The weekly Five Minute Friday word prompt for this week is “stay.”
I turn on the news and my heart breaks. Fires, looting and violence. I don’t believe violence is the answer but I wonder how long lives will be lost unnecessarily?
There are so many voices fighting for our attention. Yet I know I cannot stay silent any longer. I need to lean in and listen to BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) individuals. For so long, they’ve been crying out for us to hear them. Yet we too often do not hear them.
Our world is broken. The voices needing to be heard are being silenced. It’s a scary time in our world. I have friends who were followed home by confirmed white supremacy groups in the Minneapolis area. This is not an us vs them or police vs BIPOC individuals. It’s so much more complex than that.
Friends, we may not agree. I still love you. I’ll always love my neighbor, welcome the stranger and stand up for the marginalized. We cannot let anymore dreams be deferred.
Harlem by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Thanks for your words, Tara. I agree: we can’t stay silent. Thanks for sharing that poem as well. It’s so simple yet powerful. How many people’s dreams have gone unfulfilled just because of racism and discrimination?
Exactly! You’re welcome.
So absolutely true. So much to learn. Forward together x
So much to learn!
He had a friendly, winning smile,
a wife, one-point-five littles;
his life could sometimes be a trial,
but some days were beer and skittles.
He did not have to choose to stand
‘twixt us and the world’s violence,
but thought that he could lend a hand,
and did his job in silence,
too aware the badge he wore
was red meat to the hating crowd,
but in that, he knew the score,
and he would not be cowed.
We might have found in him a friend,
but yesterday, he met his end.
Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller of the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Ofice was ambushed and murdered yesterday, leaving a pregnant wife and a child.
Who will speak for them?
I’m saddened to hear about this officer.
Thank you, Tara. Yes, we need to speak up. May God have mercy on our nation. Blessings to you!
You’re welcome! And yes speaking up is important. Blessings to you too!