When George Died, We Loved
... and loving each other should be our new norm
Friends, we here in Minneapolis are feeling it right now.
Our bodies and hearts are remembering.
Soon, we will pass the five-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder here... and the Global Uprising it sparked.
That Uprising was like an earthquake, one sending ricocheting shakes, rumbles, and aftershocks around the whole Earth.
I've never seen anything like it, before or since, and being right here in that quake's epicenter was POWERFUL.
Yes, there was fire everywhere.
Yes, SO many community members were seriously injured by a violent and illegal law enforcement response.
Yes, we felt like sitting ducks here, as white supremacists who had been jonesing for a race war for years descended on our communities and took advantage of the chaos to amplify a sense of anarchy.
But even more than those difficult parts, the GREATEST POWER was in the profound way that the community ROSE UP and cared for itself.
THAT was the ultimate power.
A link to a mutual aid Google Form went viral on Minneapolis Twitter, as folks organized help and support, creating overflowing rows and columns of love and care.
Mountains of diapers, and food, and first aid supplies were collected and distributed.
Neighbors passed the baton to each other on round-the-clock relay shifts to protect houses, and businesses, and other community treasures from the arson and looting that happened every night (and even day).
I've never seen anything like it, before or since.
And why?
WHY is that kind of community the exception?
Why don't we make it the rule, in our everyday moments, when the sun is shining and we're mostly worried about what's for dinner?
Why do we only come together like that when the apocalypse seems to be upon us?
Why do we wait to stand in solidarity with our neighbors... until the worst happens?
I'm challenging you — yes YOU, wherever you're reading this — to start cultivating this kind of community care wherever you are.
💗