I grieve for Charleston, I grieve for us all!

As a woman of color, as the wife of a pastor, as the wife of a pastor who shepherds a congregation (16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL) that has firsthand experience of the horrifying and traumatic effects of hate and terrorism in this country, I am grieved. I am grieved for the eroding, volcanic evil that I sense is escalating in our communities around the country. I am grieved by the onslaught of injustice, racial profiling and murders of our brown girls and boys and the assumption that because they look a certain way they don't "belong" in certain neighborhoods even though they have a Constitutional right in this country to do so. I am grieved that they are labeled as thugs and that they are vilified because of any irresponsible actions they might have engaged in as youths, but when their counterparts engage in those same actions they are just acting out, being "kids," or they "didn't mean any harm." I am grieved when I see our babies' faces smashed against concrete, or jaws broken or pepper sprayed, yet the treatment of their counterparts appear civil and respectful. I am grieved that even in our sacred places of worship, in 2015 we are targeted by those who are threatened by the hue in our skin. And STILL TODAY we hear the ringing in our ears, the echo of words past which was apparently repeated last night, "You rape our women, you're taking over our country!" I wonder who will say today not to play the "RACE" card, who will say that we are overreacting? Who will say, "It's not all about race?" Who will say these are "isolated" instances? My heart is heavy, my spirit is maimed, I am grieved. Yet my soul looks up to the only ONE I know has power. REAL Power! Not congressional power, not presidential power, not police power, not even Black Power, but REAL Power! Power that transFORMS people, minds and lives! Today I pray for the church and people of Charleston. Today I pray for all the brown girls and boys, including my own, AND the people who would attempt to do them harm or even not know how to culturally deal with them. Today I remember the lives of Addie Mae, Denise, Cynthia and Carole, that their ultimate sacrifice would not be in vain and that this vile history would not continue to be repeated or perpetuated.Today, I look to Him!