Dear Editor,

In the spirit of resistance and transformation, which I have been repeatedly advocating, it was so refreshing, gratifying even, to witness Mariann Budde, the first female bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC, speak truth to power at the interfaith inauguration prayer service at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday.

In the same hallowed halls where the State funeral for President Jimmy Carter was held, Bishop Budde stepped to the rostrum at the nationally publicised service and looked President Donald Trump, the First Lady Melania and their adoring MAGA entourage straight in their faces and called on Trump to have the decency to stop denigrating and scapegoating immigrant human beings and stop the trashing and endangering of transgender human beings.

Bishop Budde began with this appeal: “In the name of God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.” She concluded by vigorously illustrating and defending the humanity of immigrants and transgender people.

The shock and disdain on the faces of Trump, Melania, and the MAGA entourage was palpable. The face of Trump, who I have dubbed the Orange Man, almost turned red with rage at the thought that a bishop of the Episcopal Church, especially a woman, would have the unmitigated gall to publicly confront him and call out the indecency and evils of MAGAism.

In the spirit of resistance and transformation, Bishop Budde demonstrated the vision and audacity worthy of being designated a profile in courage. People of conscience and goodwill, the adherents of Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s beloved community, owe a debt of gratitude to Bishop Budde. We say kudos, big ups to her for speaking truth to power.

Dr Ron Daniels

President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century

info@ibw21.org