While demonstrators took to the streets, local religious leaders called for peace from the pulpits.
Services at the Ebenezer Baptist Church echoed the fight for justice.
Pastor Raphael Warnock prayed for the community struggling with protests, unrest and calls for justice. The city where he once led another congregation with troubles that he says are not new.
“Freddie Gray suffered a kind of violence to his young life that did not begin the other day. It began as a young man growing up as a poor kid in the inner city of Baltimore,” said Warnock.
Warnock used scripture to remind his members to walk along with the young people fighting for justice in situations like the deaths of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Trayvon Martin and Nicholas Thomas in Atlanta.
“Remember the bumps in the road that they encountered and that even as we challenge the young people of this generation to pursue a non-violent strategy,” said Warnock. “If we’re going to be advocates of non-violence, we have to be comprehensive in our advocacy.”
He also called on people to think long-term, beyond a solution in the courtroom.
“There’s a lot more at stake than the conviction of six police officers. I lived in Baltimore, I served in Baltimore, I pastored in Baltimore,” said Warnock. “Baltimore’s gotta get better. America’s gotta get better. We owe it to our children.”
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