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  • 1 year ago
During a Zoom call with Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday, Bowser called on residents to "protect" the city from President Trump's "authoritarian push" amid deployments of national guard troops and federal agents to the city.
Transcript
00:00Thank you. There are a couple of other written questions that all have the same theme. It's about
00:06the faith community. And so, Mayor, the question is, how can the faith community help during this
00:10space where folks feel like they're being in receivership?
00:16I don't know what does that mean?
00:20I think the gist of his question is, how can the faith community help
00:24support and protect the community right now?
00:27Well, I think the faith community knows best what they can do in the community that they're in.
00:34I don't know that I have a, you know, everybody does this thing. But if you're in a community where
00:42you know young people need a safe place, do that. If you know you're in a community where moms need
00:48support, do that. If you're in a community where the violence interrupters can have a rest place,
00:56then do that. If you have a wide network where you can talk about the democracy issues facing the
01:04district, the intrusion on our autonomy, the impact on other cities, then do that. But what you shouldn't
01:14do is wait for me to tell you what to do. This is a time where community needs to jump in. And we all need
01:23to do what we can in our space, in our lane, to protect our city, and to protect our autonomy, to protect
01:34our home rule, and get to the other side of this guy, and make sure we elect a democratic house, so that
01:42we have a backstop to this authoritarian push.
01:47Can I add one thing, Mayor? Just, so one of the things that, so many who know me, I have a Christian
01:53faith system. The Bible says, seek peace and pursue it. And oftentimes, you know, we talk about violence
01:59interrupters and all these various government things, but where churches really can help is you
02:03are peacemakers. And I just heard Ms. Taylor talk about the anxiety and stress people are feeling, and
02:08where can they go to get resources? And we said, we'll put out a list of government resources. But as
02:13churches in communities, this is, if ever there was a time for you all to throw, open the doors of the
02:20churches. I saw from Dion, Bussy Reader, well, we were talking about where can kids go that they can feel
02:26safe? Well, while your churches, and you all many, are the people who can be in community walking, who
02:33can be opening the doors of your churches now, so as places of peace. And also, I think you can be
02:40tone setters, that there are many things that, you know, can be a frightening.
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