god has a special care and concern for those who have been deprived, mistreated, abused, marginalized. Those are the people to whom god goes first and those are the people with whom god works and stands and lives. When i look at the march on washington, even though they were not using that language, what i see at work is the preferential option for the poor. The march was first conceived by a. Philip randolph, a major labor leader in the black community. Thats why its called the march for jobs and freedom. It was about the poverty afflicting black people in this country. So yes, they were pushing for equality in the eyes of the law a sort of colorblindness you might say in the justice system, as opposed to the antiblackness that had characterized it to that point and that we still find within it. But that was only one small piece of what they were after. The real dream was material, concrete improvement in the lives of black and poor people. Homes, jobs, schools, health care. Things we still need today in those very communities. God loves all of the poor regardless of race, but there is something about being poor while black that is its own particular thing in this country. That is the phrase doing such and such while black. Being poor while black was really what the march on washington was trying to call attention to. It is true that over the last 60 years, a number of black people have made their way through a lot of hard work from poverty into the middle class. But, and there is a big exception here, middle class is shrinking. The lines between poverty and the middle class are harder to draw. Black and brown communities are most likely to fall back into poverty once they are in the middle class. And the conditions in poor neighborhoods are not noticeably better than they were in 1963 in terms of the kind of challenges people are facing. We still have a lot of work to do, but i think the principles of catholic social teaching in particular, the preferential option for the poor, is a very good guide for that kind of work. As much as catholic social teaching supports equality in the eyes of the law, what is really about is taking up your cross and following jesuss example of radical love and solidarity. Thats the note i want to leave us with on that. John which sets up lauren. [laughter] thank you lets thank marc. [applause] he will be spreading the gospel on msnbc and they are waiting for him. [laughter] he left the white house to come here and we are letting him leave us to go there and you go with our blessing and thanks. I have come to know you through your work at sojourn but especially circle of protection, which is a religious group taking up sisters challenge and really trying to operationalize serving the poor, putting a circle of protection around the poorest people, the most Vulnerable People in our society , in the federal budget process, in Public Policy at the national level. Lauren is one of the people who actually make that work, who gets us in to see members of congress, who makes the case. What are the things that the circle, sojourners, georgetown, all of us should be working on to exercise the preferential option for the war and respect the dignity that sister talked about and advance the agenda that marc expressed . Lauren yes. Woo. [laughter] john i told her, you are a cleanup. [laughter] lauren just to get back to what a lot of folks have been saying, i think theres been a weird energy a lot of us have felt that our doing this work on the hill, amongst coalitions and stakeholder partners. I think it is realizing that we are in a moment of cultural inflection and reflection, and how that plays out in Public Policy. We are really seeing that. When i say socioeconomic, i am speaking to a raceclass understanding. In looking at the social status of individuals and how that dictates their economic power or lack thereof. Thats what i mean when i say socioeconomic. I think we need to look at the way in which we actually create policies. Thats a lot of the work i try to do at sojourners, to couple the idea of individuals as numbers, that is a big thing. We talk to staffers or read policies, its weird to look at numbers and you are talking about a person. As someone who has been on welfare, some of that talk gets personal because they dont talk what means to utilize these programs or where you are in the world. I think to your point, there is really no middle class, if you will, or what we knew of the middle class. There used to be a lower class and upper middle class and now you are just working poor is what we would say is middle class. We have these policies, the tax credits, the 2017 trump tax cuts, policies focused on making life easier for people who have the most, while lumping everyone in and it is just like good luck. Furthermore they are operating on this understanding that this is the status quo that the status quo we are building policies from and trying to understand life is very white dominated and white representative. When i say that, lets look at the gender pay gap. For every dollar a man makes, it is . 74 on the dollar for a woman. Caveat white woman. It is . 64 on the dollar for a black woman and its like a . 54 on the dollar for native and indigenous women. When i talk about solving the wage gap i look at how are we going to get women from . 74 on the dollar to one dollar, i am like, oh, white women. That brings me up to . 