This video moved me deeply and made me cry last night. It's the grandfather of Oscar Grant III, a young Black man who was shot in the back by a white transit officer while being arrested, speaking on July 8, 2010, after an all-white jury convicted the officer of involuntary manslaughter.
Daisaku Ikeda, in an essay called the Courage of Nonviolence, writes, "Nonviolence is the highest form of humility; it is supreme courage. Prime Minister Nehru said that the essence of Gandhi's teachings was fearlessness. The Mahatma taught that "the strong are never vindictive" and that dialogue can only be engaged in by the brave. "
In Liberation Magazine (October, 1959) , the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, "There is more power in socially organized masses on the march than there is in guns in the hands of a few desperate men. Our enemies would prefer to deal with a small armed group rather than with a huge, unarmed but resolute mass of people."
I pray for the day when I can be a one in a huge, unarmed but resolute mass of people who are brave enough to live in dialogue, creating the very peace we wish to see in the world.
May we, Oscar Grant, his family, Johannes Mehserle, the jury members and every one of us affected by Oscar Grant's killing and the verdict against Johannes Mehserle, be filled with lovingkindness for ourselves and others.
May we all be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May we be well and happy.
May we know peace.
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