Juneteenth

Friends,

Happy Juneteenth!

A strong mama and the owner of Snowshoe & Company, Ali Yahnke, posted this beautiful statement several days ago:

"Black lives matter. Until we confront and unseat the systems of oppression that tell us that Black lives *don't* matter, we must say it, we must stand for justice.

It has been eye opening on many levels for me to watch, listen and open myself to the depth of systemic racism and oppression that has been laid bare in the recent weeks and months. And I ask myself, "How have I been complicit in these systems?" What I keep coming back to is this: it's not enough to be "not racist," I (we) must be anti racist. And also this: all of our activism looks different, we use our voices differently, and it starts at home. It doesn't look one way to do the work of anti-racism, and it's a lifelong process, but one thing is true: we (white people) must commit to doing the work, today and every day."

I am grateful for Ali's poignant statement; it has been on my heart each day since I first read it. It so captures my sentiments of the last few weeks following the unnecessary and horrific murder of George Floyd. [And I, of course, am sharing Ali's words with permission. Thank you, Ali!]. I love that Ali reminds us that our activism looks different. How and when I am responding may be different than how my loved ones (you) are responding, and that is okay. Above all, I have hope in humanity, and I have hope in the United States. I have hope that, one day, our starting points and everyday interactions will not be affected by our race.

I am also grateful that, this year-- and hopefully every single year to come-- this date is getting at least a portion of the attention it deserves. What an incredibly important day and moment in the history of our nation-- a day and moment that I, embarrassingly, have only recently been learning more about. If you'd like more information on Juneteenth, check out this article. If you, like me, are wondering why you aren't more familiar with the holiday, I found this article by Daniella Silva to be particularly informative. [Articles brought to my attention by Annie Johnson of Knittedhome. Thanks, Annie!]

As I continue to pray on and wrestle with how I will be a better ally and fighter for my brothers and sisters of color (and for other marginalized groups), these are the things that I, personally, at the very minimum, am  committing to do:

• Better vary the voices from which I read and to whom I listen. The first two books I am reading and discussing are So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo and Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I am also eager to watch Ava DuVernay's 13th documentary.
• Speak up and out against racism, regardless of the circumstances.
• Initiate and engage in conversations about race with people of color and with other friends. It is not comfortable for me to do this, so that, to me, is an indication that it is exactly what I need to be doing.
• And I absolutely will teach my young daughters to celebrate diversity and all cultures. I implore you to do the same; let's not perpetuate this vicious cycle. We, parents, have quite an enormous responsibility to teach our babes how to love one another deeply. Our itty bitty babies today will be the lawmakers of tomorrow, and that is a beautiful thing.