A Manna House Response to the Intended Destruction of Black Power in Memphis

The Republican controlled state legislature and governor creation of new congressional election districts takes direct aim at the political power of Black voters in Memphis. What does this mean for the people who come to Manna House? 

Those who come as guests are either on the streets or in a poverty that barely keeps them off the streets. They are all housing insecure. They are hungry. They face significant health challenges, both physical and mental. A significant number are LGBTQ persons. They deal with a public transportation system that is not dependable for getting to work on time, or even reaching places of work from where they live. Reflecting the demographics of Memphis, most are African American.

 

Since Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed last summer as part of his war on the poor, I have seen a steady rise in the number of people who come to Manna House. With costs for food and other basic goods rising thanks to Trump’s war on Iran, I am certain this rise is going to continue.

 

The newly drawn district maps make it unlikely that the next elected congress people from the now three districts encompassing Memphis (instead of one) will devote a great deal of time and energy advocating for the city at the federal level. This will have negative consequences for housing, health care, and other basic infrastructure in the city. 

 

The redistricting calls to mind a passage from the prophet Isaiah, 

“Doom to you who legislate evil,

who make laws that make victims—

Laws that make misery for the poor,

that rob my destitute people of dignity,

Exploiting defenseless widows,

taking advantage of homeless children.

What will you have to say on Judgment Day, when Doomsday arrives out of the blue? Who will you get to help you?

What good will your money do you?

A sorry sight you’ll be then, huddled with the prisoners, or just some corpses stacked in the street.

Even after all this, God is still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.” Isaiah 10:1-6 (MSG)

 

Jesus, in the Spirit of Isaiah, was clear about the criteria for the judgment of the nations, “Whatever you do unto the least of these you do unto me” (Matthew 25:31-46). And he said that those who did injustice unto the least of these, “will go away to eternal punishment.”

There is no doubt that this redistricting will harm people in Memphis who are poor and on the streets. There is no doubt that it was done to support Trump’s political agenda which is racist, and anti-poor. There is no doubt that God of the prophets and of Jesus is angry. There is also no doubt that those of us who seek to be faithful to that God must work to overturn the Trumpian agenda. The work of hospitality at Manna House is grounded in solidarity with people on the streets and people in poverty. Out of this work of hospitality comes the clear conviction, the injustice of redistricting must be resisted.