Go Where God Tells You To Be

"Can I go anywhere apart from Your Spirit? Is there anywhere I can go to escape Your watchful presence? If I go up into heaven, You are there.” – Psalm 139:16 (The Voice). 

In 1898 Goldie Williams was walking around Chicago and minding her business when police arrested her for vagrancy. They considered her suspicious because she wore a satin dress with feathers, gold hoop earrings, and a large hat. 

Vagrancy laws allowed police to arrest anyone just for “looking suspicious.” These laws were especially dangerous for Black people, who attracted police attention simply for being Black.

While trying to get Williams ready for her mugshot, they told her to hold still. She looked straight into the camera and right as the flash went off, she defiantly crossed her arms and made a face. 

The grimace made the mugshot famous. Almost 130 years later, Williams’ picture is still cited as an example of Black resistance. The Netflix series "Master of None” included the picture on its set, and devoted an episode to Williams. 

Anti-Black systems assume that we are troublemakers, impostors, or vagrants. But we’re children of God, meaning we belong wherever God is present. 

We belong wherever God wants us to be. We belong to freedom.