White men and women have thought of black bodies for centuries as something they can do what they will with.
Neither the Emancipation Proclamation nor the 13th Amendment nor the Voting Rights Act nor the institution of a category of felonies called hate crimes has changed this.
Black bodies have only been good for making wealth off of or using as scapegoats for white rage.
How long, O Lord, how long?
The murder of George Floyd was committed in plain sight; the four cops knew exactly what they are were doing. They intended to kill him and they did, right out in public. How can we breathe when he couldn’t?
How long, O Lord, how long?
I fear the pandemic of white supremacy more, a great, great deal more, than I fear COVID-19, though for black bodies, both are methods of genocide.
How long, O Lord, how long?
I woke up today with such a weight of anger, grief, and despair that I could barely move. Prayer time didn’t help. All I wanted to do was post to white policeman, “Keep your fucking hands off black bodies.”
How long, O Lord, how long?
The list of names has gotten so long, we could fill a Vietnam Memorial with them. George, Amadou, Philando, Oscar, Jamal, John, Sandra, Ahmaud, Breona, Emmet, Jordan, Eric, Jimmie Lee, and hundreds of others whose names are recorded at the Equal Justice Initiative’s Lynching Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.
This list doesn’t even include the thousands of black bodies who have been killed or neglected in prisons.
How long, O Lord, how long?
When Saul sent men to kill David, David wrote Psalm 59 in lament. When I read verses 1-7 now, I hear the voices of all the black bodies crying from their graves.
59 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;
2 deliver me from those who work evil,
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
3 For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
5 You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.
6 Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
The Moral Universe 