By The People’s Paper MS
MAGEE, Miss. — When violence shakes a community, people often look for someone to blame, someone to explain what happened or someone who can promise that it will never happen again.
But sometimes, before any of those answers come, a community simply needs to stop.
Stop. Breathe. Come together. And most importantly, pray.
That was the heart behind a prayer gathering organized by Magee Alderman Julian Harper in response to last weekend’s fatal shooting and drive-by shootings that left the community hurting and searching for answers.
For Harper, the gathering was not political. It was not about his position as an elected official. It was personal.
“This wasn’t about politics. It wasn’t about a title. It wasn’t about pointing fingers or trying to figure out who was right or wrong,” Harper said. “It was personal for me.”
Harper said he was speaking not only as an alderman, but as a father, son, neighbor and lifelong member of the Magee community.
“I was born and raised here,” he said. “These are my people. These are our families, our children, our neighborhoods, and our community.”
And, in a moment when there may not be quick responses, Harper said he knows where to go.
“I honestly don’t have all the answers,” he said. “But I do know where to turn when I don’t have the answers.”
So he asked people to put aside the arguments, the accusations and the divisions long enough to stand together.
“Stop the arguing. Stop the pointing fingers. Stop looking at each other as enemies,” Harper said. “And try and unite everyone in prayer.”
That message was echoed by pastors who joined the gathering, including Pastor Darnell Moffett of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Magee.
Dr. Moffett said he accepted Harper’s invitation because the community needs wisdom and direction during difficult times.
He pointed to Proverbs 1:7:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
For Pastor Mitchell Chatman of Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church in Raleigh, prayer is about more than words spoken during a difficult moment.
It is about reminding families that they are not alone.
“Prayer is the key to a stronger family, stronger community and a stronger life,” Chatman said.
He said families facing fear, grief and uncertainty need to know that God remains a source of help.
“Prayer gives the opportunity, even when we face difficulties, to have courage,” Chatman said. “The community needs it and families need it. God is still our help.”
Pastor Bernard Mitchell of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church said gathering in prayer during tragedy is necessary because some questions cannot be answered by people alone.
“It’s a necessity in times of tragedy that believers come together and acknowledge that some things only God has the answers,” Dr. Mitchell said.
But, Mitchell also offered an important reminder: Prayer cannot be the end of the conversation.
He said people must be willing to become part of the solution they are praying for.
“It is imperative that we are not just asking for God’s power but that we are also willing vessels to be a part of the solution.”
For Mitchell, the prayer gathering was only the beginning.
“Last night was just one step of many to change our community,” he said.
And perhaps nowhere is that change more important than among young people.
Harper spoke directly to them, asking them to understand that one angry moment does not have to determine the rest of their lives.
“Your life is worth more than a moment of anger,” Harper said. “Your future is worth more than a street reputation.”
He reminded young people that their families and communities need them alive, present and moving toward a future.
“Don’t allow somebody else’s decision, anger or influence to determine your future,” Harper said. “You don’t have to prove how tough you are by destroying your life or someone else’s.”
Mitchell delivered a similar message.
Violence, he said, does not solve problems. It creates new ones and can pull entire families into a cycle of pain.
“Our young people need to understand that there is a better way,” Mitchell said. “Violence is not the solution to a problem. It is simply a dangerous response to the problem.”
Breaking that cycle requires courage, he said.
“It begins a deadly cycle and someone has to be courageous enough to break the cycle,” Mitchell said.
There is a better way, he said, even if that way requires patience.
“You can get what you want in life, but you just can’t get it overnight,” Mitchell said. “There is a better way.”
For Magee, the prayer gathering offered something the community desperately needed after a painful weekend: a moment to remember that despite fear, grief and disagreement, people are still connected.
Neighbors are still neighbors. Parents are still raising children.
Families are still grieving, and a community still has the power to choose what comes next.
Harper said that choice begins with coming together.
Not as politicians. Not as pastors.
Not as opposing sides, but as people who love Magee and refuse to give up on it.
Sometimes, before a community can find all the answers, it has to find its way back to one another.
That journey begins with prayer.
