In The Cross and the Lynching Tree, theologian James Cone powerfully recounts how it was the voice of Jesus that enabled the mother of Emmett Till, Mamie Till Bradley, to find the courage to expose herself to further terror in her life by deciding to show the mutilated face of her dead son in an open casket funeral so that the world could bear witness to the horrific effect of white supremacy.2 Similarly, it was the voice of Jesus that gave Martin Luther King Jr. courage to press on in his efforts to seek civil rights for the African American community when he was regularly harassed by phone
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