Hello Friends!
During my research this week, I came across this post on Instagram that just struck the deepest part of my heart:
Because let’s face it…when the pandemic started, we all wanted a redo. A hard reset button. I even volunteered as tribute (for those of you who’ve seen/read The Hunger Games). But life’s not that easy, right? There is no reset button. There’s only a “move forward, you’ve got this, what can you do better next time?” button. And I’m okay with that.
On March 19, 2020, Safer at Home orders were implemented. We, in one way or another, started hoarding things like sanitizer, toilet paper, bleach, rice, flour, and yeast. Some were furloughed. Some lost their jobs—a career they’ve spent years, even decades, building. Some lost loved ones and couldn’t even be with them through the toughest times. Some didn’t know how to be around our significant others 24/7, let alone their children. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster. But 2020 didn’t stop there did it?
During this same time on March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor was murdered in her own bed by officers with a search warrant looking for a drug suspect supposedly hiding out in Taylor’s home. Reports state that she was shot eight times. Eight times. Unarmed. How is this right? Why is this just headlining the news now? Today is her birthday. She would have been 27 today. Light a candle tonight and send your well wishes to her family…send your blessings to all those who have been a victim of such injustice and inequality. We are in this with you—you are not alone. You matter. Black Lives Matter.
This is happening all around the nation and are under-reported all the time. We need to change that. This will be the year. It has to be.
2020 awakened something that has always been the underlying truth about our nation. Inequality. Systemic Racism. Countries around the world are standing together with us. Standing with us to declare a change. To declare equality. The job is never done, but we have to work at it together. 2020 will be a year we will never forget…and we really shouldn’t. Let’s make it a year we can be proud of. Let’s be the voice of change. Change for future generations to come.
Here are just some ways (there are plenty) you can contribute:
- Register to vote and actually vote. Voting is your right!!!
- Sign a petition, here are just a few:
- Show your support—in whichever way you can. For some, it could be walking alongside your peers in your city. For others, it could be virtual ranging from conversations, to support groups, etc.
The most important thing is that you do it because you mean it. Not for show. Not to increase your social media followers—the videos and pictures of people doing that is just embarrassing. Social media is a powerful thing indeed—leverage that to help fight for equality, for freedom, for justice, for unity.
Race and racism is a reality that so many of us grow up learning to just deal with. But if we ever hope to move past it, it can’t just be on people of color to deal with it. It’s up to all of us—Black, white, everyone—no matter how well-meaning we think we might be, to do the honest, uncomfortable work of rooting it out. It starts with self-examination and listening to those whose lives are different from our own.
Michelle Obama
XOXO,
Karmen
Darling My Dearest 
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