In 2012, Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, was shot dead in Sanford, Florida, by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. Trayvon, who was Black, was walking home from a store when Zimmerman, thinking Trayvon was suspicious, tackled him. When it appeared that Trayvon was gaining the edge in the fight, Zimmerman, who is not Black, shot and killed the teen, claiming self-defense.

Two years later, he was acquitted of all charges in Trayvon’s death. Outrage in the Black community inspired the birth of BlackLivesMatter, an organization and a movement further fueled by the 2013 fatal shooting of Michael Brown. These two murders and others, including the callous 2020 murder of George Floyd have made #BlackLivesMatter a rallying cry and plea to the world to recognize that Black people do matter.

God values all He has created.

Black lives are valuable because God says so. Black people may be devalued in far too many circles, but God values all He has created. He always has and always will.