And this...

"We live in a country where Americans assimilate corpses in their daily comings and goings. Dead blacks are part of normal life here. Dying in ship hulls, tossed into the Atlantic, hanging from trees, beaten, shot in churches, gunned down by police, or warehoused in prisons." from Rankin's essay in The Fire this Time: A new generation Speaks about Race.

And when Rankin asked a friend what it was like being the mother of a black son the answer included the title for the Essay. The Condition of Black life is One of Mourning. "For her, mourning lived in real time inside her and her son's reality: At any moment she might lose her reason for living." She shared... "Both of my children are young adults. I still harbor that fear! Do white parents share that fear for their newborn babies?"

This rawness and vulnerability are the labor pains for reconciliation. Let us sit with those who are bearing witness for the sake of their Beloved Community and learn from a listening heart.