(RNS) Los Angeles pastor Stephen “Cue” Jn-Marie is quick to point out the movement for Black lives and Black Lives Matter has been going on for eight years, but he believes it was “an act of God” that transformed it last year into the largest social movement in U.S. and world history.
“Who can articulate that, but a faith leader?” he added.
For Jn-Marie, who founded the Church Without Walls in Skid Row, the Black Lives Matter movement is valid without faith leaders but, he said, clergy help “people see God’s heart for the movement.”
One year ago, the death of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer galvanized the nation and eventually much of the world into months of historic protests against police brutality and systemic racism and in support of Black lives. Clergy were often front and center in these protests and their clarion call not only to politicians but also to religious leaders sparked a racial reckoning within churches, synagogues and m