Empowerment

Power is terrifying! Those who have it clutch it desperately-intimidating, even punishing those who might try to take it away. The powerless are afraid to risk the consequences of confronting those who victimize them. Those in the middle back off, conned by the hope that one day they might have some power. The issues are justice and fear. These fourteen stories are based on actual experiences of the author during forty years of urban ministry-a ministry that focused on issues of race and poverty. Racism is addressed in the accounts of a 'freedom ride" into Georgia and the harassment of black mechanics in a city's Public Works Department. Manipulation by the wealthy, by local politicians, by corporations, and by legalized gambling is addressed in separate stories. Powerlessness is confronted in the lives of slum tenants, welfare mothers, street gangs, immigrants, and Labrador fishermen. The use (and abuse) of power inevitably results in ethical dilemmas, some of which are addressed in an appendix study guide.