VOICES
photo credit:
Mario Powell
How Long, O Lord? Mario Powell, S.J.
“How long, O lord?” When injustice prevails, and the poor are ground into despair. George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. Oscar Grant. “How long, O Lord?” Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Eric Garner. Trayvon Martin. Tamir Rice. Emmett Till.
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c21 resources | spring/summer 2021
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and these are the words of Psalm 13. After the death of yet another Black man they are my words as well. The psalmist is angry, questioning why God has not acted. The stench of sin filled the nostrils of God. God smelled it, tasted it. As of old, it is again today. As a 38-year-old Black Jesuit priest, this is a familiar smell for me. It stinks. Its smell and the reactions it provokes in Black Americans is impossible to avoid. The video of the murder of George Floyd stinks as well. I have undergone periods of paralysis, disbelief, anger, numbness, fear, and despair since watching those agonizing nine minutes. I am in disbelief that George Floyd’s death is yet another Black male body that has been brutalized and murdered right in front of my eyes. I am angry at the banal and vanilla statements put out by many, including Catholic leaders. I have become numb by the sheer number of these events. these are names we know,
