“In less than 72 hours, we’ve seen two lives and two souls of black men dead, and now we’ve seen five lives and five souls of policemen dead.We see two fathers, two sons, two brothers in the community, just trying to make it, being killed by those who are supposed to protect and serve. But we also see five officers, five public servants, five members of families, killed and shot while trying to protect and serve. …We’re seeing it too much. Rather than love and humanity, we’re seeing hate and inhumanity: violence and death and terrorism. And whether it’s the violence and police terror by those who misuse the badge, or the violence and terror against those who wear the badge and are doing their sworn duty, it is wrong.Violence will only beget more violence…. In this moment we must mourn for those killed and the families left behind. We must denounce violence and embrace nonviolence. Violence cannot lead us forward.”From a speech given by the Rev. William Barber, state president of the NC NAACP. Barber spoke to the media in Raleigh on Friday morning following the deaths of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota and the deaths of five policemen in Dallas this week.
