We kneel to honor those who died, betrayed and sold by our own brothers…and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor those who perished from disease, malnutrition, drownings at sea to silence our voices, and brutality, chained in the bowels of ships begging for water…and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor those who survived the voyage, auctioned and sold to the highest bidder, then branded with a glowing iron upon their naked flesh, emblazoning and sealing ownership on their bodies…and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor our brothers and sisters who were bred and then knowingly and willfully separated from their families…and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor our brothers and sisters who were defiled, some before the age of reason…and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor those who were leashed, disfigured, mutilated, and tortured by their captors…and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor those whose breath gave out toiling like beasts of burden on plantation fields…and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor the heroes of all races who forged The Underground Railroad and sacrificed their own lives shepherding our brothers and sisters into the Light of Freedom.
We kneel to honor all who fought and died in the War to Make Men Free.
We kneel to honor our brothers and sisters whose lives were taken, lynched, then murdered by hanging, some burned alive, their bodies displayed like hunting trophies in our fair land…and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor the memories of our children who were awakened from slumber by the smell and the sound and the sight of crosses burning through their windows, burnished into their souls… and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor the life and dreams of the late great Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. and the icons of the Civil Rights Movement whose lives were taken prematurely by assassins, bloodletting HumanKind…and yet we loved.
We kneel to honor the lost lives and futures of our sons and daughters whose blood drenches the streets of America today…and yet we love.
We kneel to honor all Americans who have died on the battlefields of the world fighting to preserve Life, Liberty, and Freedom for The United States of America.
We kneel to honor God Almighty and our thirst for his justice to quench 400 years of our eternal tears.
