Just Mercy

I will admit it was\is hard for me to sit through movies that tell the truth about “our” society. Folks would have you believe that stories like this are anomalies. They are isolated incidents of our distant past that would never occur today. The devil’s biggest accomplishment is to make folks believe he does not exist. The truth is people that look like me are a heartbeat away from something like this being our reality. I was told that I did not have to worry about a traffic stop if I did not do anything wrong. I did my best to be calm and explain. That statement is the essence of privilege. You have the privilege to not have to think if you look like somebody. You have the privilege to not worry where your hands are, or if your tone is threatening, or even if they are having a bad day (Sandra Bland). Just Mercy reminded me to not get too comfortable in assuming that death row won’t come in a need to clear a crime (Walter “Johnny D.” McMillian), or death won’t visit me at my front door (Botham Jean), or through a window pane (Atatiana Jefferson), just because. My prayer is that future generations of folks that look like me will have the privilege to not have to think this way. Glad The Tomb Is Empty