Roll Down Justice: MLK Day 2026

 

Mt Zion Missionary Baptist Cburch hosted the
2026 Martin Luther King Day activities

But let justice roll down like water

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream--AMOS 5:24 (NRSVUE)

(1/20/2026) The river metaphor used by the prophet Amos, and often quoted by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.--including in the Letter from a Birmingham Jail--served as a focusing image at Cedar Rapids' observance of the King's birthday holiday Monday at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The evening service was the first in our city since 2023, and had the theme "unified currents, flowing toward justice."

Gathering before the service

The main address was given by Rev. Kimberly Abram-Bryant, a Cedar Rapids native now serving an African Methodist Episcopal Church in East Moline, Illinois, who noted "this year has a lot of old problems, packaged differently." She broke down the metaphor into three parts: the river, which is God's plan moving to abundant life for all; the streams, which are individuals who flow together to form the river; and dams, which block the flow and create floods in some areas and drought in others. 

Rev. Kimberly Abram-Bryant

The dams included those who actively block others' opportunities, including "right now, the White House" and the U.S.'s thuggish immigration enforcement (see Brook 2026 for the latest in a series of atrocities); systems (economic, educational, housing) where equal opportunity is denied; and those whose hearts are in the right place but who are inactive out of discouragement or apathy. We, she repeated, are going to have to create change "when silence would be safer." She concluded by asking: "Will we keep building dams or will we join the river?"

Alicia Monaé

Music for the service was brilliantly provided by Alicia Monaé, who took Sam Cooke's "A Change is Going to Come," already a favorite, to a new level; and the Mosaic Choir from the middle school known as McKinley STEAM Academy, which sang James Weldon Johnson's soaring "Lift Every Voice and Sing." They were many, and mighty, but I did miss singing as a congregation.

King Day discussion tables

Earlier in the day, several dozen of us gathered in the church's activity room to discuss issues and enjoy brunch prepared in the adjacent kitchen. We rotated among tables focused on economic development, housing, mental health, and social justice. At the mental health table, hosted by church pastor Dr. Ray Coleman and a woman named Sayde from the Nassif Cancer Care Center, we talked about the daily corrosive impact of discrimination, aggravated by relentless news reports. (One of us, a high school student, admitted to following the news closely, to the amazement of all.) 

Rev Ray AL Coleman Jr
(from Mt Zion MBC website)

We discussed questions like Where do you go to find peace from stress? and How do you deal with depression and anxiety? These are important answers for everyone, but it seems unarguable that they are particularly critical for racial minorities who are conspicuous, outnumbered, and lacking in socio-economic power. We talked about individual methods (breathing exercises, prayer, Bible reading, exercise, journaling, "change the channel" on the news) as well as connecting with others (finding someone to go through it with you, having somewhere you don't need to "code switch"). This, I'm sure, affects blacks, Hispanics, and Asians differently than whites. I, for example, have only been the only white person in a room full of nonwhites twice in 66 years; part of that is because I live in Iowa, but for nonwhites this must be a regular occurrence.

Allowing that the hardest part of taking action is deciding what action to take, it is good, particularly in these times, to rededicate ourselves to the cause.

SEE ALSO:

"Music for Urbanists: Lift Every Voice and Sing," 20 January 2025

Heather Cox Richardson, "January 18, 2026," Letters from an American, 18 January 2026

Pete Saunders, "CSY Replay #39: Why Dr. King's Work Isn't Done," Corner Side Yard, 18 January 2026

Cedar Rapids schools dilemma

 

Cedar Rapids School Board
(Cindy Garlock is far left front row)

THE LATEST: The Cedar Rapids school board decided at their January 12 meeting to defer decision on budget reconciliation for one week while they considered options other than closing schools (Hadish 2026). 

(1/13/2026) The Cedar Rapids Community School District faces some tough choices in the years ahead. With sharply declining enrollment, and an annual budget deficit in excess of $10 million, the school board is proposing closing and consolidating schools. Of course, they were already doing this, but now must do it on an accelerated timetable and without time or funds to retool buildings. The proposal before the board this week would reportedly save $7 million a year by closing five (or possibly six) elementary schools, and redistributing preschool and middle school students across buildings (King 2026).

Cedar Rapids public school enrollment has declined 13.7 percent in the last eight years, from 16,895 in 2017-18 (roughly the long-term average for years before that) to 14,575 in 2025-26. The official numbers come from the date of record each October, explained board member Cindy Garlock, so it's possible the actual number has increased since then. Since state funding is based on official enrollment numbers, the long-term decline represents $51 million in lost revenue between 2020 and 2027.

Grand opening of Trailside Elementary, 2024
(combined attendance areas of two other schools)

Enrollment declines have occurred despite nearly-stable school age population in the city. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Communities Survey, Cedar Rapids had 21,671 residents aged 5-17 in 2023, up slightly from 20,580 in 2013. That means CRSD was enrolling about 82 percent of school age children in 2013, but only about 70 percent ten years later. Each year, a lot of Cedar Rapids high school graduates are not being replaced in the new cohort of kindergartners.

