This lament is in response to the murder of Breonna Taylor by police officers in Louisville, KY on March 13, 2020. As of Wednesday, September 23, the officers who killed her have received no indictments for her wrongful death, nor any repercussions at all. Another in a long line of Black bodies killed by the state.

God, this is not the world we want to live in:
Where murderers go free,
Where the state kills innocents,
Where the political system justifies lynching,
Where the system protects the powerful and leaves the innocent to their fate.
Where justice is not done.

This injustice is not new. No.
It is an old, old pattern:
Of racism,
Of white supremacy,
Of power-hoarding,
Of greed,
Of theft,
Of ego.

We cry out for the abolishment of unjust systems.
We cry out for an end to police abuse of power.
We cry out for an end to the state-sanctioned murder of innocents.
We cry out for an end to the abuse and murder of Black lives.
We cry out for an end to political stalemate that does not legislate protections.
We cry out for Breonna’s family and loved ones.

We lament Breonna’s lost future here on earth.
We lament her life cut short.
We lament the trauma of her death.
We lament the corrupt officers who got off without consequence.
We lament the pain and grief of all who mourn her.
We lament the long line of martyrs Breonna joins.

Give us strength, oh God, to continue the work.
Strength to be struck down but not destroyed,
To be persecuted but not forsaken,
To be mystified but not despairing (1).

Give ear to our voices, God,
Hear the pleas of the righteous.
Cast down the mighty from their thrones.
Lift up the lowly (2).

2 Corinthians 4:8,9
Luke 1:52