Hundreds line the east sidewalk on Troost Avenue in socially-distanced prayer chain
Hundreds of people lined up on the east sidewalk of Troost Avenue on Friday evening to form a unified, but socially distanced, human prayer chain.
The event, Pray on Troost, was organized by various church communities of several denominations. The Concerned Clergy Coalition of Kansas City, Pray KC and Civil Righteousness were among the groups involved, which also included nonprofits, businesses and other community leaders.
Pastor Greg Ealey, one of the community leaders involved in organizing, said pastor Jonathan Tremaine Thomas, who Ealey said was responsible for the prayer wall that eventually led to peace following protests in Ferguson, Missouri, visited a group of church leaders last year.
And when protests broke out in Kansas City at the end of May, Ealey said the group remembered Thomas’ vision.
They chose Troost as the place to pray because it represents “the most division in Kansas City,” Ealey said. Troost is considered the unofficial color line of Kansas City’s segregated past.
Cars driving by honked in support as some participants waved. Others stood with their hands raised to the sky as they prayed, or bowed their heads in prayer. Others held signs, including at least one that said, “Black Lives Matter.”
The avenue covers about 10 miles.
“Let’s stand on Troost and pray against those walls of division and pray that God will make a wall of unity,” Ealey said minutes before the hour of prayer was set to begin. “And as we call out to God on Troost Avenue, we’re asking God to bring his truth and to use that truth to unify his church so that we can fight against the injustices in our cities.”
Ealey, originally from Texas, said organizers choose Juneteenth for its representation of emancipation of the slaves.
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, is the oldest national celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that slaves were free. It came 2.5 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on Jan. 1, 1863.
A prayer guide available to participants offered four suggestions: pause, rejoice, ask, and yield or yes.
For the first five to 10 minutes on Friday, participants could take the time to be present in their prayer. The next 10 to 15 minutes, they could give praise to and thank God, as well as pray for Kansas City and the area around Troost.
The next 30 minutes, according to the guide, could be spent asking for forgiveness in ways people may have been complicit with racism or for the ways someone had been wronged by it.
Last, people could say yes to committing to action for racial equity and being the answer to their own prayers.
Following the prayer, the event website also suggests for participants to educate themselves on Kansas City history, starting with a history of Troost.
Trenae Baker, a 41-year-old mother of three daughters, said she was praying for healing and for people to have true freedom.
“I feel like it’s kind of symbolic today that we get to stand here and pray,” Baker said about the Troost location.
Baker taped the word healing to her flowery mask.
“I feel like we as a people need that healing from the past, from the hurt and from all those years of being oppressed and held back so that we can finally be free,” Baker said.
Baker said she talked with her daughters, ages 15, 13 and 10, about the meaning of Juneteenth and what it must have felt like to know slavery was over.
She said her eldest daughter asked why racism still exists. Baker told her daughter that while it does persist, young people are making a difference.
“I think this is a sign that people are wanting to make a difference; they want to make a change,” Baker said. “And they’re taking a step of faith.”
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 9:57 PM.
