By Deacon Peggy Hahn (she/her), Director of Innovation at LEAD

When you are wondering whose voices to listen to today – or in the days ahead, getting curious beyond the media can help us think for ourselves.

1. Who are the true victims? Where is the power? Where is the trauma? What is happening to children and other vulnerable people? What is the public media NOT saying? Case in point, I could not find anything about the protests or killings in Minnesota on my desktop until I searched for it.
2. What are the people closest to the heat saying? Skip the media and listen to locals. All crises are local. Everything else is interpretation, distorting the story to fit the storyteller’s agenda.
3. What are the consistent patterns? Who benefits from bullying? Be very careful here as things may not be what they appear to be at first glance. The people in power may appear to be the only ones who make sense to you – or is that the way the story is being told? If you are unsure, look at #1 and #2 again. Then focus on #4.
4. What can we learn from our own history? Where have people been victimized in the past? Think about the indigenous peoples, the Japanese internment camps, the murder of George Floyd, and many others.  
5. Where have the prophets emerged to help people see the truth? Think about Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we just celebrated, for example.

We can rethink our perspective. Most great leaders have modeled this for us. 

Some ordinary people become extraordinary, like Rosa Parks, Ryan White, Irena Sendler, Agnes Baden-Powell, and countless others. If you don’t know who these people are, search for their stories. Not everyone who changes the world becomes a public hero, except to those in their direct circle of influence.

Some great leaders evolve, like Archbishop Oscar Romero. He didn’t understand the persecution of the farmworkers in his country of El Salvador, even when his best friend, Jesuit priest, Father Rutilio Grande, begged him to come see with his own eyes. After Father Grande was killed, Archbishop Romero’s eyes were opened, and he became the spokesperson for the farmworkers.

Some transformational leaders, like the Apostle Paul. He had a 360-degree change of heart. Saul had official papers in hand, giving him permission to murder Jesus-followers when he had a spiritual awakening. Jesus’s first disciples were right in front of him, but his own hatred literally blinded him from the truth.

We are called to lead right now – not to ignore what is happening to our country. It is our moral responsibility as followers of Jesus to show up for the most vulnerable. This is not political (and it is), so find your action and get to it.