74, but not one dollar. We as a black woman, dont i work just as hard if not more because the pressure to work twice as hard has been placed on me . Until we take a new instant nuanced look at our policies and what the federal work requirement needs for individuals who live in areas who have food deserts, for work requirements for programs if you look at a work requirement, i would like to call it an income or eligibility requirement, because to take away from the undeserving poor my mother, a single woman raising two kids while going to school for an undergraduate degree would not qualify. Would she not be eligible . She had two children. We have to go all the way back and do real truth telling in this country, some narrative change and real healing. Until we do that, we will be stuck in the same policy cycle. If you look at chambers model of policy formation, when you get to the preformulation process, thats when the problem is identified. But who was it identified by . Look at congress. Even through the diversity of congress, those are people who have necessarily lived the same experience they are trying to create policy four. Right . What kind of sense does that make . Until we create policy of and for the people we are always going to have topdown from people who have never lived a day in your shoes, and thinking thank god no one has ever walked the walk i have and then theyre going to tell you that this is what it is and then make you feel bad for not making enough and they do not provide living wages but they will call you essential when theres a pandemic. But then they will take away your medicaid when they dont want to pay for it. Prematurely might i add a, florida, texas. So again, it is until we stop looking at humanity as a number, until we do what Pope John Paul ii said, look at life. From conception to all subsequent stages, and understand that as a black person, as black people, as communities, until you are actually just ok with black people existing policies are never going to do the work because they are never going to reflect the core values, the moral imperatives that should be infusing policy. If you want to be valued space lets look at what your values are espousing. This is very difficult to sit at these tables sometimes and listen and then we also need to be real about the fact that there are people who knows these numbers, this data, and our mass engineering the same situation. These people that are taking your hand and punching you in the face and saying why are you hitting yourself. And until we from a faith perspective as people of faith take advantage of this moral vacuum wherein and stand up and be honest about the real lived experience and about humanity and really be prolife, we are never going to achieve things. Because this antiblackness is not new. Look at reconstruction. People have been freaking out any time a black person steps into a predominantly white space and i can tell you that from my own physically violent experiences myself. Wow. One of the things we Work Together on is the Child Tax Credit and during the pandemic was restructured and included the most vulnerable, the poorest families in america and now that has gone away. Who is left behind . Black families, latino families, the poorest of the poor. What if we got together and really made the case . This has been so powerful and we have taken most of our time, but we cannot leave without some time for questions. I am going to invite our colleagues to come forward to the microphones. Im going to make my appeal, if you could put your question in the form of a question that would be very helpful. I think we are going to go about 10 minutes with the questions and then we are going to wrap up and continue the conversation over food and drinks for those of you that are here. Online go to the refrigerator and join us. Questions, comments . Questions really. Put your hand up. Hi, welcome. My name is eleanor i am a first year here at georgetown. Yea. [applause] you should talk to andrew. We are freshmen together. My question is for lauren. As a young person in a space that is so dominated, you look at congress. The age of congress forgive me but old. I am so sorry. [laughter] but as a young person working in those spaces, how do you gain respect . How do you get people to listen to you . How do you go through life and do the amazing work you are doing despite the disrespect you face because of your age . I am going to borrow from what andrew said. I will tell you i get burnt out a lot. There are things that are said where i am like did you know that is racist and i am black . That was racist as all get out. And oh my god you have control over the lives of so many black people. It is like i am the canary in the coal mine and i am on my last tweet. But, i am also a defendant of enslaved people and i am the daughter of Stephanie Gray and antonio rella ford and the great great granddaughter of katie may jones who traced chased the klan offer property with a sawedoff shotgun. I think it is a bit of spirit. But it is also just leaning into careisms and what that means as a catholic to be made to help other people. I remember the fact that i get weary, i may walk through the waters in the fires and they may send me. I may get overwhelmed but i wont get burned. It is not to say that i dont get burnt out but when you know that you are part of something bigger that passion is always going to fuel you. I am also in the company of some