My uncle has been incarcerated for some thirty-odd years. He wrote to me long before the news of his expected parole about the power and possibility of a loving renewal. Uncle, I’m sorry it took so long to respond— I just didn’t know how.
I do now.
Humbly, we must stand convicted that an eye for an eye will only make the world more blind than it is. We must hold true to the fact that redemption and reconciliation are possible, if not amongst others, then within ourselves. We must hold close to the belief that it is faith in 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 that makes right, and right in God’s eyes are for him alone and ours to seek.
My friends, what is true is that I love my uncle. That fact remains. My only hope is that somehow we find peace. And the memories of those and things lost be buttressed against the waves of resentment, by rays of loving growth. Remember— we must find peace. There is no other option.
Uncle, I pray you find peace. To the mother who wept like mine, I pray we find peace. We must find peace as though, at all costs, its absence is a special death we cannot afford.
My friends, remember that peace is redemption fulfilled. And that we all deserve that simple freedom, the chance to be free. —Dante #blacklivesmatter
