A reflection
I am broken but not beaten...exhausted but not finished. Words fail me right now. Mostly because there are no words.
No words to describe the senseless loss of life we are seeing, at the hands of those who are sworn to preserve the peace, in place to serve and protect.
No words to describe the despair and anxiety we are all experiencing on one level or another, and more so for those who are sick or taking care of the sick or have lost someone because of this virus.
No words to explain what got us to this place, so will share the words of someone far wiser who warned us decades ago. In his
Letter from a Birmingham
Jail
, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote:
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action'; who paternalisticaly believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a 'more convenient season.' Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.
We are hopeful still, that this moment will pass, that we will hold to the lessons, that we will grow in fairness and justice. That we will be accountable to one another...with goodwill toward all.
As a foundation, we will continue to listen to our communities and our partners; to promote social justice; to keep at the heart of our work equity, inclusion and what matters to community. We pledge we will continue to grow and to learn so we can be strong advocates for a just and equitable future.
Remembering that whatever the solution, it should be one that happens with community and not to community,
that we honor the past, and that we get beyond talking and move to action.
Finally, as we see protesters around the country respond to persistent and unjust treatment, and they themselves being treated unjustly, I consider again Dr. King's wisdom. He said:
...America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear...that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met.
May we work every day. . .for one nation, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all.
-Nora
