Yesterday morning, CNN broadcast the first service at the Emanuel AME church. The Rev. Goff said:
“The blood of the Mother Emanuel Nine requires us to work until not only justice is served in this case, but for those who are still living on the margin of life.”
His quote is an attitude of love in the face of hatred.
The gunman said he was going to start a “race war,” to which the Rev. Goff addressed in his sermon:
“Lots of folks expected us to do something strange and break out in a riot,” Goff said.
“Well, they just don’t know us,” he said, as the congregation stood and cheered.
The tragedy of the Charleston shooting remained in my thoughts and showed up in a poem during the dead of night.
The Insanity of Hate
Hate is an acid
erodes humanity,
dissolves innate morality.
Hate misshapes
eats away reason
from the slow drip of racism
fed by stereotypes
begat by fear, blame, otherness.
Hate eats the heart
throws up paranoia
irrational rationalized thoughts
Hate takes a gun
commits violence, destroys
turns world's upside down.
Hate is a four letter word
so is LOVE,
motivated by HOPE,
fueled by WORK,
for an end to violence.
alvaradofrazier.com 