Editor’s note: As we reflect on one of the most tumultuous years in recent history, with movements that brought discussions of race and racism to the forefront, we offer a series focusing on the personal stories of the ways in which Lutherans are striving for racial justice in the world today.

On Sept. 2, nearly 200 people gathered for a prayer vigil at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha, Wis., in response to turmoil there following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

In an excerpt from the vigil, Sonja Wolfe, a Kenosha resident, member of the ELCA Church Council, a daughter of a Chicago police officer and a military veteran, shares about her encounters with the police and about her experience as a Black woman in the United States.

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