Rev. Damon Smith offers a poem in reaction to the shooting of Jacob Blake.

“And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the scripture says, 'How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news!'“ — Romans 10:14-16 (Good News Translation)

Posted outside the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, this statement is a testament to the fact that the Black Lives Matter movement has grown from a national protest to a global call for racial justice.

What is freedom and liberation in this 21st century where as a U.S. citizen, there remains a staggeringly high domestic unemployment rate among young Black men, a lack of affordable housing, disproportionate violence against Black transgender women and a lack of local laws designed to protect Black children?

It is not a statement that is said lightly. However, it is a bold declaration of affirmation for those within the Black and Brown community who are often marginalized. When we say ‘All Black Lives Matter,’ this means Black queer lives matter. Black lesbian lives matter. Black transgender and transsexual lives matter.

Where are the sanctuaries for Black people in America? Where can we go to be free, to breathe, to laugh, to love and be loved, and be human without the fears and threats of being harmed? For many, the answer has largely been the Black church.

Most Holy and Divine One,
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
The God of Sarah, Hagar, Rachel and Leah,
On this past Pentecost Sunday, as our nation began physically burning because of systemic oppression, help us God….
--Rev. Dr. Danielle J. Buhuro

A Just Harvest raises its voice with all who are mourning and demanding justice for Black men, women and trans siblings murdered by police who are sworn to serve and protect them.

The Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ writes to express our acknowledgement of the communal pain, outrage and lament felt by so many of our citizens.

The team at the Chicago Jobs Council is feeling grief and sadness. We are tired of the violence of white supremacy still raging in this country.

We share in the righteous lament of stolen lives and reject white supremacy and a normalized culture of violence that sanctions the undue lynching of Black and Brown bodies.

CRS is creating an Anti-Racism Transformation Team. The transformation team will be committed to dismantling institutional racism within CRS in all of its forms.

We grieve with and pray for those whose lives have been ripped apart by recent hateful acts of terror, but prayers are not enough.