THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER (6/10/05)

1. EDITORIAL

Harrisburg Bus Incident Charges Dismissed By Judge

The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported in its June 8th issue that Sister Daisy Fox was accompanied by 150 supporters and that she shed tears upon hearing the judge dismiss the charges that had been placed upon her.
The Christian Recorder reported two weeks ago that Sister Fox had been roughed up and taken to the police station after a Greyhound bus driver called the police. Sister Fox had led a group of YPDers to Harrisburg to attend the Philadelphia Annual Conference that was being held at Bethel AME Church and was returning with the young people when the bus driver apparently got agitated about something and called for police backup.

Sometimes folks get agitated when they see large numbers of black folks. I have noticed if other groups of young people are having fun and even “horsing around” it’s considered young people just acting their age and having fun. When a group of minority young people are having fun and “horsing around” it’s gang activity or disturbing the peace.

Anyway, a middle age retired female social worker and a group of Christian young people returning home to New York after attending church activities and somehow they, and or this middle age woman who is a church leader was thought to be doing something so badly that the police had to be called. With such a dangerous group, it’s a wonder the SWAT team wasn’t called!

Just hearing several ministers share their thoughts and reading the newspaper account about the incident brings back bad memories. The Patriot-News reported that Sister Fox was talking loudly and unruly and the bus driver wanted her off his bus. Wow! She was chaperoning young kids and the bus driver made the decison to have her removed off of his bus. What was she suppose to do, leave the kinds on the bus? Tell me, what is “talking in a loud voice in a boisterous manner”? When does talking become boisterous? What is a verbal altercation?

The police heard the bus driver tell her to get off of the bus six times, like she is a child and they decide to act. Sounds to me like this 64-year-old woman was being punished because she disobeyed the bus driver. How dare she disobey a white bus driver? I can hear the strains of the tune for the old TV series Dragnet with Jack Web, “Dum de dum dum” and the police decide that the situation had become serious and move in to subdue this middle age, apparently, dangerous criminal from the bus. They must have thought that she was terrorist and that she presented a clear and present danger to her fellow passengers. They grabbed her, placed her hands roughly behind her back and she was so strong that it took two of them to subdue her. The Police claimed that they used minimal force. They courageously reported that they did not pepper-spy her and said that they didn’t punch her. Wow! Punch a woman? That’s some statement; kind of like the police in a Florida community that handcuffed an unruly 5-year-old! I am glad that they didn’t shoot or punch Sister Daisy Fox. Apparently, since they mentioned the fact that they didn’t punch her, tells me that they must have thought about that option. Chills are going up my back as I write this because I am thinking, “If she had been a Black man, we might be reading about the death of an AME Church leader. What if she had not been a church leader and had been just an ordinary citizen, without the backing of a Bishop Richard Norris or an Episcopal District? I wonder how many times a Greyhound bus driver can just summarily order someone off a bus or the police can come in heavy-handed and forcefully remove a person from a bus or a facility.

Though the police reported that no one was injured, Daisy Fox said that she suffered bruises. The two policemen are reported to each weigh over 200 pounds. The Patriot-News reported that, “The Rev. Carl F. Hunter Sr., pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church of Far Rockaway, N.Y., which Fox attends, called her ‘very devout. She was never in trouble.’" The AME Church knows Daisy Fox and the Church knows that she is a model citizen.

Apparently, the judge couldn’t find enough evidence and dismissed the charges. The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported that District Judge Marsha Stewart dismissed the charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct because she said, “There was not enough evidence to support the charges.”

Bishop Richard Norris stated that he was pleased with the outcome but assured everyone that this issue is not finished. There were a number of people, including ministers of the First Episcopal District who claimed the police treated Sister Fox too roughly.

The Patriot-News reported, “Two busloads of church members from New York and New Jersey came with Fox… along with Bishop Richard Franklin Norris of the First Episcopal District.”

The Christian Recorder commends Bishop Richard Norris, the ministers and laity of the First Episcopal District for their support of Sister Daisy Fox.

The fight for equality is far from over. We must remain vigilant and must not fall asleep. Read the book, The World is Flat.”

2. THE AME LUNCHON AT THE RADISSON WAS ATTENDED BY 140 PERSONS:

The 2005 AME Luncheon held at the Radisson Hotel was a resounding success. Bishops Vashti Murphy McKenzie, John Richard Bryant, Adam Jefferson Richardson, William Phillips DeVeaux, Carolyn Tyler Guidry, Sarah Frances Davis along with Episcopal Supervisors Richardson and McKenzie were among the 140 attendees of the AME Luncheon. Wilberforce University President and 2005 Hampton Ministers Conference preacher, Dr. Floyd Flake and other 2005 presenters were also present.

Pastors of churches large and small from across the Connection and laity who were present made the event memorable. Bishop McKenzie shared with the groups the Episcopal Fathers’ and Mothers’ Quadrennial Foci for the Church and the focus for this year, “Living Well.”

Bishop Bryant lifted up the power of the AME presence at the Hampton Ministers’ Conference, and what a presence we have. Our presenters and preachers were the best, in my opinion. It’s great to be an AME! And as retired USN Chaplain, Carroll Chambliss used to write, “The Church of my Choice” – and the AME Church is “The Church of my choice.”