Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 04/23/21

Don’t Drop the Mic: The Power of Your Words Can Change the World. That’s the title of the latest book from bestselling author Bishop T.D. Jakes. It’s also the inspirational, and influential spiritual leader’s advice for empowering everyone to communicate effectively in a seemingly hopelessly divided world. It’s a well-honed skill he demonstrates in both his book and his statement on the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd.

Here is what Bishop Jakes said about the verdict followed by portions of a give-and-take between the preacher/author/producer and members of the faith media (including myself) about that case, Don’t Drop the Mic and why the way we speak and the words we use matter.

“The jury sent an unmistakable message that George Floyd’s death was unnecessary and criminal, that every individual accused or suspected of a crime has a right to his day in court and should not be slaughtered on a public sidewalk and that a nation that purports to be a beacon of law, justice and equality is better than what we saw in that video.

“We are pleased that the jury convicted Chauvin on all three charges: second-degree unintentional murder and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. It sends a strong message.

“While we are delighted by the jury’s verdict, we are mindful that there’s still a lot of work ahead of us. Our criminal justice system remains deeply flawed. Black people disproportionately remain victims of police brutality and are more likely to be pulled over or cited for negligible or phantom traffic violations. Let us not relent in our efforts to press our local, state and federal elected officials for police reform, particularly as it relates to qualified immunity, bias training, de-escalation training and uniform hiring standards. 

“My prayer is that this will ignite a safer society where justice is equally allocated to absolutely everyone irrespective of socio-economics, race, religion or gender. Thank you to the many officers who do not stoop to such atrocities and honestly work toward protecting us every day.”

Leah Klett, The Christian Post: Talk about the role of communication when it comes to social media and what are some practical questions to ask ourselves before we actually post something?

T.D. Jakes: That’s a great question. I think it’s a question that really needs to become a standard of best practices on social media…When you’re writing about something that is…within your wheelhouse of expertise it may not require (a) focus-group approach but when you’re broaching a sensitive subject, a controversial subject, a subject where you have an opinion but may not have necessarily done your research on, I think it’s better to start that conversation with a trusted friend and almost choose him as a focus group to make sure that you’re looking at it holistically and not just narrowly through the lens of your own point of view so that when you make a statement it sheds light rather than generates heat.

If you’ll go through that litmus test prior to typing, it will save you a lot grief and pain and, perhaps in certain cases, finances trying to rectify a ship that has gotten off course because you’re exposing (your thought) to millions and millions of people around world without the benefit of the kind of process that normal people would go through. Whether you were doing a film or a documentary you would go before focus groups. You don’t just throw raw ideas into the public domain and not expect tremendous splashback. So, I think that would be a very helpful practice to do.

Facebook, Twitter (or) Instagram is a bad place to start a relationship with other groups and entities if you don’t have the prerequisite of a personal real relationship that causes you to share what you what you have learned. It’s better to say what you have learned or what you are thinking or what you’re wondering about rather than to state it as a fact and become an authority without credentials.

Chris Carpenter, CBN: With the coronavirus pandemic, the civil unrest, the political unrest surrounding us these days, it’s very easy to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world even with social media. Can you discuss the importance of community as we move forward in the 21st century and even through the rest of 2021?

TDJ: I’m grateful for the question. I think, to a large degree, there are takeaways that we can take even from the recent trial of Derek Chauvin. I bring it up only because (of) the jurors. Six were white. Four were African American. Two were biracial. When (twelve) people are exposed to the same information simultaneously they ended up drawing a similar conclusion regardless of the diversity of the jury. Secondly, the trial dispelled the myth (that) to speak against a bad cop is to betray good ones because good cops also testified against what was abhorrent behavior. All of that together can become a microcosm of how we begin to rethink the world. ‘

The problem is we’re not exposed to one truth, one (set of) information at the same time. We have a Baskin-Robbins news media. You can pick the flavor of your choice and, consequently, you walk away with the conclusions based on what has been given to you. (In addition), we have a social media that has cookies in it and, whatever you express interest in, it starts shooting you all support information around those ideas.

So, you can be sincerely wrong only because you have not had a holistic view of (the) same facts (at the) same time. We have proven that when we have the same facts at the same time without the person editorializing as they present them we can ultimately come into much closer agreement than what our society now reveals. I think that we have to resist the temptation to drink the Kool-Aid of ingesting information that is geared to provoke a certain response and build ratings rather than to point toward truth.

