I found this message from my friend Mirabai Starr to be a very inspiring reminder that we have a long way to go and we can’t stop now. #dontgobacktosleep.
Beloved Friends & Family,
As the weeks roll by and Covid-19 continues to surge across America, many of us who activated around Black Lives Matter in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and way too many other unarmed Black folks, have drifted back into our worlds and away from the fire of racial justice. This reminds me of how friends lovingly rally around those who have lost loved ones and then return to concerns of our own, leaving the mourner to the task of bearing the unbearable alone. It’s understandable, but it’s not necessary. We can do better.
Especially those of us who practice, teach and worship in predominantly white spiritual spaces. It is more urgent than ever that we stay with the necessary work of disrupting white supremacy in our communities, starting with ourselves.
There are a couple of beautiful possibilities for ongoing activism and embodying solidarity with Black communities I would like to share with you.
My friend Rev. angel Kyodo Williams invites you to participate in the first-ever Great Radical Race Read (GR3), a five-week, transnational collective practice to transform race one circle, one conversation, one radical read at a time.
NOTE: The first of these events happened on the 5th of July but if you follow that link you can find out more about the ongoing work and subscribe to participate.
Planned prior to the twin pandemics of coronavirus and the scourge of white supremacy expressed through both police brutality and vigilante violence, the potential impact of GR3’s national education & conversation practice is ever more poignant, timely and necessary right now.
In the words of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, igniter of the so-called “untouchables” Dalit Movement for liberation — we will “educate, agitate and organize” people forward into love and justice.
