On Wednesday September 23, A grand jury indicted a former Louisville police detective on Wednesday for endangering Breonna Taylor’s neighbors with reckless gunfire during a raid on her apartment in March, but the two officers who shot Ms. Taylor were not charged in her death.
The decision came after more than 100 days of protests and a months long investigation into the death of Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician who was shot six times in the hallway of her apartment by officers executing a search warrant.
The city erupted in angry demonstrations after a grand jury decided not to bring charges against the police officers who shot and killed Breonna during a botched nighttime raid on her apartment in March. The grand jury instead indicted another officer involved in the raid for recklessly firing shots that entered a neighboring apartment.
Innocent marginalized people suffer the most in a broken world. The system fails those who are the most vulnerable who experience injustice perpetrated on them. This week we witnessed first hand how a broken Justice System failed its citizens, namely Brianna Taylor. The world is broken, and there is an experiencing a lessening of the value of people, specifically BIPOC.
Today we offer this scripture and a Prayer for Justice:
Luke 18: 1-8
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Pray for the repairing of a broken judicial system. Pray, and do not lose hope. Just like the persistent widow, we can’t lose heart. We must continue to advocate for justice for all people. We pray with confidence that our petitions will be answered because our request is the right thing to ask for and expect. The United States judicial, law enforcement, criminal justice and policing are broken, and we pray oh God, that you will bring justice and reform. That BIPOC will experience the same Justice as it White counterparts.
We pray for the healing of all nations. We pray against the false narrative the BIPOC are violent and therefore deserving of violence perpetrated against them. We pray for Law Enforcement to be reformed and retrained.
Lord, we also pray for unity and peace amongst all people. We pray that as people gather and march in peaceful protest that the officers sworn to protect and serve will cease to antagonize and dehumanize citizens of the state. Lord, in your example of the persistent widow, you counsel your people to pray and not lose heart. May we put our prayers and partitions into action, we pray with our feet as we walk in solidarity, we pray with our voices as we cry out for justice, equity and protection for all, we pray our God with our actions by exercising our God given right to vote by mail, in person, early and on time. We pray with our hearts. God of our silent tears, God of our weary years, be close to us, be our comfort and our guide. Give us wisdom and courage to continue to fight the good fight of faith. That at your appointed time you will act on behalf of the disinherited, disenfranchised, marginalized, dehumanized, the hungry, naked and homeless.
We thank you in advance and will be mindful to give you all the glory.
In your son’s name we pray.
Amen and may it be so.
Rev. Babette Chatman
University Pastor