My Beloved Community
I made the following 5-minute public comment at my local Hanover County (VA) Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Wednesday, January 12, 2022. I wanted to share it here in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday this year. Here’s a video of me delivering this public comment (I’m at the 57:15 min mark.) Context: The Board […]
Belonging is the new DEI Concept
When my kids were in preschool, my oldest was given some homework, flashcards to prepare him to begin school the next year. Upon a closer look, I saw that it was a lesson in how to determine who doesn’t belong. A lesson, I wanted to unteach them. In the 1990s my colleagues and I used […]
A Third Way
When you hear “descendants of Confederates” who do you picture? Maybe you imagine a Confederate flag-waving White country boy? Or do you picture an older White man with a crisp business shirt who attends monthly Sons of Confederate Veterans meetings? Perhaps you imagine a fancy white-glove wearing elderly White woman who defends statues of Confederates? […]
The Other Tower
The “Tower of Faces” is an exhibit in the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Perhaps you have seen this powerful installation? The tower is intimate, a small room with four walls that extend up three-stories. The walls are lined with 1,500 framed photographs of residents from the town of Eishyshok, Lithuania. The pictures are of families, friends, […]
White People, Listen
Not to me. I don’t have any leadership to offer in this moment. White friends, it’s time to listen. It has been for quite some time. As a matter of context: Just in the last few weeks these things happened…Ahmaud Aubrey in Georgia, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Chris Cooper in NYC, and George Floyd in […]
An Open Letter to Confederate Sympathizers
Last month the KKK visited my county seat with hoods and recruitment signs. This message isn’t for them. They felt welcome here due to my county’s fierce resistance to changing the names of two public schools that were named after Confederate leaders in the 1950s and 1960s (in the midst of desegregation). Resistance here comes from some […]
Two Conditions for Healing
I have a friend, we’ll call her Jessica, who doesn’t speak to her mother, says the relationship is damaged beyond repair. When Jessica was a child her mom allowed abuse, defended the abuser, and turned the parenting of Jessica over to her grandmother in order to continue living with the abuser. Jessica says, “I’ve tried […]
The Arc of Violent Extremism
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. When unjust events happen, this quote is often evoked as a narrative changer, a hope giver. It was one of Barack Obama’s favorites. I’ve heard a similar sentiment from the older folks in my life, too. “As […]
25 Things About Me
Glennon Doyle started her successful blog, Momastery (pronounced like monastery, not mastery) with a list, 25 Things About Me. It seemed like an effective introduction to who she is and what the blog might be about. So, I thought I’d try the same. My best and worst trait is my honesty. When I write a […]
30 Essays
I’ve been talking about starting this blog for about a year now. I noticed that I had essays floating in my head. Not just thoughts or topics, but essays. Each was loosely outlined with stories and supporting points. I’d find myself reciting parts of these essays to people in conversations. Months ago, when there were […]