Giving thanks for Rep Elijah Cummings

We are all Baltimore, again today (Elijah Cummings, 1951-2019)

by Maren Tirabassi, UCC Pastor in New Hampshire

 

All of us who do not live in Baltimore

the 7th congressional district

maligned and mis-tweeted

that Elijah Cummings loved,

 

all of us who are not

congresswomen of color

whom Elijah Cummings defended,

all of us who did not grow up

targeted by the racism

that Elijah Cummings experienced —

 

we are still the mourners,

 

of the truth-teller,

no matter what the truth opened,

 

of the mediator between sides,

between parties, between

those who fought,

 

of the hope-giver,

and the man we’ll always remember

walking through the streets

after the funeral of Freddie Gray,

after the national tragedy

that was the death of Freddie Gray

singing, “This Little Light of Mine.”

 

All of us

who do not live in Baltimore

can still pick up his light,

hold it high and honor his memory

by promising him

that it will continue to shine.