My Last Blog Post: "Stepping on the Train"

In March 2020 I began sending a daily e-mail to family and friends. My goal was to lift spirits and provide both a bit of respite and some self care resources during the pandemic lockdown. I had no idea that it would be more than a year before vaccines would make it possible for us to start to venture back out into the world again.

Eventually, I moved the e-mails to this blog, and after George Floyd's murder I shifted my focus from daily messages to occasional posts about systemic racism, White supremacy, and White privilege. I hoped that sharing some of my journey as a person of White privilege would encourage others who, like me, felt called to learn more about these evils and do more to reckon with our own complicity in them.

Today is the first anniversary of George Floyd's death. As we mark this awful milestone, I am grateful that his killer has been tried, and that he was convicted on all counts. His attorneys have filed a motion for a new trial, and will no doubt appeal if the motion is denied. I hope and pray that the verdict stands. 

Even so, to say that the killer was "brought to justice" rings hollow. Justice requires more than just that conviction. In a perfect world, justice for George Floyd and for all the Black men, women, and children killed by police before and after his murder would be that they would still be alive. 

This is not a perfect world. But we can still imagine -- and work to bring about -- Justice for George Floyd. As Anthonine Pierre, a spokesperson for Communities United for Police Reform and deputy director of the Brooklyn Movement Center, puts it, “Justice would be changing the system and changing the policies that made it possible for George Floyd to be killed.” It's our job, those of us who benefit from White supremacy, to bring that justice to reality.

We have plenty of guides to point the way. 

Darnella Frazier, the courageous young woman whose video helped to secure a conviction of George Floyd's killer, reminds us not to look away from the ugliness and brutality, to be brave witnesses ourselves, and to show up and stand up when our action is needed. Taylor Stewart got those messages. After a trip to the South showed him a history of lynching that felt concrete and personal, the Portland State University graduate student teamed up with the Equal Justice Initiative to found the Oregon Remembrance Project to memorialize the death of Alonzo Tucker.  Thanks to his efforts, this Juneteenth the Alonzo Tucker EJI historical marker will be dedicated in Coos Bay.

Officially, Alonzo Tucker is the only documented victim of lynching in Oregon. But as Taylor Stewart reminds us, the state sanctioned killing of prison inmates -- a penalty disproportionately imposed against Black males -- is simply the latest iteration of lynching. Last week Quintin Jones was put to death in Texas despite nearly 185,000 supporters petitioning Governor Greg Abbot to commute his sentence to life without parole. It was Taylor Stewart who pointed me to the resources to make my own call to the Governor to ask for clemency for Quintin Jones. We were not able to save Mr. Jones's life, but there are others who still face his fate. Taylor Stewart's challenge to us is to acknowledge that this lynching continues and to do all we can to put an end to it.

Nicole A. Cardozo's Anti-Racism Daily offers a daily overview of current events through an anti-racism lens, along with specific things we can do to combat systemic oppression. 

We may not have the huge megaphone of someone like Emmanuel Acho, but we can follow his lead and use whatever platform we have to invite others into conversations about race. I have written before about his "Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man,"  which is now a book as well as a viral video series, and includes a young readers' edition, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy.

Here in the Portland area, we have monthly opportunities to learn more authentic history and engage with racism issues through Race Talks and Respond to Racism. For rural  communities, LaNicia Duke has designed the Rural Race Talks program. Here is an archive of her recent Rural Race Talks podcasts.

Dismantling White supremacy and systemic racism feels like an overwhelming challenge. But there is no alternative. And while we may not see them end in our lifetime, we can do our part to help bring justice to reality. I end this post -- and this blog -- with Heather Cox Richardson's invitation to do what is right, or as she puts it, to "find the courage to step on the train." May we all answer her call.

Love,

Nancie/Mom/Mimi/Grandma










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