Black community leaders call for spiritual change

Published 6:47 pm Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Tuesday evening, the Tyler community gathered together at Liberty Baptist Church for a candle light prayer night in memory of George Floyd and other black lives lost to police brutality. Guests and speakers included a number of elected officials and community leaders, including Tyler Mayor Martin Heines, Councilman Don Warren, Sheriff Larry Smith, Constable Bobby Garmon, and Dr. Orenthia Mason.

“I can’t pretend to understand the pain that has been felt by my brothers and sisters in the African American community,” said Tyler Mayor Martin Heines. “I and my fellow elected officials, as public servants of the city of Tyler, have a responsibility to acknowledge the hurt and anguish, not just from this one brutal act, but decades of prejudice. We have a responsibility to denounce injustice in all its forms however and wherever it exists.”

According the organizers, the goal of the prayer night was to defeat the activities of racism in the nation and promote global healing. Along with cries demanding racial justice came cries of “amen” in support of spiritual awakening preached by local religious leaders.

“In the midst of this pandemic, and in the midst of all this racism that we have faced from generation to generation, we offer you the Prince of Peace,” said Reverend Ralph Caraway of St. Louis Baptist Church. “There is no peace apart from God.”

Dr. Orenthia Mason, a recent retiree of Tyler ISD, echoed the need for not just social or racial change, but spiritual change and deliverance from oppression.

“In order to be delivered from something, there has to be a higher power than you, because we cannot deliver ourselves from anything,” said Mason. “In order to be delivered you have to know God and the pardon of you sins.”

In addition to spiritual awakening, speakers also emphasized the importance of voting for change, as early voting information was passed out to bystanders. Speakers and guests at the event wore masks, and the public was encouraged to stay in their cars to promote social distancing.

The event stayed peaceful throughout the entire evening.