A song of lament, for the next child we know will fall

Sometimes when there are no words, we turn to music.

As you likely know, the last weeks have brought heavy news. We are mourning three mass shootings committed during the Lunar New Year weekend in California as well as the fatal beating of Black citizen Tyre Nichols by Memphis police officers. The grief falls especially heavy among Asian American and Black brothers and sisters. And while I typically don’t plan to use this newsletter to respond to the latest news, this time I wanted to share with you a song that I have found helpful in times of lamenting race-related tragedies.

This past October my husband and I attended one of the most moving musical events I’ve ever attended–a pairing up of midwestern singer song writer Peter Mulvey with the artists known as Sista Strings, Monique and Chauntee Ross. The concert included the piece “Song for Michael Brown,” written after Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014.

Here are some of the lyrics:

I’m asking you to have some compassion

for young, dead, Michael Brown.

and for his family, and for his city,

and for the man who shot him down.

And for all of the marchers, for the cops and the soldiers,

and for the angry white man on TV.

For the mothers, and the hopeful, and the fearful,

and the hateful, and the righteous,

and you and me …

and for our neighbors, one and all.

And most especially,

for the next child,

for the next child

we know will fall.

Warning: I cried through the whole song the first time, and pretty much every time I’ve heard it since. Call me an Enneagram 4, but I’m convinced that sometimes tears an absolutely necessary response to tragedy. Yes, there’s a thing called “white tears” to beware of, in which white people cry in ways that bring attention to themselves to avoid blame or make people of color responsible for their sadness. But to avoid white tears you shouldn’t stop feeling sad for the wrong in the world. As one white woman who has spent years leading diversity trainings told me in my research, “This is upsetting, this is heavy work, and you’re going to cry.” I believe tears are too often treated as a sign of weakness rather than a source of power.

Whatever emotions you find in yourself as you hear lament racial tragedies, whether sadness, anger, or even numbness, your feelings are not the end point. The point is to pay attention. Let this sink in. Ask questions. Investigate the bigger picture. Pray. Connect this to your work, your conversations, your calling. Ask what needs to happen next, and next, and next.

I hope you’ll set aside a few minutes today to listen to the “Song for Michael Brown.” Pause, pay attention, and respond.

Song for Michael Brown

Peter Mulvey

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A song of lament, for the next child we know will fall

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