Prayer Vigil for Anita Brooks

Today I was at a Prayer Vigil for a homicide victim a few blocks from where I grew up. When we arrived from another prayer vigil for another homicide victim, an up and coming rapper, there was very large crowd of people in front of the apartment building where she lived. Many were crying and you could feel the grief for this 27 year women, Anita Brooks, who had been shot. When we asked families and friends to share some happy memories about her so we could get to know her a bit, people poured out love for her and how she was, as one woman said, “an old wise soul in a young body”.

After the prayer service I learned she had a husband and young daughter and how very spiritual a person she is. One of her sisters showed me a book of poetry she had published. When I got home I went to the web to look for Poetic Justice to purchase her poetry book. I could not find the book but found a blog she started in May of 2010. There is a description of her and two postings from May 25th, 2010. At top of the blog is this quote from her: “I write & recite to paint pictures for those without sight so they too can see the light!” The two postings were on Perfection, striving for it. She has a real way with words and I was still hunting for her book of poetry.

On the way back to the car the death of my son, Peter, also an artist, struck me hard. One young girl was crying out at the prayer vigil today: “I cannot accept it” and “It makes no sense”.

Tonight on the news I heard that a 28 year old man was being held on suspicion of domestic violence in her death. Also in my searching for her book of poetry during this writing I read a Milwaukee Journal Opinion piece that will probably appear in tomorrow’s paper about her life and death. It is by James E. Causey and is called Slain poet touched many lives. The journalist gives a different web site, Poetic Justice where you can order her book of poetry and has YouTube videos of her and some of her poems. He says that her husband, Keith J. Brooks, 28, who had just returned in December from serving in the military in Afghanistan, has been arrested on suspicion of homicide. If he is charged with homicide he will be the second returning soldier this year in Milwaukee who is being held for trial on killing his wife. If convicted he could face life in prison.

Tonight I received an email from someone on a peace list server called The Children Killed by America’s Drones. “Crimes Against Humanity” committed by Barack H. Obama’’ The article list the number of Killer Drone attacks, where they were, Yemen, Pakistan and Somali, number of children and civilians killed and a partial list of names of children killed in Pakistan and Yemen.

We train our young adults to be soldiers in schools like Marquette University, by teaching them how to kill reflexively killing without conscience and yet expect them to return and pick up their conscience again. Yet we elect as our nation’s leader, our President, commits, in our name, “Crimes against Humanity”. He will never be held accountable for these homicides of children, in our name. Life in prison or a life of fame depends who you kill and how you kill them. May the spirit of Anita Brooks live with us, her husband her 2 year daughter, family, friends our leaders and help all of us to stop the senseless killing

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