Bryant calls himself “a ChaRIOT,” which means that he not only takes sides with the oppressed, but that he has also chosen to become a prophetic voice and an activist in the continuing crusade to dismantle personal, systemic, and institutional racism in America. He challenges other freedom-loving persons to join him in this “ChaRIOT movement,” which could not be more important at a time when white supremacists are resurfacing with a boldness, passion, and sense of pride and purpose that are hard to fathom in this 21st century. Bryant’s sense of the “ChaRIOT Movement” is grounded in essentially the same vision that sparked Martin Luther King Jr.’s struggle for the beloved community, and it encourages sustained resistance to the kind of fragmented and tribalized America advocated by hatemongers and right-wing extremists.
Lewis V. Baldwin, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, Vanderbilt University