President Joe Biden and his administration's top officials present during the 70th National Prayer Breakfast held on Thursday were allegedly "warned" by Equal Justice Initiative Executive Director Bryan Stevenson who gave the keynote address.
The Christian Post said Stevenson "warned" Biden and all politicians present, which included Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Congress, to govern not in fear and anger and to be all-embracing in promoting mercy and justice.
"I worry about the narratives that are in our world right now, I do. There's a lot of fear and anger. When people allow themselves to be governed by fear and anger they start tolerating things they should never tolerate. They start accepting things they should never accept. I have seen what narratives of fear and anger can do come the highest rate of incarceration in the world," he said.
Stevenson, as per Whyy.Org, experienced first-hand racial injustice and segregation while growing up in Delaware in the 1960. He shared his grandparents' traumatic stories of enslavement in Virginia in his speech as a call for justice from the nation's leaders present that morning.
"There is power, there is prestige. There is status, but I know that these decisions also come with judgment, come with criticism, come with attacks, and sometimes with fear. And we read in the Gospel the 12th Chapter of Luke that Jesus said, 'to whom much is given, much as required.' We understand that with leadership comes responsibility. With status comes accountability but that doesn't mean that we enjoy being challenged, when you are being attacked, that it doesn't weigh on your heart, that it doesn't burn your mind, that it doesn't undermine the things that keep you healthy in your spirit and in your soul," he elaborated.
Stevenson referenced his background of being a staunch defender of Black people convicted of crimes through the Equal Justice Initiative, which he founded in 1989, and even led to the creation of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama in 2018. Last year, he opened the Legacy Museum to highlight the "history of racial inequality from slavery to modern-day mass incarceration."
"I tell you that because we have to understand our power. As people of faith to embrace one another, to affirm each other's humanity, to affirm each other dignity. And you don't just show God's love by embracing those with whom you agree, with those used in type equipped to embrace all of God's children," he pointed out.
"I think what's missing when we try to do justice is a willingness to sometimes just be present with people are struggling and suffering and to embrace them, to show God's love in a meaningful way. That affirms the community dignity but we won't be doing it effectively if we also don't talk about the narratives that create separation," he added.
Stevenson then raised that violence has separated Americans "from doing justice, from loving mercy" since the environment is contaminated with it. But he stressed that leaders of faith have to rise above the fear and the violence so as to uplift governance and democracy that is "transformative."
The solutions to such situations of fear and violence, he underscored, is hope--the Hope the Bible speaks of, a hope founded in God.
"I am persuaded that hopelessness is the enemy of justice. Injustice prevails where hopelessness persists so our hope is key to our capacity to represent God's love on this earth. Hope is the thing that will get some of us to stand up even when people say, 'Sit down!' Hope is a thing, (that) get some of us to speaking with people (who) say, 'Be quiet!' Our hope is our power," Stevenson revealed.
"We have to give that hope to our children. We cannot be defined by division and conflict," he added, "We've got to stay hopeful, even when it is challenging. And finally I am persuaded that doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with god means way to do things that are uncomfortable. We have to do things that are challenging. I wish it weren't true but I don't see any way around it."
