Remembering Their Names (A reflection upon the verdict in the murder of George Floyd)

For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones…Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.” Isaiah 49:13b, 15a, 16.

Black people collect names--George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, 13-year-old Adam Toledo. If you are a mother, like me, you live daily with the fear that your own son or daughter’s name one day will be added to that list.

In the 11 months since Mr. Floyd died beneath the knee of a police officer, 181 African-American people have been killed by police.[1] And what happened this week is rare. A police officer was held to account for killing a Black man. The whole country, and perhaps the world, breathed a sigh of relief that justice prevailed.  Yet the systemic racism that brought Mr. Floyd’s life to a tragic end is still with us. So is the trauma experienced by people of color, the grief of untold numbers of families, and the national grief at this horrific killing.

There is much work to do to address this trauma as well as the systemic racism in the criminal justice system, policing, education, healthcare, our political system and in every other institution in America, including the church. There is no institution in this country that is free from its stain. And despite the slow progress that this recent verdict represents, we are in the midst of a predictable backlash against racial justice. Indeed, for some, the idea that Black lives matter, is perceived as an affront.

But the lives of Black people do matter. And so do the names. Isaiah 49: 16 suggests that God remembers the names of all of God’s children who suffer oppression. God has written the names of the oppressed in the palms of God’s hands.

“See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands,” Isaiah 49:16.

This is an image of holding and being held in the midst of trauma. It is an image of comfort and being comforted in the midst of pain. May those who suffer oppression know that God remembers their names and holds them in God’s hands and heart. And as we work to eradicate racism and all forms of oppression in our midst, let us not forget the names of God’s children who have died because of this sin. Let us hold their names in prayer.

Ahmaud Arbery (25)   Tanisha Anderson (37)   Sandra Bland (28)   Rayshard Brooks (27)   Michael Brown (18)   Philando Castile (32)   Stephon Clark (22)   Michelle Cusseaux (50)   George Floyd (46)   Janisha Fonville (20)   Eric Garner (43)   Freddie Gray (25)   Akai Gurley (28)   Botham Jean (26)   Atatiana Jefferson (28)   Trayvon Martin (17)   Laquan McDonald (17)   Gabriella Nevarez (22)   Daniel Prude (41)   Tamir Rice (12)   Alton Sterling (37)   Breonna Taylor (26)   Adam Toledo (13)   Daunte Wright (20), and the untold, uncounted, and sometimes unnamed others.