The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope

TWO WORDS THAT EXPLAIN THE KYLE RITTENHOUSE ACQUITTAL VERDICT – THEY ARE NOT “SELF-DEFENSE” © Wendell Griffen, 2021       On November 19, 2021, a jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, first degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree homicide, and two counts of reckless endangerment.   Rittenhouse shot two people to death and wounded a third person on August 23, 2020. The people he shot were protesting the August 20, 2020, shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white Kenosha, Wisconsin police officer. Video of the police officer shooting Blake in the back seven times – as Blake’s small children were present – sparked public demonstrations in Kenosha and elsewhere. Rittenhouse, who was seventeen years old at the time, drove from his hometown in Antioch, Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin, claiming that he did so to help protect property from looting and destruction. According to his trial ...

  WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED ©Wendell Griffen, 2021     On November 19, 2021, a jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, first degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree homicide, and two counts of reckless endangerment.   Rittenhouse shot two people to death and wounded a third person on August 23, 2020, who were protesting the August 20, 2020 shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white Kenosha, Wisconsin police officer. Video of the police officer shooting Blake in the back seven times – as Blake’s small children were present – sparked public demonstrations in Kenosha and elsewhere. Rittenhouse, who was seventeen years old at the time, drove from his hometown in Antioch, Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin, claiming that he did so to help protect property from looting and destruction. According to his trial testimony, Rittenhouse shot the three people in self-defense. A jury found Rittenhouse no...

  BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS, JUSTICE, AND CONFRONTING WHITE MYTHS OF SUPREMACY, INNOCENCE, AND RECONCILIATION ©Wendell Griffen, 2021     The media report that white legislators are concerned that white children are being made uncomfortable when educators teach them the truth about systemic racism in the United States.   Arkansas is no exception. Earlier this year white legislators in Arkansas enacted a law, which Governor Asa Hutchinson refused to veto but did not sign, which bars public schools and state agencies from teaching "divisive concepts" during racial and cultural sensitivity training, including teaching that American is an inherently racist nation.   How many white legislators complained that public schools include Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn on their reading lists? I read it in the tenth grade during the first year that Delight High School admitted Black students (1965-66).   In that book, the “n-word” appears more than 200 time...

 I delivered these remarks to the Pulaski County Bar Association during its luncheon to recognize Veterans Day. A FRESH LOOK AT DUTY, HONOR, AND VALOR ©Wendell Griffen, 2021 Pulaski County Bar Association Little Rock, Arkansas November 12, 2021       PRESIDENT ROGERS OTHER PCBA OFFICERS DIRECTORS COLLEAGUES           Thank you for inviting me to join you today as the Pulaski County Bar Association recognizes the sacrifice and service given by people who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. I am a veteran. My father, father-in-law, and several uncles and cousins were veterans. Veterans Day holds great meaning for me.           I invite you to join me in taking a fresh look at three words that have special meaning for people who have military service experience: Duty, Honor, and Valor.   On May 12, 1973, I took the following oath: ...