Warren May, Salvation Army War Cry: Congratulations on the successful launch of your Lifetime series The Seven Deadly Sins. You wrote in your new book that you’ve learned to adapt your communication methods and modalities to expand your ministries outreach. In using this multiple platforms that you have – you’re a preacher, you’re an author, you’re an executive producer (of movies and TV programs) – how do these different kinds of roles that you have affect the way that you use the mic?

TDJ: Every platform has its own rules and learning the rules and the language of that platform is very, very important. If you think about it, we have far more stories that Jesus tells – which we call parables – than we do sermons that He preached. Stories are a great mechanism for teaching truths in a way that is not preaching at people but still educating them. So that, to me, is a good use of my time…Seven Deadly Sins is an anthology of which we have made two deposits. We have five more to go. We’re very pleased at the response that we’re getting on those different platforms and (laughs), more importantly, Lifetime is pleased.

I manage all of those platforms – whether it’s a book, a film, a daytime talk show or a sermon – from the space (that) I’m having a conversation with my generation. To contribute to that conversation is a great privilege. As an African American, to tell our own stories rather than to have other people tell us who we are is a very liberating fact for which we have labored years to be able to master. So, I welcome that opportunity both as a faith leader and as a person of note in the minority community to use all of these as a microphone to share ideas and thoughts that dispel myths and misnomers about the African American experience.

JWK: There does seem to be a lot “dropping the mic” in our public discourse these days – especially in social media – where each side seems much more interested in scoring the ultimate point against the other guy rather than actually having a dialogue. The media, it seems to me, helps fuel that. Do you agree – and, if so, how do we go about changing that dynamic?

TDJ: I was raised in West Virginia. It was 95% white and 5% black at that time. I don’t know what the stats are now. I’ve built relationships across many different platforms, races and cultures. I’m using this as an example but it could apply to any subject. When America’s finally started to have a real conversation about race it was quite inflamed, difficult and awkward because most Americans – and Christians, in particular – think that silence equates to unity but it’s really just like a bad marriage. Where communication has eroded, it doesn’t mean that the people are happy in the relationship. As difficult as this conversation it, I think it’s a critical conversation to have.

I have gone out of my way to talk to several white pastors who got backlash from the black community because of the way they phrased or said certain things. I haven’t talked to all of them but I talked to several of them and what I said at every turn is keep talking. Don’t withdraw into a shell and become silent and stop talking like a spanked child. We must continue to communicate about this because it’s not gonna go away by us going back into our tribalism and our silos. We have to keep talking and get it right – and the only way to get it right is to stand the opposition.

I went on to share with them that, several years ago, I used a term in describing…indigenous people in Kenya. The word that I used was that they were “native Kenyans” in rural areas. Well, “native” is Kenya is a huge insult. The backlash was so intense. I mean they called me every name you could call a human being and some I couldn’t even figure out because I didn’t understand the language but I knew it wasn’t good. I immediately apologized. That was not what I meant. I wasn’t trying to insult them. I just put my foot in my mouth through my ignorance of their culture. They immediately calmed right down and I learned better how to communicate with them.

So, not only am I telling whites to do it about blacks. Within the black diaspora there are different cultures and sometimes you make a mistake. You have to own the mistake, apologize for the mistake and enter into the room as a student – and it’s hard to enter into the room as a student when you have always been the teacher. It’s a humbling experience but it is a valuable experience. To be corrected doesn’t mean to stop talking because we need your voice. We all need each other’s voices in order for us to be the human race that we were meant to be.

Last night I was speaking before a predominantly white audience and I said it is a shame that the animals understand how to live together better than we do. You don’t see German shepherd police dogs segregating by the color of their coats. A black police dog doesn’t run away from the brown police dog (or) the spotted police dog. (They don’t) segment into tribalism. Yet, we, as one species, for any given reason (will). In America, it’s black and white and brown. In Africa, it may be tribal. Someplace else it might by philosophical. We divide into these silos to our detriment.

In order to survive as a society – as an entity – we must recognize our own unity and not allow the color of the coats of skin that’s placed on our backs to (obscure) the fact that my kidney will work in your body (and) your blood will work in mine and it doesn’t take away from anything that I am. We are one species. We need to be more proficient at accentuating our oneness and acknowledging our differences in a way that brings wholeness.

That was a very long answer but remember I am a preacher, so give me grace.

Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11