On This Good Friday, May We Remember

 On this Good Friday

May we remember

All the innocent people

Killed by unjust courts

And brutal laws

And those who are

Beaten and

Lynched and

Left for dead

Without hope of making it

To trial.

On this Good Friday

May we remember

All the innocent civilians

Killed in war

To pay for

The sins of their leaders.

Such violence

Only begets more violence

And there is

No Redemption

At all.

We Are Each Others' Keepers

Good grief. I was listening to the BBC today covering a report of the UN Human Rights Commissioner on the excessive use of force against protestors, the incarceration of women and children, the abuses in police custody and the arrests of people by officials in unmarked cars, and the concern for additional violence related to the elections--and I honestly couldn't tell whether they were talking about our own United States or somewhere else until they finally said, "reporting from Minsk."

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, folks. It's possible you could have surrounded yourself with a white enough social circle and be financially comfortable enough not to realize what's going on, but I do believe unless people are hiding under a rock and intentionally tuning out all standard reputable news sources, it's getting almost impossible to deny we have a major civil rights crisis in our country--affecting not only Black people, but also citizens of Latinx, Indigenous, Arab and Asian descent; immigrants (documented or undocumented) LGBTQ+ people, religious minorities, people who are poor, people who have disabilities. 

And increasingly, dissidents and protestors--even those who are peacefully expressing their concerns within their constitutional rights.

These times increasingly remind me of the famous quote from Pastor Martin Niemoeller, during the Holocaust:

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists

We are each others' keepers, friends. When harm comes to our neighbors (even the neighbors we may choose not to see), harm comes to us as well.