#BlackWhiteBlueTogether: Churches try to bridge gap between police, community

WASHINGTON — Just a few blocks from the Lincoln Memorial, the Rev. Tony Lee's voice hung over the crowd of nearly one hundred.

"This is the season when we've got to say this does not go on from here," Lee said. "Somewhere along this journey we've got to understand that we're all together in this sea of humanity."

Members of nearly two dozen churches in the Washington, D.C. area demonstrated at Freedom Plaza Sunday to remember Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two black men killed last week at the hands of police. They also prayed for Brent Thompson, Lorne Ahrens, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol and Michael Smith, the five officers who lost their lives in Dallas, shot by a lone gunman during what had started as a peaceful protest.

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In the crowd was Keith Young, a retired D.C. firefighter, who wore a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and held a sign that read "No Jesus. No Peace."

"Black men getting killed across America," Young said, "it's just to me a genocide that must be stopped."

Pastors had called online for everyone to join forces under #BlackWhiteBlueTogether and encouraged Christian congregations to make a pledge that would allow them to stand "in solidarity with the community and law enforcement." The rally included "an accountability pledge between the church and the community for peace and justice," and a pledge for law enforcement “to commit to protect and serve without bias,” according to the rally site.

Protesters Young and Diane Shaibu give their perspectives on the Stand Up! Make the Covenant rally in the podcast below. And Plechette Bampoe and Robert Bronaugh, who joined the NAACP and other human rights organizations during a #BeyondtheHashTag rally in D.C. that same day, talk about their growing fears and what it will take, in their views, to unite police with the communities they serve.