35yoSeeking... to be an antiracist

Word Count: 252

There’s nothing new I can say that hasn’t already been said. Because I’m learning how silence is violence, I can state my strong belief that Black Lives Matter. I can also share these words by artist Cali Rockowitz @calirock that give me daily encouragement:

“Some are posting on social media. Some are protesting in the streets. Some are donating silently. Some are educating themselves. Some are having tough conversations with friends and family. A revolution has many lanes—be kind to yourself and to others who are traveling in the same direction. Just keep your foot on the gas.”

These words resonate with me profoundly because I find them to be widely applicable. They remind me to give grace to myself and others starting our antiracism journeys, yes—but they also bring the current COVID-19 pandemic to mind. At any given moment, we’re all in different lanes on the path of day-to-day survival. And that’s okay as long as we’re doing our best and working toward the greater good. It’s the whole ‘assume good intentions’ idea, which is so, SO important but can be so, SO hard to do. Everyone needs time to digest and process. Everyone needs to rest and regroup. And everyone is fighting a battle (or two or three) that you know nothing about. (Thank you, Ian Maclaren.) We all learn in different ways at different speeds, and we all make mistakes along the way. But let’s keep traveling in the same direction with our feet on the gas.