On behalf of myself, and on behalf of my country, to you and all African Americans, from the beginning of our nation's history, in honor of your ancestors and for the sake of your children, please hear this from my heart...
I apologize,
please forgive us.

With this prayer I acknowledge the depth of evils that have been perpetrated against black people in America.
From slavery, to lynchings, to white supremacist laws, to the denial of voting rights, to all the ways both large and small, that abuses have occurred — all of them evil, all of them wrong.
For all the oppression and all the injustice...
I apologize,
please forgive us.

For the denial of human and civil rights, for inequities in criminal justice, for instances of police brutality, for the denial of opportunity, for economic injustice, for all ways that racism has fostered these wrongs...
I apologize,
please forgive us.

With this prayer I acknowledge the beauty and genius of your culture, the power and genius of those who came before you, of your children and all your descendants. With this prayer we pray that you, your children, and especially your men be blessed and protected.
May your men be blessed and protected.
May your men be blessed and protected.

May all your men, women and children be surrounded by angels at this time.

Dear God, may a great healing occur.
We place in your hands the relationship between black and white Americans.
May we be lifted high above the walls that divide us.
May our hearts be awakened to our truth of our oneness.
May racism and prejudice be no more.
May they dissolve in the presence of Your love.
Please come upon us and heal our hearts.

To you, my African American fellow citizen, please accept my apology on this day. It is to you and your grandparents, and their grandparents before them, and their grandparents before them.

May the screams that were not allowed, be allowed now.
May the cries that were never heard be heard now.
May the tears that were never heard be heard now.
And may the healing begin.

In this sacred container, may the healing begin.
May the Light of love now heal us all.
Amen

 

--Marianne Williamson