This summer, I’ve had more conversations about racial injustice than ever. I’ve had so many people tell me that they thought things had gotten better, and that the world would be much better by the time my kid of color grows up. Especially for the kids of darker colors.
I have hope. And hope tells us that things CAN be better. But will they? Nothing changes if nothing changes.
This week, Jacob Blake tried to break up a fight unarmed. After seven shots to the back from police officers, he now fights for his life. His kids of color watched. His dad got on the news to share that his kid of color was now paralyzed from the waist down.
Our hope can only be as deep as our lament.
I believe that the hunger for change is real. And that hope is real. But it’s going to take more than a short spurt of self-education and symbolic gestures to stop this from happening.
We need to learn how to have a big enough imagination to dream up new systems.
We need to learn to rise to every opportunity to confront harmful ideas and beliefs.
We need to learn to accept the blessing of anger towards injustice and oppression.
We need to learn the difference between calling for peace versus calling for passivity.
It’s not a one time call to action. It’s a lifelong commitment.
Praying for Jacob Blake to pull through and to tell his story. Praying that the story moves us from comfort to change.
Kid of Color
