Yesterday, following the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial, one person on the street commented on NPR that the verdict was not necessarily justice but at least accountability, the first step towards justice. Many of us breathed a sigh of relief in the hope that this trial would provide some evidence that things can change.
For those of us old enough to remember trials of police and other persons in the past who were not held accountable for terrible deeds, it does seem like a page is being turned. Almost thirty years ago this week Los Angeles erupted when four policemen, three of them white, were acquitted in the savage beating of Rodney King.
Still, too many are not being held accountable for “mistakes,” such as the murder of Breonna Taylor in her bedroom, or of other deaths of people, primarily Black, by police officers. Hopefully, this is a sign of change, real change.
Prayer for the Day
You have searched us and known us, O God,
And we cannot pretend that we are something we are not.
Forgive us our despair, our hopelessness, and our fear,
For they close the doors to living faithfully.
Awaken us by your Holy Spirit to a fuller dimension of faith
Leading us to find in our neighbors opportunities for love.
In the name of him who taught us a new way to live,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
Thoughts for the Day
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Martin Luther King (1929-1968)
We were told we had to be good and to be nice in all ways.
Anna Deavere Smith, from The Atlantic, March 2021
The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
Psalm 103:1