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2010-01-04 issue:

Greensboro massacre survivors confront pain

Joanna Shenk describes the challenges these peacemakers offer MC USA.

by Joanna Shenk for Mennonite Church USA

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In Greensboro, N.C., wounds of the past continue to be relived. While King J, whose real name is Jorge Cornell, of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN), works for black-brown unity, he faces the persecution of a police force with a history of abuse.

Joyce and Nelson Johnson, leaders at the Beloved Community Center and members of Faith Community Church. Photo from Beloved Community Center.

Cornell moved to Greensboro a few years ago from New York, having retired from involvement with the ALKQN. He was not planning to create a street group in Greensboro until he saw how Hispanic people were being mistreated by the police force. Then he decided to provide support.    

I learned about the work of the ALKQN while attending the 30th anniversary commemoration, organized by the Beloved Community Center, of the Greensboro Massacre. On Nov. 3, 1979, five labor organizers were killed by Ku Klux Klan and Nazi members—all while under the watchful eye of the Greensboro Police Department.

As associate for Interchurch Relations in Executive Leadership of Mennonite Church USA, I was invited to Greensboro by Ched Myers and Elaine Enns to learn about the work of the Beloved Community Center. Based on my work of relating to peace-minded, discipleship community groups around the country (within and outside Mennonite Church USA), Myers and Enns, Mennonites and longtime friends of the Beloved Community Center, encouraged me to cultivate relationships in Greensboro.

The center, founded by Nelson and Joyce Johnson, survivors of the Greensboro Massacre, is an organization committed to affirming and realizing the equality, dignity, worth and potential of every person and confronting the systems of domination. In order to face the painful past of the massacre, the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Project began in 2003—the first project of its kind in the United States and an effort that was strongly supported by the Beloved Community Center.

At the 30th anniversary commemoration, survivors of the massacre emphasized the inability of the community to move into the future without confronting the pain and oppression of the past.

Unfortunately, the wrenching pain of Greensboro’s history is being lived again as police bring similar mistreatment to those working for black-brown unity. As members of ALKQN seek to speak for those in the community who are voiceless, they are being targeted as criminals. At the Beloved Community Center the story of the ALKQN is being told and has been a space for black and brown street groups to come together, reconcile and work for the betterment of their community.    

"My goal is to bring peace to the streets; black and brown, come together as one," Cornell said at a 2008 media conference organized by the Beloved Community Center. "I'm asking for all Bloods, Crips, MS-13—everybody out there that represents something, to put your weapons down, and let’s come to a table so we can talk peace."

Just over a year later, Cornell sat on trial for an offense he did not commit. He referred to the earlier media conference. He said, "I have done my best over the last 13 months. I have been received positively by most parts of the community. I participated in a major black and brown unity conference last October, attended by over 250. ... I have worked with various street groups, and we actually created a written peace agreement. Working with the Pulpit Forum and the Beloved Community Center, I was part of a broad plan for peace in Greensboro."

As a Mennonite who is committed to working against oppression in its many forms and to reconciliation, I was challenged by the example of Cornell, the Johnsons and the many others connected to the Beloved Community Center in Greensboro. I encountered a community that has been deeply affected by injustice, particularly in its racist forms, but which has not given up or turned from Jesus’ example of love and forgiveness.

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