“I CAN’T BREATHE”

“Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence.” Psalm 27:12 NKJV

“Beginning with the KKK, the Negro has been constantly subjected to some

Form of organized violence ever since he became free.”

Mary Church Terrell

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers has become a watershed moment in our country on the issue of injustice and police brutality. Police officer Derek Chauvin was videoed with his knee on the neck of George for some 8 minutes and 46 seconds while he said “I can’t breathe” some 30 times. Three other officers stood by and watched as George became unresponsive. This uncalled-for brutality is a common occurrence in our land.

There rose a righteous indignation causing protests in over 30 cities across the nation. The renewed demand came for justice and for police brutality to cease. People of all backgrounds realized that “I can’t breathe” is a metaphor of life in America for every Black person as well as those who are oppressed and marginalized.

Our cry to God is deliver us from all who are in authority who are our adversaries in government, law enforcement, education, banking and business who through laws and systematic racism, breathe out physical, economic and psychological violence against us. They deny us breath to breathe America’s promise of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Therefore, we must continue to protest, pray and petition for the right to breathe!

Prayer: Dear God, deliver us from our adversaries. Honor our protests and hear our prayers as we cry out to you. Stop all forms of violence against us. Allow us to breathe despite our adversaries. Amen!

© 2020 Dr. John Ogletree – Houston, TX