Father Pfleger: ‘Hadiya is the seed planted to raise up interrupters of violence’

‘See you on the other side’

 

By Chinta Strausberg

 

Fifteen-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was caught in a barrage of bullets as she and her friends huddled underneath a canopy at a Kenwood Park is the seed needed to raise up “interrupters” of violence Father Michael L. Pfleger said Sunday and at her funeral.

Today, Pfleger said Chicago mourned her burial, her death and her murder.

“I pray that as the scripture says the seed that falls to the ground produces a harvest. I pray that and believe that she is the seed and that we will have a waking up in this country that’s gone wild, in this country where guns become the first line of offense and where we have abandoned the poor and abandoned our communities of color,” said Pfleger. “I pray that we wake up.”

Pfleger recognized the father of Hadiya, Nathaniel Anthony Pendleton, and her godfather, Damon Stewart who attended Sunday’s worship at Saint Sabina.

In addressing the church, Mr. Pendleton, who received a protracted round of applause, said he had planned on coming to church and just praying and he thanked those who wished his family well and their support.

Pendleton’s message was clear,” stop turning away. It’s been a lot of deaths over the news, a lot of kids, and a lot of times we look at the news and say, ‘wow, a kid got killed, an innocent kid, why’? Then you turn the TV off and forget about it. Let’s stop forgetting about it,” he said as the church applauded.

“I can say this today because I won’t turn my head anymore because when it comes back to you, it hurts. It hurts really bad,” Mr. Pendleton said.

Hadiya’s godfather, Damon Stewart, said, “We celebrated Hadiya’s difficult. My head was hurting, but this is the first morning that I can recall.” He said the first thing on his mind was to go to church. “So for those who have been praying the fact that we are here standing life until the twilight hours. Waking up this morning was here before you shows you that prayer works.“

Turning to the mural of Jesus that hangs behind the choir of Saint Sabina, Damon said, “I hope that my prayer works because my prayer which I am saying to Jesus now is that you find a way to help all of these good people find somebody to help. They don’t know where they are at; find them in their families. Please, because we don’t need nobody to fix our problems. We can fix it ourselves.”

First Lady Michelle Obama attended Saturday funeral of Hadiya at the Greater Harvest Missionary Baptist Church, 5141 So. State Street. Hadiya, an honors student, was murdered just a mile from President Obama’s home just eight days after she performed at Obama’s inauguration.

A number of Hadiya’s best friends made emotional remarks about their love for their slain classmates but all said what they remember most was her infectious smile.

Stewart, who is a police officer, said at the funeral, “Do the simple thing…. Find someone with your blood that runs through your vein that you see falling down the wayside and make the decision you will not turn your back on them.”

At the funeral, Father Pfleger spoke on the escalating number of shootings in the communities saying, “We must interrupt the Code of Silence that is hiding people, killers in our own community, and we must interrupt this evil that is snatching our future.”

Pfleger talked about Hadiya’s “beauty and her innocence and her joy and her contagious smile cause each of us to recognize our failure as a society that has allowed guns to become part of our wardrobe.” Pfleger asked, “When did we lose our soul”?

Referring to the parents of Hadiya, Cleopatra and Nathaniel Anthony Pendleton, Father Pfleger said, “Your anguish faces of pain and hurt become the face of parents all across America who have loved and raised and done all the right things for their children and now find themselves losing them.

“We must become like Jesus,” he said. “We must become the interrupters of funeral processions seeking to bury our future. We, government and business and law enforcement officials and entertainment, schools, houses of worships, communities and parents, we, all of us must become the interrupters of this genocide.

“We must interrupt the Code of Silence that is hiding people, killers in our own community,” Pfleger told the church. “We must interrupt this evil that is snatching our future.” To Hadiya’s parents, Pfleger said, “I believe like the scripture says like a seed falls to the ground and produces a harvest of interrupters who say, ‘enough is enough.’ I believe Hadiya is our seed, and I believe that we will all be judged by future generations for what we do right now.

“Precious Hadiya, you were excited to been at the inauguration in the presence of the President, but today you sit at the welcome table in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. His name is Jesus. Welcome home, sweet Hadiya. See you on the other side,” said Pfleger.

Besides First Lady Michelle Obama, also attending Hadiya’s funeral were: Gov. Pat Quinn, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Valerie Jarrett, who is senior advisor to President Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. and many others.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.