really amazing people who fortify me. Who allow me to be my broken mass, who allow me to be my immature self sometimes, who allow me to get out and be who i need to be so that when i walk in those rooms i can be Lauren Whitney rella furred social worker. But i am also recognizing that that is a persona. Because that is the best version of myself and often times i do have to present that. I appreciate you saying i am young. There are a few gray hairs, i got my hair done. But you cant take away my power when i am consistently working day by day to remind myself that god made me with a purpose and that the soul assignment is bigger than myself and i cannot let god down. Not only that i look at jesus and i read james. James is very clear and i am like this is jesuss brother i can only imagine how he was. If you have those kinds of examples where you have james, if you walk by someone and you are like peace out i am sorry you are hungry youre going to go to hell, that is a big motivator. I appreciate the question, i could probably give a lot more nuanced answer but i think those are the things that have really helped me go and it is also the fact that i have been in these situations before. I dont think people understand what it is like watching their parents stress out about having to feed you, about paying rent. That stress does not go away. It endures forever even when your parents stress out about something small and you know you have that. I dont think people realize that that is what it is said to the extent in which i can work to ensure that someone else does not have to live through that stress, that adversity i did and can have a mom who can enjoy the years really raising their kids without worrying about all those other determinants of health, that is the motivation. I have been blessed so how can i bless you . John that was powerful. As an old person i want to say Mitch Mcconnell makes me proud to be old. How about right here, let us do a couple to right here right in front. And then further back. Hello, i did go to georgetown, get a masters degree when i was teaching. John terrific. But i moved back to new jersey. I left for college and i thought i would never go back but i inherited my parents house so i just started a Central New Jersey catholic worker they house. I just wanted to share that. [applause] and i am going to eventually publicize that for the people that are here. But to you the professor thank you so much for mentioning the preferential option for the poor because when i taught it i always said that it means exactly what you said. And burn it in our hearts. But the needs of the poor are more important than the wants of the rich. And that is what i always remember. But i have to turn to an old person now. Sister. I thought you meant john. Oh no. As an old person we need to get to the point. The point is how come the bishops are not saying anything . And you would know this because you lived through teachings and racism is a sin. First of all, sister i will give you a breath. You ought to read Cardinal Gregorys letter this week on the march on washington and the leadership he has taken to confront racism in this capital. There are those that have been prophetic voices but i think as a whole you are absently right. It comes down to pocketbooks. Money. So why are we not hearing this sermon in our churches . Because pastors are afraid that people will stop writing checks. But when you stand on the side of the gospel then you have to believe that god provides. Youve got to speak through the power and we will be held accountable for that. But i think we have to challenge our bishops. And like everything else, i hate to say it this way, we have to be careful who we go to bed with. And who we owe. Because it compromises us. And we are seeing that. And not just in the Catholic Church we are seeing that within the christian faith, in this country right now. I think the challenges that those of us that have nothing to lose but are very vocal have to speak truth to power. John there was a woman back there before i called on her and then we will go over there. And lets take these two together because we are up against a deadline. Hello good evening thank you so much for being here, i am a firstyear graduate student from columbia. My question is for andrew. How to not lose hope. And i ask this question because on saturday when i was going to the commemoration, my first thought was i want to go but what if there is a shooting . That was the first thought that came to my mind. I dropped the thought and i went and i had a great experience listening to leaders and other people that look like me. It was amazing. And now we learned at this time we were at the meeting and at the National Mall three people lost their lives. We go on and continue hoping for the best when things dont look that encouraging. Good afternoon. Bless you for your legacy and for your presence. My sister in crime, my sister in the streets. It is a blessing to see you. This goes along with how do we maintain hope and we know that faith without words is dead. Where is the call to action . How do we resist operating, staying in the intellectual and not moving to the practical . John thank you these two questions are going to be the way we wrap it up. Where we find hope and where do we continue to take up the challenge this gentleman offered. First i think one of the challenges is that pessimism often has reason on its