I cannot be silent

From the Heart

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Oh, Dr. King, how we need your wisdom today.

As I mulled over the thoughts in my mind about what I would write about this week I just kept coming back to the sadness I had been feeling.

My heart goes out to the mother of a young black man. She worries as her son leaves his home for a jog through their neighborhood. She prays he will return, safely.

She knows there are those who will judge him for the color of his skin. She knows there are those who think if a black man is running, he has done something wrong. Oh, the ugliness of racism.

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

My heart goes out to the young wife and mother who kisses her husband as he leaves for work as a police officer. She prays he will be kept safe from harm as he runs towards danger. Anger and the need for retaliation could put him in harm’s way just because of the uniform he is wearing. Oh, the ugliness of hate.

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I hear the yelling as the news reports come to us from the streets which have become trenches of rioting. Yelling does not a conversation make. It is in the conversations where changes are made. If only Dr. King were here to remind us of that.

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

It is in the conversations that we get to know each other.

How do we begin these conversations? I am only a 64-year-old grandmother whose only ammunition against racism and hate are my words. And so, I write. I cannot be silent. My black friends need me. My police officer friends need me.

As I tap on the keys to write Dr. King’s words, I pray that we all can remember these words: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

I pray for our nation. We are a hurting people.

Another one of my favorite quotes of Dr. King is, “I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.” Dr. King, I have that dream too.

I want to hold tight to the hands of my friends who are grandmothers and grandfathers and whose skin color is different from mine. I want to reassure them that I will have conversations and be their voice and advocate for them and their children and grandchildren.

I leave you with this thought from Dr. King:

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality … I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

Please Lord, let it be so.