Say Their Names
June 2021
After fifteen months of being in a pandemic, it looks like the United States is recovering. Summer is in the air, and people are coming out of hiding, now that 45.1% of the total U.S population has been fully vaccinated. And, although these numbers are moving in the right direction, we can’t ignore the horrific tragedies that are happening in Brazil and in India. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, aunts, and uncles continue to die in unprecedented numbers. The world is awash in death.
A recent Open Letter from Association of Theological Schools (ATS) Latinx Presidents and Deans testifies to deaths from COVID-19 while also alerting us to the wave of deaths from gun violence affecting communities of color—particularly violence against members of the Latino/a community—at the hands of law enforcement in a disproportionate manner. In light of these unjust deaths, the letter encourages us not “to succumb to ‘compassion fatigue’” but to instead lift our hearts and our voices, and call out the names of the many Latinx individuals, including children, who are killed daily by abusive law-enforcement practices. As we stand in solidarity with our African-American and Asian brothers and sisters, we also cannot ignore that there is little to no mention in the news when Latinx peoples are intentionally brutalized and killed. The presidents and deans who signed the open letter urge you to stand in solidarity with us and speak against this ongoing injustice. Say the names out loud, and remember that these men and women are children of God!
Join us in saying their names out loud: Adam Toledo, Mario González, Antonio Valenzuela, Andrés Guardado, Sean Monterrosa, Antonio Báez…and say to their families and communities, “¡Presente!”
In the wake of the Summer Solstice, let us emerge from invisibility and silence. HTI Open Plaza offers a space where together we can voice these and the many more issues needing the spark of new understandings and hopes. We see such sparks in our most recent podcast and blog features: “Complicated Grief in Extraordinary Times” with Rev. Dr. Loida Martell and psychologist Rev. Dr. Yvonne Martínez Thorne, and “The Harlem Lynching Tree, with Poems for Alma” by graduate student Taylor Alexis Baker, coinciding with Juneteenth’s inaugural observance as a federal holiday in the U.S.
Open Plaza invites you to further amplify our voice in the public square by contributing your own: How do you ‘say their names’ en lo cotidiano, be it through your ministry, scholarship, activism, work or daily life?
We trust that, en conjunto, we become wise, graceful leaders who bring about life-giving changes in your day-to-day and in the lives of those you serve.
Siempre presente,
Rev. Joanne Rodríguez
Executive Director
Hispanic Theological Initiative
