The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022     In case you missed it, the Guardian newspaper published an article on July 28 that you should read, ponder, and share widely. Here is a link to that article. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/28/hunted-one-in-three-people-killed-by-us-police-were-fleeing-data-reveals?utm_term=62e2733a7c69229b547988913bccd13b&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email Your eyes are not deceiving you. The article reports that one out of every three people killed by police in the United States were fleeing the police. They were in moving in the opposite direction – as opposed to approaching or attacking – the people that killed them. They were not threatening the police. They were not charging the police. They were not attacking the police. They were not chasing the police. They were trying to get away from people who were armed and licensed to kill. If that does not get your atte...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022 Now that the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol has made its eighth televised presentation some things are abundantly clear. The attack on the US Capitol that occurred January 6, 2021, and was viewed live by people across the world, was committed by followers of Donald John Trump. The perpetrators were not antifascists. They were not masquerading as Trump supporters. They were diehard Trump followers. Trump’s supporters gathered in Washington, DC on January 6 because he summoned them. They did not gather spontaneously. They did not gather because people other than Trump invited them. Trump summoned his followers to Washington on January 6 knowing that was the day Congress would certify the Electoral College tally from the November 2020 presidential election that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won, and that he and Mike Pence lost. Trump summoned his followers to Washington by falsely alleging that he won the 2020 presid...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022     I earned a degree in political science, was an officer in the US Army, earned a law degree, practiced and taught law, chaired a state agency, have been a state appellate and trial judge, and have been actively involved in congregational and inter-faith religious efforts. Those experiences allowed me to meet and evaluate more than a few business, civic, and religious leaders and learn a hard truth. Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, women, LGBTQI, immigrant, and working people who experience systemic abuse, bigotry, discrimination, and mistreatment are often disappointed when we look to business, civic, and religious leaders for help in our fight against injustice. Business, civic, and religious leaders supported the system of invading and robbing Indigenous people. Business, civic, and religious leaders supported the system of enslaving African people, stealing their labor, and denying their human dignity and freedom. Business, civi...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022       In recent days, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has issued several landmark decisions. ·        In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , six of the nine justices decided to overrule the Court’s 1973 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade which held that a woman has a fundamental right under the US Constitution to terminate her pregnancy, and its 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey which upheld the Roe ruling . Justice Samuel Alito, author of the majority opinion, wrote, “ We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” ·          In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bru...