Elijah Rock,
shout, shout
Elijah Rock
comin’ up, Lord
Elijah Rock,
shout, shout
Elijah Rock
comin’ up, Lord
Elijah,
Elijah, Elijah
Elijah,
Elijah, Elijah
Satan is a
liar and a conjurer too
If you don’t
watch out, he’ll conjure you
If I could,
I surely would
Stand on the
rock where Moses stood
Elijah Rock,
shout, shout, shout
Elijah Rock
comin’ up Lord** (Mahalia Jackson)
Dear
Abba Father-Mother
I
come before You to speak on behalf of our beloved son, gifted with
The Fruit of
The Spirit
His
name
ELIJAH
ELIJAH
Jovan McClain
Age
twenty-three
When he died
After
a violent arrest on August 24, 2019
Elijah
was murdered in Aurora, Colorado
A
neighbor reported a suspicious person on his street.
That
he was flailing his arms made the caller suspect something was awry,
nevertheless,
the
caller indicated that the young man was not believed to be armed
or
that anyone was in immediate danger.
Acting suspiciously… twirling about
with a mask covering his face.
While
he breezily strolled down his home street
feeling
the music beat in his eardrums
which
struck the hum in his feet.
But he looked “sketchy” –
The arm flailing was thought by the
people who knew him
that he was most likely dancing as
he listened to
music walking home from a convenient
store after buying iced tea.
It was night, after 10.
Elijah wore a ski mask for warmth
while walking,
because he was anemic and got cold
easily.
(That he was a person with an autism spectrum disorder,
high-functioning, has also been implied – bbc.com))
An
officer pulls up, gets out his car, approaches Elijah on the sidewalk,
(as
the body cam roll foretold), and says to Elijah, “Stop right there. Stop. Stop…”
Elijah
responds, “I have a right to walk where I’m going.”
“I
have a right to stop you because you’re being suspicious. Turn around…”
He
puts his hand on Elijah’s shoulder, turns him around,
“Stop
tensing up.”
I
imagine Elijah was confused by the hostile stop…
He
verbally protested, saying to the officer,
“Stop,
stop, leave me alone, let go of me…”
He
is told, “Relax, or I’m going to have to change this situation.”
McClain
is heard saying, “I’m an introvert,“
“Please
respect the boundaries that I am speaking.”
Two
additional officers joined in and Elijah is slammed into a wall.
He
begs them to let him go, saying…
”You
guys started to arrest me and I was stopping my music to listen.”
The
police body camera does not capture visually what happen afterwards.
But the audio can be overheard.
As
he was placed in a chokehold, handcuffed,
and
violently tackled and thrown to the ground.
Yet,
as Elijah was being restrained,
the
police officers threatened him for struggling.
Threatened to be bitten by their
police dog.
Elijah
pleaded for understanding,
and
tried to explain himself to them.
In
the audio, Elijah can be heard sobbing and pleading, saying…
I can’t breathe…I can’t breathe
please…please stop.
I can’t breathe…I have my ID right here…
my
name is Elijah McClain…
that’s my house… I was just going
home, I’m an introvert,
I’m just different, that all,
I’m so sorry.
I have no gun, I don’t do stuff, I don’t do any fighting…
why
are you attacking me?!
I don’t even kill flies…
I don’t eat meat, but I don’t judge
people,
I don’t judge people who do eat meat.
Forgive me, all I was trying to do
was become better.
I will do it I will do anything…
sacrifice my identity. I’d do it. You
all are phenomenal.
You are beautiful and I love you…
try to forgive me… I’m a mood Gemini. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…
Oww! that really hurts…
you are all very strong. Team work
makes the dreams work…
(He vomits)
oh, I’m sorry… I wasn’t trying to do
that…
I just can’t breathe correctly.
His
words fell on deaf ears.
At
some point, he passes out.
The
recovered body camera shows Elijah handcuffed,
lying
on his side and vomiting as an officer leans on him.
(He vomits on more than one
occasion.)
