Today Tabernacle United Church welcomed the Thompsons to a new Sanctuary location. Clergy from surrounding congregations as well as from Carmela’s Sanctuary church, Germantown Mennonite Church, came out to say that they are dedicated to surrounding the family with care until the day the Thompsons are free.
“We have been living in Sanctuary for more than two years. Two years is way too long. Too many Black and Brown folks that look like me are not free to walk in a neighborhood, talk, walk on the street or just march freely. The injustice is even happening while we are asleep in our own beds. One might say once you’re in bed, you’re safe. But that’s not true for Black families. The time for justice and freedom is now.”
– Oneita Thompson
“If the laws were just, they wouldn’t be here. If the laws were anti-racist, they wouldn’t be here. If the laws were humane and treated Black and Brown people equal to White people they wouldn’t be here. But the reality is they are here because our racist and violent immigration laws have forced them here. Anti-blackness is in our immigration system just as it runs through the fabric of this country and its policies. We are here today to say no. We are here to challenge these laws. We are here to stand with the Thompsons and fight alongside them.”
– Pastor Katie Aikens, Pastor of Tabernacle United Church
