Faith leaders hope Chauvin verdict lifts racial justice work
By DAVID CRARY and LUIS ANDRES HENAOApril 21, 2021 GMT
Faith leaders in Minnesota and across the United States expressed hope that their advocacy work for racial justice will gain momentum from the guilty verdict rendered against Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted of killing George Floyd.
“It’s very encouraging for our overall work around racial justice to see the system, in this case, work,” said the Rev. Curtiss DeYoung, CEO of the Minnesota Council of Churches. “It makes us believe even more in God.”
Stacey Smith, a member of the council’s board and presiding elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Minnesota, suggested Tuesday’s murder conviction could energize the council’s recently launched “truth and reparations” initiative.