c) In Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Beal, the theme of faith was extremely prevalent in the lives of the black community. I believe faith in God served the black community in seeking social empowerment while also hindering it at the same time.
Throughout the first 15 chapters, we see Melba and her family call out to God for moments in which they needed strength for the issue at hand. Although Melba lost her social life, friends, and other normalities due to integration, she would always encourage herself that she was doing the right thing through her faith in God. Her Grandmother would continuously remind her that God has a plan with Melba and integration was it. She even went as far and compared Melba to Jesus, saying that “not everyone approved of what Jesus did, but that didn’t stop him” (pg 85). Their faith in God helped motivate Melba to take action in what she believes will improve the lives of black children in Little Rock.
However, faith also hindered social empowerment because for some there was a large dependency on faith that, ultimately, discouraged action. Many of Melba’s neighbors and community members exhibited faith in God and believed that their liberation would come in God’s timing. But due to this belief, many excused not working towards social reform as God’s timing. To explain a bit further, many neighbors opposed integration due to the fear of violence. They would scold Melba and tell her that she “is making a mistake, but [she’s] making it for all of us” (pg 85). In essence, they believed that being compliant and not starting up any trouble was better and equivalent to waiting on God’s timing. Some believed that they do not actively have to work towards reform but that it will come to them when God believes they’re ready. This idea stunted the desire to actively pursue social empowerment in the black community and instead, fueled complacency.
I’m glad that you mentioned both sides of how faith influenced social empowerment. When reading this memoir, I saw how much of an emotional support faith serves in Melba’s life. Being a part of the Little Rock Nine was a way for Melba to be faithful, and to also keep her promises to Grandma India. Whenever Melba needed to vent or express her frustrations about the desegregation process, she wrote in her diary and addressed God. Although God was an emotional support for Melba, she also often got frustrated with Him, especially after seeing the disparities between life in Cincinnati and life in Little Rock. Melba’s maturity and perception of her contribution in desegregation aligned with her faith, shown by when she wrote in her diary apologizing to God: “I apologize, God, for thinking you had taken away all my normal life. Maybe you’re just exchanging it for a new life” (90).
By having the help of Grandma India, in regards to boosting desegregation, Melba was able to perceive a more useful approach to how faith related to her part in the Little Rock Nine. Despite Melba’s social life degrading and outward pressures of people using faith to justify inaction or segregation, Melba was able to use faith to drive her persistence in achieving desegregation.
Faith played a dual role, both empowering and hindering progress. Melba and her family drew strength from their faith, using it as a source of strength. Their belief in God’s plan gave them the courage to persist in their fight for integration, even when faced with opposition and personal sacrifice. However, as you pointed out, faith also had its limitations. For some members of the community, there was a tendency to passively wait for change to occur, attributing it solely to God’s timing rather than taking proactive steps toward social reform. This reliance on divine intervention could foster complacency and discourage meaningful action, perpetuating the status quo instead of challenging it. You did a great job highlighting the complex connection between faith, agency, and social change, shedding light on the internal dynamics within the black community during this pivotal moment in history.
It was an interesting claim to say that faith was used as social empowerment, but at the same time, a hindrance to social empowerment. Your position reminded me of a position I had in the movie “Boycott” where I questioned the patience of the Black community and wondered why they waited for Rosa Parks to refuse to give up her seat in order to take action when there were others before her to do similar things and the Black community did very little with it. I wonder if faith’s principle of patience was also a main driver in that situation as well? Although it seems faith is more prominent in their thinking in this book, such as at the beginning of the story when Melba’s father was watching his wife being hassled by the milkman and after watching in anger, the story says “he stood, then paced as he wrung his hands and whispered, ‘God, give me strength and patience to do Your will’” (15). He was enraged about the situation, but his faith was able to calm him down enough to not make any drastic decisions. On a broader scale, I wonder if faith was more beneficial to the Black community as it gave them hope and taught patience, or if it did more harm than good by stopping them from taking action in times when their patience may have only prolonged their suffering.