They said the body cams were knocked
off during the struggle…
From all three officers… Right.
With
his hands locked behind his back and a carotid control hold applied,
which cuts
off blood flow to the brain by compressing the sides of the neck
where
the carotid arteries are located,
and
causes the person to lose consciousness.
Other
officers arrived on the scene.
And
were told by the restraining officers, that Elijah was acting crazy …
that
this young man had attacked them with “incredible strength.”
…as Elijah lay cuffed and restrained
to the ground barely breathing.
This young man who was five feet 6
inches tall and weighed
140 pounds.
When
the Aurora Fire Rescue medics arrived,
an
officer told them that he was “on something…”
So,
Elijah, without being examined,
was
injected with a large dose of ketamine –
500
mg –
An improper ingested substance of the
sedative ketamine,
used to treat a syndrome of “excited
delirium.”
Above the limit of “what’s right.”
A sedative for someone who had
demonstrated
super human strength…
This young man who was laid out on
the ground barely conscious
when they arrived.
Elijah
was placed in an ambulance without any indication of breathing,
and
without a pulse…
…the breath of life having been
forced from his body…
hard-pressed constraint.
He had been restrained for 18 minutes.
He suffered cardiac arrest on his way
to the hospital.
While
in the hospital he was declared brain dead on August 27 and
Died three days later on August 30.
The
excessive forced actions taken were explained
as
justified
due
to the fact that he didn’t follow their commands.
Truth be told…. Their actions were
cruel, barbarous, harsh,
uncaring, callous, insensitive, immoral, criminal, wickedness.
A
photograph taken on 10/20/2019 near a memorial for Elijah show officers of the
department
posing in a show-of-hands stand reenacting the carotid restraint used on
Elijah.
It
was shared by a number of the officers involved in the gleeful playacting –
demonstrating
their great might, staged for delight –
recreating
in jest, a spoof of the carotid magic moment…with the words “ha ha.”
Their
power of control in the manhandling of a frightened young man of color;
their
might making right the demoralizing plight of a pure innocent soul
who
was helpless in this degrading senseless act of cruel injustice.
The
acting police chief called the images a crime against humanity and decency.
A
prime demonstration of man’s love of cruelty.
He takes great pleasure in torment.
It
is the world we live in… all over the world, cruelty and brutality,
malice
and viciousness
are
characteristics of the dark side of the human race.
Elijah
(also spelled Elias) is a Hebrew name – The Hebrew “Eliyyahu” -
meaning
“my God is Yahweh/Yahweh is my God.”
(“Jehovah is my God” in the Greek).
Our son Elijah was a massage
therapist;
Elijah shared an apartment with his
cousin in the neighborhood;
Elijah never committed a crime;
Never arrested.
Elijah was a man of a peaceful
spirit,
a peacemaker blessed of the peace bestowed
upon
the children of God.
Matthew 5:9
His
mother, Miss Sheneen, said he was gifted intellectually,
had
taught himself to play the guitar, cello and the violin
and
took his instruments to the animal shelter
where
he played for the abandoned animals to give them ease…
sharing
his comfort to the strays.
His love of animals, and his caring
heart for animals was also
extended to humankind.
He was a sweet pure-hearted person. A
client described him–
”The purest person I have ever met;
he was light in a darkened world,
could not kill a mouse.”
Elijah was described as a spiritual
seeker, a pacifist,
an oddball of sorts,
a vegetarian.
He didn’t eat meat
because
he didn’t like to eat animals.
Elijah was gentle and kind.
The family lawyer described him as an
angel among humans.
Elijah’s mother, Miss Sheneen,
wondered,
“How God allowed this to happen…”
I too…
“How could the world be so evil?”
Sadly, It is true.
But
there is The Word written in the biblical book of Amos,
spoken
by Dr. King, in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” (1963)
“We will not be satisfied until
justice rolls down like waters,
and righteousness like a mighty stream.” (Amos 5:24)
Amen. So be it.
