Police Lieutenant Melissa McFadden got done walking the “thin black line” and took a great leap of faith into the abyss of justice. Imagine if you can demonstrators going directly to police headquarters on the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality. Bravely the lead speaker steps to the mic and screams “No Justice!” We know the reply. “No Peace!” She chants “Black Lives Matter!” But then she does the big reveal. She just finished her workday at police headquarters. And, by the way, she is the highest-ranking black woman in the department. A 24-year veteran of the force.

 The October 22 rally at the Columbus Police Department on Marconi Boulevard in downtown Columbus was dedicated to supporting McFadden who is under fire for the revelations in her new book “Walking the Thin Black Line: Confronting Racism in the Columbus Division of Police.”

The Heartbeatmovement called the rally to make a show of community support for McFadden, who has reported she’s been threatened and harassed since the book was published. About fifty people gathered with signs reading #StandwithMelissaMcFadden and Black Lives Matter.

McFadden emphasized that she wrote the book because she’s sworn two identical oaths in her life. One as a member of the US Air Force and one as a police officer – to defend the US Constitution against “all enemies foreign and domestic.”

The fearless nature of McFadden and her stirring presence and stance for human rights at this moment gave me the feeling I was watching a seminal moment in US history – one that future historians will refer to as a key turning point in the battle for universal justice. As Martin Luther King, Jr said “The moral arc of the universe bends long, but it bends toward justice.”