I want to acknowledge the pain and suffering of the family of Jacob Blake and the whole Kenosha community. When I originally planned this post last week, I was desperately looking for hope and joy and the positive. Yet right now outrage is the only appropriate emotion, faced with another unthinkable tragedy, another black man shot down reprehensibly by a police officer. But even rage feels reductive. Enough is enough an empty refrain. And yet, where do we go from here?

I applaud the Milwaukee Bucks for using their power and privilege to say no more. For all the NBA, WNBA, players and owners and coaches, as well as soccer and baseball teams, boycotting their games in solidarity, this is indeed a strong compelling statement. We have to stand together to end racism and the evils associated with this corrupt system at the core of our divisive nation.

At the same time we have to look for signs of hope, to reach out to each other, to unite as a country. Last Saturday, in a desperate attempt to find something to lift us up, we drove around town, and a bit further, and found many such signs, planted in yards everywhere… Right now hope does seem lost, but it’s not. It’s right there waiting for us to dig it out, to rise up and demand it, to breathe it back into our lives.

I invite you to journey around town with us, just hop in the back seat, and let me show you images and words of hope. Allow each one to move you in that well-needed direction towards healing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still with me? Well I need to tell you, today is a special day, the birthday of my last child, and he’s a guy filled with hope. It’s just who he is. My grandmother told me when I was pregnant with my first child that you can ask the baby to bring what you need. As a young mom I had really no idea what any of that meant, but by the time I had #3, I knew exactly what I needed. All I could picture was joy, pouring in on us, a sort of fractured and splintered tribe. And he brought it. Every golden shard of it. So this post is for you, happy birthday, my joy.