Statement from BMCR Regarding Atatiana Jefferson

Atatiana Jefferson was shot and killed in her home. 

For too long and far too often we have had to raise our voices to lament the death of unarmed black people. We have cried and we have prayed when the police gunned down and/or choked black women and men in the streets of this country. We have sat down with our daughters and sons and explained to them how to engage the police so as to minimize their own risk of life. We told them to keep their hands out of their pockets, speak clearly, stay in well-lit corridors, and avoid being alone as much as possible. Of course, in an effort to avoid having any grouping of two or more to be labeled as a “gang,” we told them to be even more careful about who they are seen with on a regular basis. We did all of that to keep them and us safe from the police. We did not do all of that to keep the local gangsters from roughing them up. We told them that so they could hopefully live beyond an encounter with police.

Now, what must we do? Atatiana Jefferson was at home and was murdered by a police officer. Atatiana was not harassing others or mistreating anyone. Atatiana was not driving with a broken taillight. Atatiana was not driving recklessly on the streets. Atatiana was not carrying a toy gun. Atatiana was not selling single cigarettes on the street corner. Atatiana was not walking through a gated community where someone determined she did not belong. Atatiana had not entered through someone else’s window to pillage their home. Atatiana had not sat through a Bible Study with a bag of guns ready to kill the others in attendance. Atatiana was not walking through Xavier University shooting and killing her classmates and instructors. Atatiana was in the one place where all of us would assume we would be safe from the bullets readied in the chamber of a policeman’s gun. Yet, Atatiana was murdered.

For too long and far too often the targets upon black women and men has been moving and has made it even unsafe for us to even check on our own safety, lest we be fatally shot by a police officer who sees any black person as a threat to her or his life. How powerful a presence we must be that we cause them to lose all sense of reasoning and judgment? We are a powerful and resilient people who know what it means to rise up in the face of injustice and death and demand laws and training that sensitizes white fragility to the point that they realize and acknowledge that black people are not taught to shoot and to kill police officers. We do want to know why police officers live with guilt, assumptions, or mandates that prove they will kill us.

We, as Black Methodists for Church Renewal, stand with Atatiana’s family and the local residents of Fort Worth who demand justice in the face of this assassination of Atatiana Jefferson. We call on Bishop Mike Lowry, Episcopal leader of the Central Texas Conference, which encompasses Fort Worth, and the Council of Bishops to speak out against this heinous act of violence. We further call on Bishop Lowry to work with the South Central Jurisdiction Black Methodists for Church Renewal and local caucus leaders to hold sessions where black women and men will be heard and equipped to address the damage done to them in the wake of this and other tragedies in the local communities. 

Our mission is to raise up prophetic and spiritual leaders who will be advocates for the unique needs of black people in the United Methodist Church. This call and this charge is in keeping with our mission and we long to live in a world where our bodies have the chance to grow and mature to the point where we can indeed live in a world where our presence is not seen as a threat to other’s existence.