Through all the domestic unrest, racial violence, political upheaval and attacks on the very fabric of democracy upon which the United States was founded, there is a renewed urgency in communities across our nation, including Cincinnati, to find a way out of hate, fear, myths and anger that is undermining our sense of justice and humanity.

We at Cincinnati Friends made our commitment to do what we can to end the scourge of racial division, inequality and injustice by approving the five resolutions on racial justice that form the Mighty Stream initiative. The initiative is named in recognition of the words of the quotation from the Prophet Amos …. “Let justice role down like waters, and faith as a mighty stream.”

Thirty-two faith-based and community organizations have signed on to A Mighty Stream, which has now completed its first year of sacred activism. Eight world religions are included as part of this non-partisan effort. We at CFM were one of the first to adopt the five resolutions.

Chip Harrod describes A Mighty Stream as “an interfaith community of social activists for racial justice,” noting that the roots of this activism go back to the 1940s in what was then the National Council of Christians and Jews.

The five resolutions include: discerning our personal and communal biases and committing to transforming our lives for the greater good; listening and learning from each other as we pursue anti-racism and racial justice in our personal and corporate lives; addressing racism and racial disparities in our own faith communities; eradicating economic disparities in our own faith community; and working with civic leaders and officials in advocating for policies that dismantle structural racism and the ideology of white supremacy.

A Mighty Stream (AMS) is a new program from EquaSion specifically to address racial injustice through interfaith involvement, with the intent to organize and unite Cincinnati’s diverse communities of faith into a moral force that will take action, individually and collectively, privately and publicly, through sacred activism, with such activism to include education, dialogue, community-building, and advocacy for policies and legislation that remediate systemic inequities.

AMS is working as an organization in conducting its Racial Inequities Series on such topics as Racial Inequities in our Health Care System, with those topics available online for all to participate.

An AMS Reviewing Team sends out ongoing alerts as calls to action for individuals and organization, such as the alert on two upcoming bills in the Ohio Legislature related to the death penalty.

Committed to sacred activism under the leadership of our Peace and Social Concerns Committee, we will continue to be involved in the annual EquaSion Festival of Faiths (Jim Newby serves on the Steering Committee,) as we look at other ways to become more involved in the work of racial justice. The support of our Meeting is critical to the work that lies ahead!

EquaSion Executive Director Chip Harrod joined us following Meeting for Worship on November 7 to thank us for our participation in the A Mighty Stream racial initiative and to update us on how we can be involved with other members of the community in the work of racial justice.