40|50 Project: 40 Days To Heal A Nation’s Racial DivideSample

 Day 13: Truth Sets Free

“What’s different about George Floyd?” Many have asked. 

Why did his murder in police custody on May 26, 2020 spur 15,000,000-26,000,000 people in the United States to protest along with thousands of others in 60 countries around the globe on every continent but Antarctica?

Ava DuVernay, member of the Academy Board of Governors, first African American female director nominated for the Academy’s Best Documentary (13th) and nominated for the Academy’s Best Picture (Selma), shares during “Where Do We Go From Here?”, the Oprah special on racial justice, that the video of George Floyd took her to her knees. 

Ava summarizes that the difference with George Floyd is that both Floyd and the officer’s faces can be seen in the video. She shares that both men are right in our faces, one man begging for his life and another man taking his life. This changes everything when we see a person’s humanity up close being choked out. 

As horrific and traumatic as the footage is, the Lord has allowed it to shock us as nations into reality that this kind of brutality against people of color is present and normalized in our countries. Scales have fallen from our eyes. Blindness has given way to honest conversations. Denial of existence is no longer an option. 

“The truth makes free,” Jesus explains in John 8:32.  

How has the truth recently made you free? What have you discovered about your lens since the death of George, a fellow brother in the faith? What have you discovered about your nation's lens? 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, Thank You for allowing Truth to set us free. Please comfort the families of all who have lost loved ones to murder born in racism. We pray that we will not return to our blindness and complicity as a nation or the Church. Minister to our hearts and please keep us and our families safe in Your care, in Jesus’s Name, Amen.