Nearly 500 Black pastors show up to support Arbery family after statement from defense lawyer Gough who said, “We don’t want any more Black pastors coming in here,” as he motioned for a mistrial last week. *
Ann: Dr. King?
Martin Luther King, Jr: Yes, Ann, Thanks for taking my call. It is the same call that has gone out to black pastors by the very forces that would bury us. As they call us out as rabble rousers and troublemakers, they recognize our power as forces for healing and justice. It makes me proud to see the response that has taken place when our role as effective and therefore threatening counsellors has been acknowledged by those who would protect wrongheaded actions.
For the readers who come to this channel I want to point out this unlikely call to action as one of many. When the defenders of the status quo, i.e., that state of being that has as its essential under pinning the oppression of entire segments of the population, call out our spiritual leaders as damaging to their cause, we can all respond in kind no matter our situation or cultural attachments.
Black pastors have no corner on spiritual access, but what they do have is the experience of isolation and defilement, their own and that of others under their care. Suffering can make us wise if we allow it to do so, and it is that wisdom that these pastors call upon now as they gather in mass to protest the hunting down for sport of one of their own.
As we see this morality play enacted both actually and symbolically on the world stage, we have the opportunity to take that wisdom into our own hearts, and with that wisdom will come compassion and learning for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
It is true that the poor have always been among us and that they have always been berated as undeserving because of their impoverished state. I say to you now that moral character is not determined by financial circumstances but by the intent we take into our hearts and direct to our fellows travelers. It is the matters of the heart that reveal our true worth, and in these we can take a lesson from those black pastors who gather to shine a light on a travesty, not only of justice but of societal condemnation of those who skin color makes them a free for all target for the wicked.
We hold out our hands in forgiveness love and compassion to each and everyone who has so tarnished the citadel of their sacred souls and entreat them to stop the baiting, torture, and killing of those whom society has deemed to be open targets. We stand together, those who hold hands in solidarity at the courthouse in Georgia, those who in any neighborhood stand against the racist assumptions of right and wrong and against those who condone get out of jail free laws and customs which continue to enslave those not deemed to be in the favored class.
Every time we join with those who stand against a system based on anything except right and wrong, compassion and justice, we open the curtain to heaven a little bit wider, we allow another ray of light to enter a darkened room, and we elevate our own souls into the company of those whose see a society of equals is a sacred right.
So stand up, speak up, and be counted among the faithful, not of any established religion but with those who have chosen mutual respect and compassion as their guiding principles. Every opportunity we take, no matter how small, to shine this light in an otherwise dark landscape is a triumph. We are then part of a burgeoning movement toward a more just and equitable way of living together.
So let us be about our Father’s business without hesitation or delay and answer the clarion call of our own heart’s purpose.
November 19, 2021
*On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Marquez Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old Black man, was fatally shot after jogging in a neighborhood near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia, United States.[3][4][5] Arbery had been pursued by three White residents – Travis McMichael and his father Gregory, who were armed and driving a pickup truck,[6] and William "Roddie" Bryan, who followed Arbery in a second vehicle. As Arbery ran to the left in front of the pickup truck, he was confronted and shot by Travis McMichael as they engaged each other. Wikipedia.
Just read this on the day that the killers' were found guilty. Justice for his family finally.💜🙏💜
Sadly, in America,systemic racism is rife and being black and or poor is a crime. Still. And Lynn is correct. Imagine if the situation was reversed. Those men wouldn't even have made it to court to get a fair trial. I was so proud of those pastors and I teared up just seeing that protest. Thank you Dr. King and thank you Ann. ☮💜
What a sad, sad story to hear, it breaks my heart. Thank you Dr, MLK for sharing it with us.
Thank you Dr. MLK. I feel like crying over this situation. Folks, it is 2021. When does the mistreatment of black folks stop. This is horrendous what this father and son did, who do they think they are to do this…white privilege at its finest. I can assure you, if the roles where reversed, the three charged would have been killed by whites and/or been thrown under the jailhouse. The irony that GA is in the Bible Belt blows me away…what Bible are they reading. Jesus said to love your neighbor…ALL neighbors regardless of color, ethnicity or religious affiliation. i Hope justice is done…🙏🙏🙏