Thoughts on God’s love and redemption through conscious and Christian hip-hop
The Lion of Judah, He cameThe Son set down in our world,and still He reignedOur infatuation with killingextended to HimHe was slain All that He made will get this redemption, it's finally reclaimed, we'll sing Somebody told me,I won't need a shoulder to weep on,no more tearsSomebody told me,I ain't gotta hold no heatain't no... Continue Reading →
In my previous post “If (Primary) Justice Was Done”, I looked at a form of justice that, if practiced with earnest and self-sacrifice by the Christians who were in the early and adolescent United States of America, could have preempted the creation of highly racialized laws which have contributed to the Laments in Midlothian. In this post I'll revisit an earlier post about fear. In the original post I considered how fear (as a tool of the lowly lion) will likely be used to justify the killing of Jemel Roberson. This week, I will consider how a prophetic lens of faith and honor may have brought a prophetic letter of love to Midlothian, rather than a lament.
In the first three posts of this commentary series (you can start with the forward here) I highlighted some of the factors that led to the Laments in Midlothian. I plan to conclude this series by looking back over some of the themes of those three posts through a different lens, shaded by the law of love. In this post I start by looking at two Hebrew words for justice, and exploring how things may have been different if primary justice played a bigger role in America's past when it comes to race.
The Laments in Midlothian circle around the question “will justice be done?”.This question is asked because of the looming shadow of a legal system that has historically dehumanized one segment of the population while venerating another. In part three of the Laments commentary I touch on some of the history of discrimination based on race in the USA and how that has trickled down to the present. From the Dred Scott decision of 1857 to Law Enforcement Officer's Bill(s) of Rights today, the lowly lion has roared Condemnation of one group and Veneration of another into our atmosphere for generations. This has led us to Laments.
Part two of the Laments commentary. We touch on how fear and the excuse of fear contributes to violence against citizens and plays into the killings and justifications of the killings of Jemel Roberson and Botham Shem Jean. I attempt to trace the pronounced fear of these black men up to the fear that ungodly principalities could have had of them… I draw out how these men were a threat to depraved systems and how spiritual wickedness may have rejoiced at their killings and at the Laments in Midlothian.
In Laments in Midlothian, I tried to cover some of the factors that contribute to the systemic and disproportionate abuse of black American citizens at the hands of law enforcement. The writing was birthed from observing the pain of loved ones of the deceased, and shifted focus to the spiritual wickedness in high places that rejoices in that pain, and provisions for its occasion. The poems of that series introduced some concepts that I will delve into deeper. This is part one of that commentary.
(begin Laments in Midlothian series with part I of V here) . (begin Laments in Midlothian series with part I of V here. The following is an intro to a commentary I plan on writing for the series of poems linked above) A kind of essay, of Midlothian, and Saint Lucia’s son, and St Lucie’s... Continue Reading →
For Midlothian, A rejoicing. (begin Laments in Midlothian series with part I of V here) - A rejoicing was heard in Midlothian, But its revels were spiritual in kind, The prince of the city opined w/ no pity ---------- -this victory surely is fine. - There was a man of great stature, that once Stood... Continue Reading →
For Midlothian, A Lament - What do they say about him, out loud, to the masses? Empty platitudes? - That he was a brave man doing his best that they all mourn this tragic incident condolences offered to the kin and the dead subject -not suspect- is what the statement read - - - What... Continue Reading →
A Lament For Jemel Roberson (II) What doesn’t she say about him? What doesn’t she have the heart to say, Because the grief is still too near? - There are mentions, here and there, Of his work for the church, There are certainly words about that. - Words about hands, hands that held his child,... Continue Reading →
Festival of Booths 