It has been quite a month of June and we are only to the 13^th. Quite a spring, really. 

I have written various messages in my head and in notebooks and not quite figured out what I wanted to share, what warranted sharing with you or would be of any benefit. I wrote this last week and was moved to share.

Black Lives Matter

The first commitment we can make is to LISTEN.

Knowing what to say or share right now seems fraught for many people. Listening is a starting point. Once we are listening, we can LEARN, challenge our own beliefs and experiences, confront ideas, and create dialogue with people. We can support, donate, protest, share, vote, and reach out. We can see when people around us are hurting and offer grace and understanding. We can dig to do better and be better.

Racism in our country goes back hundreds of years. It will likely continue far longer than we wish. Indeed, any continuation is too long. As many have noted, this is a long haul and not something we can fix in a moment. But, we must work toward it every day in big and small ways as we seek them out.

Trying times will continue. Last week, last year, and last century offered trying times for Black people and many other marginalized groups.

As citizens, as humans, we do what we can to help. We look for the ways we make the path forward better not just for some, but for all.

George Floyd’s murder galvanized, for now, more people than most events in what seems like decades. And yet, the systems and racism that got us to this point are not new or easily remedied or dismantled. Black Lives Matter. And have mattered, should matter, and will continue to matter.

And this moment offers more inroads to progress, action, growth, and learning. This is a time for finding ways to support what is right and just. For me, the is often precipitated by listening and learning. I will share some of the things I have come across this week.

Recently, I listened to a fantastic interview with Ta-Nehesi Coates on The Ezra Klein Show. I highly recommend it. As you will hear at the beginning, Coates left Ezra Klein feeling unexpectedly hopeful at the end of their conversation. It starts with the current policing focus and becomes wider-ranging including some history and an interesting portion on the concept of “public.”

I also began rereading How to Fight by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is a delightful tiny book—truly pocket size—that I have read snippets from to our teams over the years. As an interesting side note, a friend mentioned to me this week that Martin Luther King Jr. nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in the 1960s. The link above is for Powell’s Books should you want to pick up a copy and support a PDX business.

Here is an example from page 22:

It may take longer, but I’ve been doing my quarantine book shopping through Annie Bloom’s Books just up the road in Multnomah Village. A local favorite of mine and the kids.

One of our college students shared some thoughts this week on what I might broadly term self-care. I wanted to mention those here. Part of her message encouraged us to, “do things to help you mentally get prepared for the next year or so (the future in general) coronavirus, schools opening/not opening, the elections, wave 2 of corona,” and the inauguration of the next president.

Like I mentioned above, this feels and looks like a galvanizing moment in America. If there is work you can do for equality and reform, then I encourage you to approach that in whatever means works for you. And I echo what Margot says about taking care of yourselves. This is a strange, challenging time. At the same time, it holds much opportunity. Taking time for your physical and mental health prepares us for the long haul that I hope to be here for. It’s like the old cliché about putting your oxygen mask on before helping others when an airplane loses cabin pressure. We need not always seek to stay comfortable, but we ought to stay healthy and vital enough to be useful and present for those we seek to support. That’s not selfish, but good long-term planning.

I have been doing some elaborate backyard workouts while the kids play outside. I do a lot of exercises and take short breaks to swing my daughter on the rope swing hanging from an old apple tree. A few days ago I was explaining to Emily how she and her brother running around playing was good for them and that my doing my exercises was helping me be healthy and able to play with her and be happy and pleasant to be around.

Same goes for all of us. Whether you want to be your best as a reformer, parent, teammate, advocate, or student, planning for long-term health and wellness is part of the equation. It boils down to being good citizens and being good to ourselves, as well.

Well wishes to you and your family!