#LastWords

Shirin Barghi is a journalist, filmmaker, and the founder of Humans of Tehran.  She created these images following the shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson and I find them gripping.  Heartbreaking.

Do you know that from 2006-2012, two black people died at the hands of white police every week.  Isn’t that staggering?

I know that some of my white friends (particularly from my past) are worried that I’ve “gone liberal” over the years and jumped on the bandwagon and possibly even lost my faith.  I want you to know, though, that my thoughts and opinions on the issue of race* in the U.S. stem directly from my faith, not simply from so-called liberal media or the influence of Seattle and NPR.

All those things do influence me, as they influence you, but it’s my faith that informs me most.  It’s the call to love mercy and to do justly that sets the rhythms and the patterns of my life.  I share them here on my blog and elsewhere so that we can dialogue a little, walk together, sharpen one another and inspire each other.   It’s probably a pipe dream but I also write so that someday Shirin Barghi won’t have further inspiration for her #lastwords art.  Take a look…

 

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Other posts related to #Ferguson

Mordecai’s Call
Langston Hughes on #Ferguson
Misplaced Imagining
A Song of Lament

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*And those other pesky topics, like, you know, guns and women and men and what not.