Supporting Those Who Do
Scared for your country? For the world? Yeah, who isn’t?
Right now, though, if you haven’t noticed, it is a time to speak up and speak out. I mean, if you are for the work of “Liberty and Justice For All,” then there is no better time than this to say so and to do something that supports that.
Ohhh, it is a lot easier to keep your mouth shut and just keep feeling overwhelmed or to cave in to the pressure to be silenced. But that is not what will get us through this.
Voices Need Community, and Community Needs Voices now.
Too much to lose? Too afraid? Too overwhelmed? Too much to contend with? Nothing will ever change? What can one person really do? All of these voices in our heads are clamoring for space.
Please know and understand that while we are in a particular time in history, others, in previous times have faced the same voices and chose to act anyway. In fact, we owe our lives and freedoms to them.
So let me start out by saying, there are people taking action, and we are part of that group. On The Matter of Race is into our 6th year of anti-racism work and we are inspired every day by alumni and current OTMR community members who are choosing to push those fear voices aside and be present with the fight by posting messages on social, speaking out in-person, writing and reciting poetry on the subject, having conversations with family, podcasting, writing newsletters and supporting our work. We have partners who are committed to OTMR, and we have built a solid community of love, commitment, courage, and continued learning.
Let me shout out and send love to all of them, and let me include some folks who chose to lend their voices and share their wisdom with our OTMR community. I look forward to learning from them daily in their posts and emails. If you are not following them on social or on their lists, you need to be. Thank you for feeding us, Michele Heyward, Karen Fleshman, Naomi Raquel Enright, Elizabeth Silleck LaRue Esq., Deevon Wes LaRue, Dr. Cindy Bautista Thomas, Dr Linda Lausell Bryant, Jessica Rizzo, Shawnee Renee Benton, Sa’uda Karima, Ebony P. Donnley, Dr. Sofia Pertuz, and Robin Schlenger.
They have fed our community well. Just know, though, they have experienced the cost of doing their work in a time when the pushback is real.
And so have we. But we are determined to continue the work in anti-racism and conflict resolution.
We are being called to the pledge of starting one million conversations worldwide, and I am asking you to search your heart, and frankly, your wallet, to see if you can help us get there.
In a time when all of these things are happening and backlash seemingly gets stronger, many people feel like they can’t do anything about it, BUT WE CAN. If you know this work must continue, be the wind at our backs and support our efforts; every dollar counts. Donate here, please. Let your voice be heard through us!
The courage to speak up comes from within and the knowledge that somebody must do the right thing and continue to do it especially when it is hardest to do. We are doing that.
With your help, we can offer a host of new offerings to help people everywhere gain the skills to have those one million conversations that move us forward and connect us.
We need each other!
In Love,
Dr. Lynne
