“We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest until it Comes.”

The title is a quote from a song composed by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon* using the words spoken by the civil rights leader and SNCC mentor Ella Josephine Baker.

The first verse strikes to the heart of the issue facing us during what is the largest mass uprising for civil rights this country has ever known.

“Until the killing of black men, black mothers' sons

Is as important as the killing of white men, white mothers' sons.

We who believe in freedom cannot rest

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes”

The way I read it; the use of the word rest in this case is akin to the word “wait”. Waiting will not bring about change, we’ve already seen that. Who has the luxury of waiting for freedom to come of its own accord?

“I was born here almost 60 years ago. I’m not going to live another 60 years. You always told me it takes time. It’s taken my father’s time, my mother’s time, my uncle’s time; my brother’s and my sister’s time; my nieces and my nephew’s time. How much time do you want for your progress?” –James Baldwin (from the 1989 documentary “The Price of a Ticket”)

This mural is an act of love. Let it serve as a rallying cry for those of us who believe in freedom.

JULY 20th, 2020