Shame on You Houston - All Black Churches Matter

by Kim D.

Of course all churches matter, but black churches matter more in Houston's 5th ward district overseen by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee who appears to be rather quiet over the fact that the Housing Authority is threatening to take property away from two churches in her district through eminent domain. The 5th ward in Houston has historically been the home of the city's minority and immigrant population. Traditionally it has been known for its violent past and has previously been named Blood Alley, Blood Nickel, and the Bloody Fifth. It has also produced one of the greatest heavyweight champions, "Big" George Foreman. 

In the 1960s Roy Lee Kossie, then a young pastor, saw a community need and began a church in the heart of the 5th ward. He said “The Lord spoke to me and said ‘Son, this is where I want the church. Right here in the face of this kind of environment." Begun in an old movie theater, the church was named the Latter Day Deliverance Revival Center which has now become a strong fixture, ministering to the needs of the 5th ward, supplying hope and positivity in a section of Houston that had historically been ignored by urban development.

Similarly Pastor Quinton Smith provides the same services to the community at the First Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church. These men and these churches have made a huge difference. For a combined 80 years, these churches have worked to clean up the neighborhood, and today the 5th ward is overcoming its violent past, so much so that it has been targeted for city urban renewal (i.e. a source of tax revenue).

As the reputation of the Fifth Ward slowly improved, so did its property values. Downtown Houston started expanding into the ward, and developers started eyeing the aging mom-and-pop businesses and, yes, even the churches. The city began an aggressive urban redevelopment plan, bulldozing older housing, shops and other establishments to make way for glitzy, more profitable, more taxable developments. The city is now targeting the two historic black churches. The city tried to purchase the churches’ land in the past. Each time, pastors Kossie and Smith refused.

Since these pastors refuse to sell, the Housing Authority has threatened to take the land through eminent domain. 

Interestingly, after all the hard work had been done of cleaning up the 5th ward, the city approached the churches and asked them to partner with an effort of redevelopment in the area. The churches soon realized that partnership meant selling their property. Basically, these houses of worship provide no tax revenue. Bottom line, taking the land and handing it over to for-profit organizations to build housing, a library, and perhaps an emergency center would mean more dollars for the city.

In a poor community, churches like these provide more than a basic Sunday worship service. They minister to the needs of the downtrodden who do not know where else to turn when problems seem at their very worst.  In the the 5th ward, when folks are in trouble, they do not turn to a lawyer for help; they go to the pastor for guidance. But the attitude of Mayor Parker is so what . . . who cares. Take the property, bulldoze it, and put up some affordable housing with my name on a big shiny plaque in the lobby. My legacy depends on this.

Kossie, Smith, and the church community have been fighting this battle against the mayor and her Housing Authority for several months. In March residents and friends began the Fifth Ward Legal Defense Fund, but last week the Liberty Institute stepped in and took up the case filing a lawsuit against the city, claiming the threat of eminent domain is in violation of the state's religious freedom law.

At the heart of this issue is the city is claiming the churches are standing in its way of turning the 5th ward into a profit making venture and are employing the tactic of stealing the property through the legal means of eminent domain. But the city can't do this; it's illegal. No city gets to tell a church where it can and cannot do its ministry. In this fight these churches of the 5th ward are taking a firm stand and boldly claiming that they are not for sale.

Unfortunately, this follows a pattern of religious persecution and arrogance against the clergy that Annise Parker has pursued during her three terms as Houston's mayor. When the clergy led the movement to oppose Parker's HERO ordinance, she tried to subpoena pastor sermons in an attempt to silence their opposition. In 2012, she went after churches and charitable organizations for feeding the homeless within city limits and then continued to make the issue worse by enacting her infamous dumpster diving legislation. 

The sad truth is that Mayor Parker has always been a little too big for her britches and has picked certain fights in her quest for "progress" that leaves many in the community scratching their heads and wondering how this Democrat leader can say she's for the poor when some of her actions make things worse for the very people she claims she wants to help. And where is Sheila Jackson Lee and why isn't she fighting for her community?