John Perkins

​John Perkins
I heard a phase I like, but it got me asking questions. “John Perkins said it right, love is the final fight.”  I asked myself, “who is John Perkins?”  That is the only context I had heard of him in.
But I am really glad I looked into his life.  He was a black guy who grew up in Mississippi in the 1930s and 40s.  Racism was rampant.  He was beaten up and tortured, and his brother was shot dead.  His mum died when he was 7 months old and his dad left him.  His grandmother brought him up.  Five of his siblings had to be sent away as their grandmother could not afford to keep them.  Only he as the baby and his brother (who could work) remained.
He was later sent to California to avoid the same fate as his brother.  Eventually he returned to Mississippi.  He became a preacher with a difference.  He emerged from having been beaten up, with a heart for whites as some were bound by racism, and blacks who were damaged and deprived.  His philosophy he summed up in the “three R’s,” relocation (of the person wanting to help, into the community being helped), redistribution and reconciliation.  He was very big on the message meeting both spiritual and physical needs.
That sort of thing was very uncommon in those days.  He set up thrift shops, health clinics, a housing cooperative, and classes.  At that time, the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum.  Back then in that part of the world a person was seen as either evangelical or civil rights.  It was very much seen as either/or rather than both.  He adopted a “both” position.
I love that this was not a national or international program.  It was local.  To me something does not need to be international to be effective.  One person helping another is effective.  Something that he said I like.  “you are the most important person in this room.”  His thinking was not “this is good for someone else, but does not apply to you,” but “this applies to you.”  I can succeed.  I matter.  I am important.
What stands out to me big time is the word reconciliation.  To me that must be included to break the cycle.  I saw it in South Africa.  That could have been a blood bath.  I do not think it has gone well for the whites since they ceded power, and the number of whites from there that have moved to Australia bears testimony to that.  But in my mind without reconciliation it could have gone much worse.  The blacks had genuine grievances against the whites, but part of the transition of power included reconciliation.  Instead of bloodletting, there was the thought of putting aside the past and looking to the future. For me, reconciliation needs to start spiritual to be truly effective.  However it is always a good concept.
I think the physical is really important.  Any message will be received by a just filled empty stomach.  Some messages convey personal agendas, - others genuinely care for the individual.  I see that around the world today.  Some groups hate, and care for people is a means to an end only.  A full stomach enables me to listen without distraction.
It is why in my mind motives are so important.  I cannot despise a person for embracing an ideology that puts food on the table.  I can though despise a message that does not address immediate needs.  John Perkins attempted to address both the spiritual and physical.