I find myself increasingly grieved these days.
I vacillate between anger and the fear of watching my country tear itself apart. Do you ever feel that way?
I also find myself making it a point to smile more at the black stranger in the store, on the street passing me by. It’s my way of saying, “Hey, I hope you don’t believe the hype. I’m actually a nice person who doesn’t subscribe to division.” I’m hoping all that is conveyed in one smile or one interaction with someone over their pretty dress or nice shoes or something that takes the focus off of what the media and division factories pump at us daily.
I’m also genuinely grieved.
I’m personally shocked we have fallen so far from whence we have come. Don’t tell me it’s always been here. I know that. But it had gotten better and we were making our way through racial divide at lightening speed as nations and oppression go. Yes, we have always entertained the few cowboys who suit up to play policeman with a baton. The one whose heart is dark even without authority. But they are NOT the norm. They are indeed the exception.
We readily accepted lies regarding that infamous Michael Brown case that are now plaguing us. An entire industry generated from t-shirts, hats, signs, social media groups, stickers, rioters and the infamous Black Lives Matter Org. We were ripe after eight years of emotional and national slavery under the subtle whip of our first black President. The one who was supposed to help us celebrate just how far we had come. The one touring college campuses warning our youth of the struggles they will face because of their skin color. The one internationally apologizing for the nation he was elected to represent.
We are here. Writing about race. Feeling about race. Talking about race. Tweeting about race. Kneeling about race. Rioting about race. And yet, there’s only one. Race.
What does that say about us, America? Are we that easily manipulated to hate each other? To grow suspicious of one another? To apologize for our very breath, much less beliefs, to one another?
Where are you in this conversation? This take down of our nation and our collective ability to work and play together? How are you feeling? What are you really thinking as you go about your day or lay your head down on your pillow? What are your prayers?
I’m genuinely curious. It matters. We need something other than an echo chamber of division. We need to communicate about this with civil and honest discourse. I want to offer that space here. You help shape my thoughts about what is important to the collective, not just me. Leave a note here if you feel up to it. I’d love to hear from you.
xo,
