Turnipseed pens open letter to Darnella Frazier

This is an open letter to Darnella Frazier, the woman who filmed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, written and read by Dr. Sade Turnipseed at Indianola’s 100 Man March last Thursday. Turnipseed is pictured above reading the letter on the steps of the Sunflower County Courthouse.

The world saw the life being choked, strangled, and kneed out of the man called Big Floyd, as you stood steady and took your shot. In defiance of four big-high-powered guns and fierce stares of hatred you did not flinch. Steady as you rolled with the threat of mace in your face. You stood stronger than the menacing glares of evil … in the form of four killers of justice. I am so proud of you, Darnella Frazier. YOU are the true SHERO! So, I want to take this moment and ask the world to celebrate YOU.

It is because of your strength, DETERMINATION, and steady hand that we ALL saw George. As he lay on the scorched pandemic grounds of white supremacy he slipped from life back into the black womb of his mama. You captured that moment. Indeed it was painful. Yet magic prevailed, because it was the actual reversal of George “Perry” Floyd’s birth. It was in that moment George felt the birthing pains of his mother. It was in this moment that the world began to scream … and cry … I cried. It was at that moment that the spirit of our ancestors rose to say Black Lives Matter, more than they know. Enough is enough!

Darnella Frazier, YOU are the one for whom the ancestors waited. By shining your little light on the deeds of evil, YOU exposed the devil. By refusing to turn away from your focused outrage YOU became the savior of goodness. By the courage of your steady hand YOU became God’s purveyor of enlightenment. Thank you my sweet precious angel for allowing the ancestors to carry you thus far along the way. May God continue to bless you and shine her ever-loving light of hope and promise through your brilliant eyes. You are the child that changed the world.

For the blind, who refused to recognize the pain of those among us that was your moment of enlightenment. It was in that moment the Earth shook and the world felt it. It was in that moment the world saw and became outraged too. Perhaps, it was for the first time they, like 17-year-old Darnella, watched a big, strong, beautiful, African warrior man become decapitated by white oppression; while at the same time witnessing the spirit of Mother Africa reclaim his soul … from dust to dust… 

The spirits of our ancestors have been here all the while. It was prophesized long ago that a child shall lead the way, to peace and love on this Earth. Through the steady hand of Darnella Frazier, the 17 year-old child who opened her camera phone, showing us all the ever-present deception of evil and exposing the vessel through which evil dwells. We should all thank HER!

The real question is WHAT ARE THE REST OF US GOING TO DO?

In this moment, I feel good … not great … but good; BECAUSE, we ain’t done yet. Darnella has done her part. Now it is time for the rest of us to get up and finish the work that has been handed down for over four hundred years. The ancestors sat patiently on the precipice of death, and watched the misery and destruction in this “land of freedom” called America. For far too long we stood waiting on truth, justice and righteousness … while waiting on the Lord. Through the spirit of our ancestors, we can now emerge from the precipice to see clearly what we all must do. We MUST FIGHT FOR JUSTICE, AND BE STEADFAST IN OUR RIGHTEOUS TRUTH. We all have a roll to play in our own salvation.

The CHALLENGES are do we hold steady our hand in love and our belief in humanity … humaneness … through the image and example of Darnella? Or, do we acquiesce and assimilate into the depths of hell and become like our oppressor and participate in the holding of the knee on our necks? We, like the rest of the world, should see the evil, and recognize the jealousy, and selfish greed amongst us that dwells in this space to crush, kill, and destroy the rich beauty of Mother Earth, with their wretched desires of power and control over our fellow man.

This is indeed the moment of change.

C. Sade Turnipseed, PhD