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A review by sarahfett
Let Justice Roll Down by John M. Perkins
4.0
(This is my review for my church's newsletter.)
The Year of Outreach theme for October is Social Justice: Fairness and Equality for All of Our Neighbors, and I read the amazing book Let Justice Roll Down by John M. Perkins.
Justice was severely lacking in Perkins’s life growing up in Mississippi in the 1930s and 40s. As he says,“In Mississippi every move I made was defined in terms of my race. I worked on farms and fields, I behaved in certain ways toward my employers, and I received certain wages – all of this was defined in terms of my blackness. And in every one of these areas there were different standards for whites….Two-hundred years of slavery, followed by two or three generations of economic exploitation, political oppression, racial discrimination and educational deprivation, had created in black people feelings of inferiority, instability and total dependency.”
His brother was shot and killed by a deputy marshal simply for being African American and standing outside a movie theater one evening. Later in his life he was arrested without charge and severely beaten by the Mississippi state police. Understandably, Perkins said that he was “gradually moving toward a notion of black separatism, a total anti-white position that would have included all whites in its hatred.” He was moving in that direction, but he never got there because he met Jesus.
“I’d been to religious services as a kid, of course, but I never learned that I could have the power of God in my life, a power that would make a difference in me and in my surroundings.” What a difference it made! Perkins and his family had left Mississippi and settled in California where they had purchased a house and he had a good job. They were feeling settled, but then he strongly felt God calling him to return to Mississippi and help the African American community there.
Perkins did incredible work for that community over many years. He established the Voice of Calvary Bible Institute, which started as a Bible school and then reached out to meet physical needs of the community by opening thrift stores, health clinics, and a housing cooperative. He supported voter registration efforts and school desegregation, and he led an economic boycott on racist businesses. He started the Spencer Perkins Center, a youth center with after school tutoring, a summer arts camp, an internship program, and a community garden. He did all of these things in response to the question, “What should the church do – what should I do – for the cause of human justice?”
What should we do? We should live Amos 5:24: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
The Year of Outreach theme for October is Social Justice: Fairness and Equality for All of Our Neighbors, and I read the amazing book Let Justice Roll Down by John M. Perkins.
Justice was severely lacking in Perkins’s life growing up in Mississippi in the 1930s and 40s. As he says,“In Mississippi every move I made was defined in terms of my race. I worked on farms and fields, I behaved in certain ways toward my employers, and I received certain wages – all of this was defined in terms of my blackness. And in every one of these areas there were different standards for whites….Two-hundred years of slavery, followed by two or three generations of economic exploitation, political oppression, racial discrimination and educational deprivation, had created in black people feelings of inferiority, instability and total dependency.”
His brother was shot and killed by a deputy marshal simply for being African American and standing outside a movie theater one evening. Later in his life he was arrested without charge and severely beaten by the Mississippi state police. Understandably, Perkins said that he was “gradually moving toward a notion of black separatism, a total anti-white position that would have included all whites in its hatred.” He was moving in that direction, but he never got there because he met Jesus.
“I’d been to religious services as a kid, of course, but I never learned that I could have the power of God in my life, a power that would make a difference in me and in my surroundings.” What a difference it made! Perkins and his family had left Mississippi and settled in California where they had purchased a house and he had a good job. They were feeling settled, but then he strongly felt God calling him to return to Mississippi and help the African American community there.
Perkins did incredible work for that community over many years. He established the Voice of Calvary Bible Institute, which started as a Bible school and then reached out to meet physical needs of the community by opening thrift stores, health clinics, and a housing cooperative. He supported voter registration efforts and school desegregation, and he led an economic boycott on racist businesses. He started the Spencer Perkins Center, a youth center with after school tutoring, a summer arts camp, an internship program, and a community garden. He did all of these things in response to the question, “What should the church do – what should I do – for the cause of human justice?”
What should we do? We should live Amos 5:24: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”