There is a painting in the Wadsworth Atheneum by Sanford Robinson Gifford titled “A Passing Storm in the Adirondacks,” but if you look at the frame, you will see that there was another title assigned. I’m not an art historian and could not tell you if that was an ‘oops’ or if this seeming contradiction was intentional.
What I do know is that it is important to recognize when a storm has been here all along.
Just as COVID-19 was not the first time that some in the community were faced with uncertainty (Will I be able to access a hospital bed should I need one? Will I be able to make rent this month?), these last few days…hell, these last few years…have not been the first time that injustice has been apparent.
What I know is that while many of my readers should feel proud of the solidarity many in our community showed during the Civil Rights Era, we should also be asking what we have been doing every single day in the 50+ years since. How have we been walking alongside our fellow humans since?
Every day presents a new opportunity to decide how we will act. If we have been dormant for most of those decades since Selma, it is by time we woke up.
It is not enough to change one’s social media status for one day or send out a feel good message that serves little function besides marketing for one’s brand.
Daily actions matter.
It’s choosing not to call the police for small matters like noise complaints. It’s telling your politicians to spend more money to build up the community and budget less to punish the community. It’s intentionally opting out of segregation. There are many solid resources out there for other ideas, but it comes down to this: “that which is hateful to you, do not do to another.”
I won’t do all your homework for you, but here’s a short list of resources to get started:
A Passing/Coming Storm
There is a painting in the Wadsworth Atheneum by Sanford Robinson Gifford titled “A Passing Storm in the Adirondacks,” but if you look at the frame, you will see that there was another title assigned. I’m not an art historian and could not tell you if that was an ‘oops’ or if this seeming contradiction was intentional.
What I do know is that it is important to recognize when a storm has been here all along.
Just as COVID-19 was not the first time that some in the community were faced with uncertainty (Will I be able to access a hospital bed should I need one? Will I be able to make rent this month?), these last few days…hell, these last few years…have not been the first time that injustice has been apparent.
What I know is that while many of my readers should feel proud of the solidarity many in our community showed during the Civil Rights Era, we should also be asking what we have been doing every single day in the 50+ years since. How have we been walking alongside our fellow humans since?
Every day presents a new opportunity to decide how we will act. If we have been dormant for most of those decades since Selma, it is by time we woke up.
It is not enough to change one’s social media status for one day or send out a feel good message that serves little function besides marketing for one’s brand.
Daily actions matter.
It’s choosing not to call the police for small matters like noise complaints. It’s telling your politicians to spend more money to build up the community and budget less to punish the community. It’s intentionally opting out of segregation. There are many solid resources out there for other ideas, but it comes down to this: “that which is hateful to you, do not do to another.”
I won’t do all your homework for you, but here’s a short list of resources to get started:
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