Oh God, Gye Nyame,1 the omnipotent, all-knowing, all-seeing God of our weary years, do not remain silent. We are calling out to You! Hear the cries of Your people!
Wicked and deceitful people continue to surround us with their lies, suffocating us with their hatred, smothering us with systemic racism, xenophobia, hegemony, and homophobia. They attack us without cause, relegating us to the balconies of society through systems they devised intending to keep a knee on our neck, deny our humanity, inflict violence upon our bodies to silence and annihilate us.
God, we have acted in good faith; we have not repaid evil for evil. Despite their hatred toward us, we have prayed for them; we have tried to be loving, peaceful, and friendly, yet they have invented systems and institutions that repay us with evil, lies, and contempt instead of love, truth, and justice.
Oh God, reveal their evil schemes. Publicly expose and display their treachery and sins; may they be arrested and jailed for treason. Bring them all to trial and let each one be found guilty.
Our enemies have been secretly plotting and praying for our destruction. May they, like Haman2, be captured and condemned by their own words, prayers, and plans. Shorten the days of their evil reign and seat rulers and legislators who seek justice and equality in their places of leadership.
May their descendants become like wandering beggars driven from the lands they stole. May the descendants of those they have displaced, killed, cheated, and enslaved acquire their possessions and equitably divide them among the oppressed. Cut off the descendants of evil, bringing an end to systemic racism and xenophobia, blotting these ideologies out for future generations.
God, keep their sins ever before Your eyes; don’t forget their evil doings. Remember the inequities of their mothers and fathers – colonialism3 and imperialism4, the Doctrine of Discovery5, Manifest Destiny,6 and American chattel slavery- never forget their offenses. Wipe their vile ideas and systems from the face of the earth forever, to be practiced and remembered no more.
Evil people never thought of doing justice and kindness. Instead, they hounded the poor, the needy, and the brokenhearted to death. They cursed us with their tongues and actions. May those very curses come back upon them. They found no pleasure in blessing others, may they find no blessings for themselves.
May the very hatred and curses they directed at us run through their bodies like water and lubricate their bones like oil, becoming self-fulfilling prophecies as the Lord’s repayment for the evil they have intended for others.
Oh God, sometimes we grow tired and feel as though we are fading. The enemy is still at hand, continuing to scorn and oppress us on every side. The battle for justice has been long and hard. Our hearts and souls are wounded and weary. We are fatigued and worn out. Yet we know that You love us and will move on our behalf because of Your goodness and mercy, because You are a God of justice and righteousness. Strengthen and deliver us.
Save us according to Your unfailing love. Help and rescue us! Show the enemy how You are moving on behalf of the marginalized and oppressed, the poor, and the needy. Undo their curses and reverse their plans and schemes. Show those who oppose the new wave sweeping over the land that “Black Lives Matter.” By Your hand, thwart the intentions of white supremacy intent on suppressing and annihilating black and brown people. Put them to shame! May they be humiliated and disgraced. When they curse us, bless us. When they attack us, abort their plans. When they try to destroy us, increase our numbers.
For we know You to be the God of the poor, the oppressed, and the needy. We know that You stand beside us in our continuing battle for liberation and justice, saving us from those who would do us harm. Lead us by Your mighty hand. Show Your strength and power against their evil schemes. Nyame, we give You thanks and praise for the victory and Your great mercy towards us. We will forever sing Your praises and bless Your holy name.
Amen, Ashè
1 This is the name for “God” in the Twi language of the Akan people of Ghana. Gye means except, Nyame means God. The literal English translation is Except for God. See Adolph Hilary Agbo, Values of Adrinka Symbols (Kumasi, Ghana: Department of Publishing Studies Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, 2011). 2 Esther 7: 1-10 3 Colonialism is the conquering and ruling of one country over other by military force and violence, exploiting the people and resources of the conquered country for the benefits of the conqueror; the establishment of colonies on foreign soil. http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-colonialism-and-imperialism/#ixzz6Pf0xCXpB. Accessed June 17, 2020. 4 Imperialism is the creation of a controlling economic and political empire in colonized or formerly colonized lands for the express financial benefit of the colonizer. 5 The Doctrine of Discovery was the European justification for invading, stealing and colonizing foreign lands under the false pretenses of promoting the Christian faith. Beginning in 1492 European explorers believed the invented and false ideology of white racial superiority gave them the right to dehumanize and annihilate indigenous peoples and cultures, then claim for themselves lands that were already inhabited, calling it their “discovery of The New World.” 6 Manifest Destiny was an outgrowth and American form of the Doctrine of Discovery. As the original 13 colonies expanded to the south and west the false belief that God had ordained whites to subdue indigenous Native Americans through violence and genocide, to steal, claim, develop and industrialize their land for white settlers; to enslave Africans for a free labor force all in the name of “god”.
