A year after Golubski’s suicide, I won’t stop fighting for his victims | Opinion

How do I feel one year later, after the suicide of Roger Golubski? I feel like standing with the women and families who were terrorized by the former Kansas City, Kansas, police detective’s abuse of power for decades. I feel like reminding everyone in the Unified Government of Wyandotte County that we can’t keep pretending that the system that allowed such injustices to occur died with Golubski.

I feel like demanding that we be and do better, because all of us need closure. All of us need to know that our voices are heard and valuable. Most of all, we need to know that none of our lives are expendable.

While I’m not one of the many women Golubski victimized, I am a Black woman who grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. Back then, I heard whispers about how we weren’t safe in certain places, even if people wore a badge. I’m a grown woman now with two daughters, and I wish I didn’t have to worry about them being harmed. I wish I believed they would be treated justly if they were harmed by a person with power or influence, but I know that’s not the case. That’s why I’m committed to seeing a change come so that my daughters don’t have to fight this same fight for their children.

No, I don’t live in Kansas City, Kansas, anymore, but I’m still tied to it. I still want to see it become a safe place for all. I still want those who live, work and pass through there to know we are capable of being and doing better.

That’s why I’m proud to say I won’t stop demanding that justice comes. I won’t shut up about it. I won’t stop fighting for it. I will keep speaking truth to power and the powerless. I will remind every silenced mother, daughter, sister and aunt in Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County that they matter — that their voices matter, and they deserve to live without fear.

The Rev. Rachel Williams-Glenn is pastor of St. Luke A.M.E. Church in Lawrence.