I was invited to the Shiloh Church in Danville this past Sunday. The voices of the Ferguson movement asked for actions meant to heal and a focus on visions of a better future this weekend, and I experienced that message at Shiloh on Sunday, the one year anniversary of the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, MO.
I am not a religious person, but was moved, challenged and inspired by Shiloh's messages:
From A Litany for Justice:
"Let us not rush to the language of healing, before understanding the fullness of the injury and the depth of the wound.
Let us not offer false equivalencies, thereby diminishing the particular pain being felt in a particular circumstance in a particular historical moment.
Let us not speak of reconciliation without speaking of reparations and restoration, or how we can repair the breach and prevent future loss. Let us not rush past the loss of this mother's child, this father's child... someone's beloved child.
Let us not value property over people; let us not protect material objects while human lives hang in the balance.
Let us not value a false peace over a righteous justice. Let us not be afraid to sit with the ugliness, the messiness, and the pain that is life in community together."
After the article in the Daily Item this weekend, chronicling the negative experiences of non white community members in our area, I think it is important, first- to listen. But, then, to know that we are a community with much compassion and a want to understand and solve our problems.
Join us for our next Founder's Donation Event to raise money for our community leaders to take Undoing Racism® training, or the next Meet Up to discuss addressing racism in our communities.