By far the biggest source of enrollment loss is students who enroll in non-district schools, said Garlock in her presentation last week to the Cedar Rapids Noon Lions Club. The largest portion of these open-enroll in other public school districts near Cedar Rapids (College Community, Linn Mar, Marion Independent). However, she pointed to significant numbers enrolling in charter or private schools, facilitated by Iowa's generous voucher program. Private schools have always flourished in our town, but the new wave of state funding surely influences some families' choices.

Taylor Elementary was renovated instead of being closed after the 2008 flood,
but would now be shuttered under the school district's plan

So what is to be done? In the short term, the school district's options are limited, as they rely on state funding and local property taxes (which the state keeps trying to cut), rather than any source they can control. In the longer term, it would be good to know why families are leaving the district. There are a lot of theories out there (behavioral issues in the classroom, older facilities, racism/white flight, e.g.), but I don't know how much solid evidence there is for any of these.

At the state level, I'd leave the voucher program in place, while advocating guarantees of quality public education for everyone. I'm not crazy about state vouchers for private schools (cf. Jauhiainen 2018), particularly for private religious schools, but to advocate their repeal so that we can make families stay in the public schools is not a good look. 

I don't know that there is a public interest in whether students enroll in private or public schools, as long as they attain legitimate educational objectives. There is a public interest in ensuring opportunity for all Iowa children, neighborhood schools, and encounters with diversity. If the state commits resources to all schools, instead of having both thumbs on the scale in favor of privates as they do now, we could indulge the legislature funding private schools. We should expect more from our state government than annual tax cuts.

Can the City of Cedar Rapids do more to support public schools? It matters that, if Johnson School, currently on the bubble, is closed, there will be no elementary schools within two miles of the city center. (The Grant-Wilson complex is 2.2 miles away.) Cedar Rapids has for decades developed outward without regard to its effect on the community or on government budgets. The schools' current dilemma is a sign it's past time for a new approach to city development.

SEE ALSO: Adam Carros, "Fact Check: Cedar Rapids Schools Budget Crisis Tied to Lowest Enrollment Since 1950s," KRCG.com, 15 January 2026

10th anniversary post: What's up in Uptown Marion?

 

7th Avenue storefronts

(1/8/2026) Uptown Marion has been a work in progress for more than a decade, so it was time for another visit. Two things stand out to me:

1. Developments have made good use of historic buildings, and new construction is compatible with the overall feel.

Someone who hasn't been to Marion in 20 years would definitely notice changes, but at the same time the place would feel familiar. Even where I'm not sure the project costs will be returned, like the redone City Square Park, the results are excellent.

Former location of Irwin's Clothing, 2016

Restoration Dental, 2026

Strip mall, 2021

Mixed use building, 2026

First United Methodist Church, 2016

condominium project, 2021

City Square Park, 2016

City Square Park, 2026

Hooray: it even has restrooms!

2. There are several residential neighborhoods that connect directly to Uptown.

In multiple directions, Uptown businesses are located directly by houses. That means a lot of people can walk easily to Uptown, so the effort required to get people there can be less intense, and parking facilities don't have to be intrusive. 

12th Street looking north from 9th Avenue

8th Avenue looking east from 13th Street

8th Street looking south from 6th Avenue
by the West End Diner
(where I had breakfast)

The businesses in Uptown tend towards consumption--there is a lot of hair, and a lot of bars--but the public library is here, too, and schools are nearby, so nearby residents can do a lot without a car. (Truth in blogging disclosure: I personally take what hair I have to Trims salon in Uptown.)

3. Other observations

Public transportation options are not great...

I miss this bus stop: 1100 7th Avenue, pre-2017

...but there is an east-west trail through Uptown that goes a long way in both directions, and soon (this year or early 2027?) the CeMar Trail connection to Cedar Rapids will be complete.

The Art Alley, a concept ten years ago, has been fully realized, and is great.

Ordinary and unassuming alley, 2016

Fall: outdoor performance by Red Cedar

Holiday lights, 2026

First Presbyterian Church has been in Uptown way before it was Uptown. When 140+ years old I am, look this good I will not.

First Presbyterian Church

Uptown is home both to the new public library...

Marion Public Library, 1101 6th Avenue

...and the vacant lot where the old one was:

1000 block of 6th Avenue

SEE ALSO:

"Let's Talk About: What's Up in Uptown Marion?" 2 January 2016

"What's Up in Uptown Marion? (II)," 15 February 2021

Can Politics Be Christian?

November 2024 issue

But as it is, they deserve a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.--HEBREWS 11:16

(1/01/2026) I ran across this back issue of Christian Century this week, thanks to Jerry from our mens' group who is a subscriber. Christian Century was founded in 1884 in Iowa, and reflects the liberal theology and politics associated with mainline Protestant denominations. The theme of the November 2024 issue, published at the time of our last presidential election, was certainly provocative!

What would it mean for politics to be "Christian?" Christianity comes in multitudinous forms, and The Holy Bible contains a wide variety of texts written by various people in various times and circumstances. The phrase could refer to a formal 18th century style establishment, where Christians have certain legal and financial advantages over other people, or even assertive policy actions that reflect preference Christian interests over those of others. President Trump's Christmas Day bombing of Nigeria was framed as protecting Nigerian Christians, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posted a social media video (AI generated, of course) of Santa Claus handcuffing an immigrant. (See Anh 2025 and Richardson 2025 for more on the Trump administration, and Goldford 2012, cited below, for why the U.S. has never been an explicitly Christian nation.)

