"We are gathered here today, not just to mourn, but to celebrate the life and success of Donavan Johnson."
As the preacher began his eulogy, heavy hearts and teary faces filled the church. Not just because of the loss of their family member, but because reality had struck again. No matter how hard you work, simply being black in America is a crime punishable by death. The room was filled with not just sadness, but also fear. If they murdered a successful business owner, then what would happen to them?
"Today we ask, who is the real thug here? This man was murdered in cold blood for no reason, is his killer not a thug? Emmit Till was kidnapped, beaten, murdered and drowned over a lie, aren't his killers thugs? Dylan Roof murdered 9 innocent people in a church, isn't he a thug? Isn't Jim Crow and Willie Lynch thugs? Aren't the very men who stole our ancestors from Africa thugs? They stole everything, our names, our culture, our way of living, but they call us thugs? The irony that such a group would call us thugs, when we are the victims of all these things and more. But church, hundreds of years of pain and suffering don't make you a thug. My people, we must unite as one and show them that black lives truly matter. Today I tell you that we aren't thugs brothers and sisters, but we are the answer! We will unite, and we will fight for our rights just as we always have! We aren't thugs, we are our brother's keeper! Brother and sisters, I believe we can make a change just as simply as they kill us. We will turn this country around, as simply as we'd flip a lightswitch."