It’s easy to fixate on evil. A twenty-year-old white man drove his truck into a Muslim family, leaving only the nine-year-old son to survive. And the count of Native children’s bodies continues to rise, as boarding school graves are unearthed. The atrocities and the hatred of dominant culture on people who are different is a story that has been with humankind throughout history, but it is the strength of those who have been victimized that I choose to honor, not the ignorance of a few.
I choose to honor the thousands of diverse people who marched the 4.4 miles from where the family was struck down to a near-by mosque. “Hate has no home here” and “Love over hate” were the signs they carried. Compassion and unity rallied over intolerance.
And the “disappeared” are now being found and mourned as the ongoing trauma inflicted on Native people is no longer a hidden secret.
The Senate and the House will make Juneteenth a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. And the true story of the Tulsa massacre will now be taught as facts are brought to light.
But it’s the resilience and the strength of the people left behind that I look to for guidance. It’s their courage that inspires. It’s their unyielding defiance to remain human that I respect.
Their prayers and their efforts to overcome teach the real power of being human.
Dominant cultures flourish by ascribing others as evil. They subjugate people and foster division. Any ripple to the status quo is to be feared and controlled.
If we are to flourish we must overcome the dominance of fear. We must find the courage and clarity to let love prevail and ripple the status quo with our conviction to be human.
photo courtesy of wikimedia commons from a photo taken in Aukland following the Christchurch Mosque shooting attacks in March 2019
let kindness win 