side. Because if you take a hard, honest look at the way things are in the way things are going it is easy to rationally conclude that they are not going well and have no sign of anything. But the first miracle is in some ways the ability to believe that there could be a miracle. I never quite understand how or why it happened but this human or divine ability to rise above the seemingly obvious and rational fatalism of our history. So that is not much of an answer but i also want to say that i fully agree with the idea that faith needs to be put into action. We see that in the margins as well it is not about waiting for god to do something while we sit on our hands. It is about being cooperators with the kingdom of god in history. I am wondering if anyone else has anything to add about that. John well hope without faith lauren hope is what you said exactly. It is this deep leaf that god deep belief that god did not create us for suffering and that suffering is actually disgusting to god and what he wants us to do is create this honor as it is in heaven. What a joy to create heaven on earth and to be given that love and that assignment from the creator himself, i think that is how i fashion my hope. In terms of faith without works is dead. James really does something to me. But i think from a micro individual level examine where your apathy is. The absence of love is not hate it is apathy. So where are you apathetic on these issues. Where do you find people being apathetic . If you want to be a true ally it does not necessarily mean coming up and out and real raw all the time. When you have those conversations at thanksgiving dinner when you tell me you dont want to sit down with your racist relatives and i say i dont want to sit down with you anymore. What are you doing . Have those conversations because i do not get the privilege of not having them so why did you get that privilege . At a Community Level it is investing in your community. It is investing and ensuring that your state and localities are not participating in the process of gentrification or colonialism. Modernday colonialism. Where are divestments being made in certain communities and how can you invest and at the national level, i dont know if you know this but we have this thing called an election coming up. That is the biggest way for me to make a change, get involved in the primaries because the primary dictate so you have to vote for in the general so do not sit there and complain about how you who you have to vote for in the general if you do not do work in primary. Get your candidates up and out so that when it comes in november it is an easier choice and that is how we will affect and actuate change. I think i just want to take it a little different. It just to bring it to a close to say at the end of every mass we say the masses ending go forth. We are sent and that means to break down those barriers and live the gospel but we are failing to live it. The last thing i want to say, i began with this, is the eucharistic table. We have a mural at our church in chicago in the chapel, a huge mural of the last supper. Around this table are men and women and children of every nation. In the center the image of christ is very faint, you can barely see him. And when the mural was being painted i asked why the image of christ was so faint and the pastor gave me this answer and it is what keeps me doing this work. He said until there is a place for everyone at this table jesus cannot come into the fullness of his glory. And so every time i go in that chapel i say what have i done for him to come a little more . Into the fullness of his glory. Lauren amen. [applause] john we have several more hands up but i welcome you to continue the conversation over food and wine. I want to say there are resources on this on our website and there will be a recording of this dialogue and to give you a quick preview of upcoming dialogues. September 14 we have a dialogue online on catholic sisters living the churches social mission. They are signs of hope and we will have sisters from the border, from africa and latin america. The sisters have really been the ones that have put catholic social teaching to work so that is september 14. We have a salt and light gathering for under 40. I think you qualify. You and i are going to be there. [laughter] how we can live faithfully in our personal, professional and political lives. And luke who has written a book on how washington touched his life and distorted his life in some ways will be joined by other young leaders. November 2 we have a special thing, a washington premiere of a new film called join or die. It is about isolation and loss of community in the United States and we are going to feature robert putnam. The author of bowling alone and our kids and our kids in a major dialogue. You have been following the terrible situation in nicaragua with the jesuits, the university and their home and we are going to have a dialogue on november 14 on the witness of the jesuits in the church under this kind of pressure. We have others coming, keep your eye open for that. I want to thank my colleagues, kim daniels, anna gordon, kristin and others for making all of this possible. And thank you to all of you for joining us and join me one more time in thanking mark who is spreading the gospel on msnbc. Sister anita, lauren, and our new professor at georgetown. Thank him for a wonderful evening. [applause]