Wendy Jane's Soul Shake

Today marks the eve of the day George Floyd was murdered by that police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And, even though he was convicted for the murder, which is a good thing, we still have to overhaul the whole system of policing. We are hearing the range of ideas from reform to abolition, being that at its very root, policing served as slave patrol. I know Minneapolis is making some strides in this, as are other cities, in looking to funnel money being spent on policing to mental health and social services resources, like utilizing social workers, and community health workers, to transform the way we envision and enact public safety.

This evening, I will light a yahrzeit candle, a custom in the Jewish religion, to mourn the anniversary of George Floyd’s passing. The candle is lit to burn for 24 hours to remember and honor the anniversary of a loved one’s passing. If George Floyd was loved, instead of feared and vilified and seen as less than human, he would still be here today, as would be Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Daunte Wright, Tamir Rice, Ahmaud Arbery, and on and on.

A few days ago, I re-posted Some Of Us White People, the first post I wrote after the murder of George Floyd last year. I asked us to look within and without to acknowledge where we are in our continuity of acting to change what needs to be changed to make this country free and safe for Black people. I don’t think I can keep repeating that I hope each one of us is staying awake and aware and active as we move through the spaces we inhabit each day of our lives. Because the alternative is, we are allowing things to remain the same, and we will forever be mourning from a distance, the loss of Black lives at the hands of police officers, while we retreat in the comfort of our white life bubbles.

Tonight, and tomorrow, I will honor the memory of George Floyd, and the day after, and every day after that, stay awake and aware and active, and it is my hope that you will, too. It is the only way.

Young Protestors, Ferguson, Missouri, Photo credit: IB Times

I wanted to find a lead photo to go with my most recent blog post, Let Us Listen To All Of Our Young People’s Cries For Help To End Gun Violence, and I wanted the photo to represent black and brown youth who cried out in pain over the unjust deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Trayvon Martin in Florida, and Tamir Rice in Cleveland. I wanted to represent the black and brown youth who have worried for years about gun violence in their neighborhoods, and have had to carry a fear heavier than their backpacks, as they pray to make it to and from school without being shot. I wanted to represent the black and brown youth who have been crying out for years when no one was watching or listening. Though the nation watched on television only when the protests took to the streets in Ferguson, and in Baltimore, there has never been the swell of support like we see now for the young people in Florida who have risen up in the midst of the Parkland school shooting. And, while I, and as I have gleaned that many black people and people of color, too, have great admiration and stand by these rising, young activists, the lack of inclusion of the gun violence issues faced by black and brown young people in their communities is sadly noted.

As I searched online for the photo to accompany the post, I found one of young black children with a placard that read, We Are The Village. It was a deep and beautiful photograph. I downloaded it. I looked up the photographer, who turned out to be a white man, and emailed him through his website to ask permission to use the photograph. Then I searched his site because he seemed to be a prolific artist–a photographer, journalist, and author. I clicked on his Essays tab, and landed on a piece he wrote, titled, The Negro Racist. I began to read: […]

As 2015 draws to a close, I wanted to take a look back at this year’s blog posts and share some highlights from each month. I am of course hoping that you’ll find the posts of interest to you.  I know for me, I thought it would be a good way to see what was going on around me, what I made note of, and recorded.

In January, I saw […]

Charles Blow delivers John Hazen White lecture at Brown University, September 18, 2015

Last Thursday, I was fortunate to attend the John Hazen White Lecture at Brown University given by The New York Times journalist, and author, Charles Blow.

Mr. Blow, 45, who began at the Times in 1994 as a graphics editor, later went on to gain experience there as a journalist covering stories on the war in Iraq, as well as on 9/11. As a current Op-Ed writer for the Times, Blow focuses on […]