On Monday's Boston Public Radio, the Rev. Irene Monroe and the Rev. Emmett G. Price offered praise for a series of pro-police reform protests staged by Massassachusetts faith leaders over the weekend.
Saturday's protests took place outside the homes of top state legislators Sen. Karen Spilka and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, both Democrats, as well as the home of Republican Gov. Charlie Baker in Swampscott. Demonstrators held signs and sang holiday carols, some with modified lyrics urging racial equality.
"I thought it was great,” Price said of the event. “Who would be upset about some loving people shedding light, spreading light and singing Christmas hymns? What a beautiful approach to trying to advocate for some extremely important legislation.”
Earlier this month, Baker declined to sign the long-awaited police reform bill, instead sending it back to the State House with additional ammendments. Racial justice adocates have criticized one of those ammendments, which would allow unrestricted use of facial recognition software by police in the commonwealth.
Monroe shared the perspective of her All Rev’d Up cohost, adding, "It’s a shame when you’ve gotta get ministers to stand out in front of Charlie Baker’s residence.”
"We’re busy this time of year,” she said.
The Rev. Irene Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist, the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail and a visiting researcher in the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at Boston University School of Theology. Emmett Price is a executive director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Together, they host GBH’s All Rev’d Up podcast.