Jesus may not have been born in a manger,
but for sure he never voted

Alternatively, Christian politics could look to Jesus as a model for policy making and advocacy. It's not unconstitutional for people to be motivated by faith to pursue specific policy goals. However, doing what Jesus would have done is less easy than it sounds, as the historical Jesus was extremely marginal in the (autocratic) Roman Empire, and the New Testament has very little to say about how to exercise political power.

The first featured article in that issue of Christian Century, "Wisdom from Augustine in an Election Year," by Calvin College philosopher James K.A. Smith, begins, not with definitions, but by recounting his own experience as an immigrant who came to feel "invested as a member of this flawed but noble project that we call the American experiment, which welcomed me and enabled me to forge a meaningful life" (p. 42). Observing that many Christians are ambivalent about liberal democracy, while many Americans are ambivalent about Christianity, he draws on St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) to describe a sort of tension that requires negotiation. 

Augustine of Hippo
(from athanasiuscm.org)

Augustine called his time the saeculum, in which humans live on Earth, and God's promised kingdom, whatever that may be, has not yet come. We're still in it. "We ought not to want to live ahead of time with only the saints and the righteous," he wrote a Roman official named Boniface in 418 (quoted on p. 44); instead, we in the 21st century, just like those of the 5th, are charged to live in our communities with everyone else. 

How we live in our communities matters, though. In The City of God (c. 426), his most famous work, Augustine argues all earthly communities consist of both the City of Man, whose highest values are self-love and domination, and the City of God, whose highest values are love of God and neighbor. (Those values may do for a working definition of Christian politics.) Thus there is ongoing tension, which must resolved through negotiation among all (permixtum). Smith concludes that "citizens of the city of God are called, as an expression of loving their neighbors, to contribute to the common good by collaborating in the messiness of the permixtum" (p. 45). 

For Smith, Christian politics a la Augustine would not be theocracy: What currently passes for Christian politics is a sub-Christian syncretism that prays to a vaguely moralistic god who plays favorites, a deity of our making whom we trot out to license nationalism and self-interest... little more than Jesufied renditions of the libido dominandi (p. 46). (Does that ever sound familiar!) Instead, he looks to reaffirmed "institutions and practices of liberal democracy," informed by "more robust Christian political witness."

What might such a Christ-haunted, biblically saturated politics look like? Well, it looks like a lot like the civil rights movement: unapologetically biblical, rooted in the practices of the church, and speaking to the public in the cadences of the prophets.... The witnesses and martyrs of that beloved community learned to long for a better country, as the author of Hebrews puts it (Heb. 11:16), but they also imagined that this country could look more like it. That is the posture of an Augustinian politics (p. 46)

A Christian politics that is not about moral judgment and exclusion, but about building a better world for all our neighbors, looks more like what Russell Arben Fox (2025) called "universal leftism" than what the loudest voices in contemporary American Christianity are saying. It also looks a lot like urbanism! (See also Lenz 2023.)

Christian Century's other writers provide more suggestions and examples in the same issue:

• Jeannine Marie Pitas ("Bridging the Ideological Divide") describes places where people of vastly different perspectives can meet, sometimes non-partisan (charity work) but often multipolar discussion groups where people actively listen to each other. 
• Tony Tian-Ren Lin ("Can We Save Democracy in the United States?"), who came to the U.S. from Chiang Kai-shek's Taiwan via militarized Argentina, urges immigrants and refugees to use their experiences as well as their "voices and votes" to remind Americans not to give into easy authoritarian answers. 
• Annalise Deal ("Cecil Williams Kept His Ear to the Ground") eulogizes the decades-long ministry of an activist San Francisco pastor (who I'm pretty sure knew my Uncle Clare).

Beloved readers, I too long for an American politics that is all-inclusive, committed both to vigorous meaningful conversations about our common life, and to sustaining even the poorest and meanest among us. Having "nice" conversations that avoid fundamental issues may avoid giving offense, but won't serve to maintain relationships, much less build communities. 

Source: spiritpunktransmissions.substack.com/

After this last year, though, I confess I don't know where to start. As someone whose career has been focused on the U.S. Constitution for decades, and whose future (however long) will have all the vulnerabilities of senior citizenry, America since the publication of the November 2024 Christian Century has been distressing to watch. At the same time, I'm afraid of not being taken seriously. I'm afraid of being played. I don't like tension, and despite my avid reading of Parker J. Palmer, I don't think I'm very good at holding it. I'm afraid of too quickly becoming impatient with what sound like pat answers.

Maybe a good resolution for urbanists and other community builders for the New Year would be at least to be attentive and open to opportunities to have those conversations.

PRINT SOURCE: Dennis J. Goldford, The Constitution of Religious Freedom: God, Politics and the First Amendment (Baylor University Press, 2012)

"Who Would Jesus Bomb" by Jordan Smart (3:12)