Elijah’s
mother said Elijah’s dream was to live on a cruise ship
and work in massage
therapy – seeing
the world
while healing people at the same time.
He was said to be a cheerful soul
A positive spirit
A caring heart
A charming fellow
And a young man with a good sense of
humor
Brought joy to everyone who met him
(It has been implied that he was
autistic – bbc.com))
He possessed the characteristics of
the Fruit of the Spirit:
peace,
love, joy, patience,
faithfulness, self- control,
kindness, goodness, gentleness.
Galatians 5:22-23
ELIJAH was a good person.
He was the best of us. He was sunshine.
He questioned the white authority and
was met
with disrespect of persons;
he chose to take stand for himself
and was met with a brick wall.
Initially, the
city department had determined the officers had not violated policy
and the
prosecutor did not bring charges.
In fact
attempts were made to cover up the crime and sweep it under the rug.
But the case
received renewed interest during the uprising activism
and the
protests over police brutality.
And the
Governor ordered a new investigation.
Investigations
found the Aurora police didn’t have legal basis to stop, frisk
and choke
Elijah.
The Grand Jury
indicted 3 police officers and 2 paramedics on a combined 32 counts.
Charged with manslaughter and criminally
negligent homicide,
second-degree assault and crime of
violence.
Aurora agreed
to pay $15 million to Elijah’s parent to settle the civil rights lawsuit
over the
wrongful death of Elijah.
It
took me a long time to write about this story/incident.
It
churned in my spirit –
bubbling
up to the surface like the floodgates of rain.
Blessed
peace be with you Elijah in The Bosom of The Lord.
Amen.
So
be it.
You
would think as man grows into a higher level of being,
an
upwards higher consciousness,
he
would become aware of his hindrances…
due
to his own destructive habits.
Yet
he continues to fall into the depths of lowliness and depravity.
Everything
is learned taught and passed on.
Selah…
Elijah Rock, shout, shout
Elijah Rock, comin’ up, Lord..d..d..d..d…
Violin photo from
Denver Post courtesy of Elijah’s father, LaWayne Mosely…
the other two
photos courtesy of Sheneen McClain
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and nothing.” John Stuart Mill, influential British philosopher of the nineteenth century.
“In this
country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.”
“I always
looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, for the other
person.
I never
absorbed that. I always thought that there was something deficient about such
people.”
Toni Morrison,
American novelist awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature,
The Pulitzer Prize, The Presidential
Medal of Freedom; a professor, editor, and publisher
“I imagine
one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is
because they
sense, once hate is
gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
James Baldwin, American writer, and activist
“Their
institutions have taught no respect for human life, and especially the life of
the Negro.”
Frederick
Douglass, American social reformer, orator, writer, and statesman
“Neutrality
helps the oppressor, never the victims.
Silence encourages the tormentor, never the
tormented.”
Elie Wiesel, Romanian-born American writer, professor,
political activist, Nobel laureate
“And God
saith, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…
And God
prepareth the man in His image; in the image of God He prepared him,
A male and a
female He prepared them” Genesis
1:26-27
“Then
Peter came to Jesus and asked,
‘Lord,
how many times shall my brother or sister who sins against me,
and
I forgive him? Til seven times?’ Jesus saith to him,
‘I
do not say to thee seven times, but seventy times seven.’”
Matthew
18:21-22 YLT
“Bless Jehovah, ye His messengers, Mighty in
power –
doing His Word,
To hearken to the Voice of His Word.” Psalm
103:20 YLT
**Originally performed by Mahalia Jackson,
Recorded by Mahalia Jackson
on album “Recorded in Europe During Her
Concert Tour” (1962);
Lyrics by Moses Hogan Chorale;
Arrangements by composer Jester Hairston
Sources: The
Denver Post; auroragov.org – “The Elijah McClain Case” –
cpr.org;
Wikipedia; The Guardian; nbcnews.com; nydailynews.com;
Reuters;
bbc.com; NYPost; CNN
The Love of The
Supreme is supreme for all human beings
