Waves of Change

The world is in a time of significant flux.

Rapid change comes in the form of both peaceful, incredibly powerful displays of solidarity, and violent acts caught on camera by brave protestors and media professionals. It's easy to feel uncertain, scared, and even helpless when hundreds of years of trauma and pain finally explode. I've spent the past week in varying states of rage and weariness and tentative hope, empowered by the collective community's anger and overwhelmed by my own personal anxieties come to fruition in the form of familial arguments.

We are seeing an unprecedented movement--made more poignant than past historical protests and riots through the transparency social media provides. Tearful testimonies, moving speeches, and blatant exposure of a system constructed intentionally for entire populations to struggle against insurmountable odds. It's critical to understand that the majority of what's happening on our streets and in our online and real world communities is peaceful--or at the very least constructive, rather than destructive.

The violence is shocking but it is the symptom of a dying narrative that says some people are better than others. That power comes in the holding of a badge and gun, and that positions of authority are an excuse to brutalize and oppress vulnerable people. The mentality and the people who hold it may be loud, aggressive, and shocking in their behaviors, but they won't win in the end.

Passion and intensity, pure righteous anger and the shared fury of a society ready for change is moving us rapidly into a place of discussion, of new life and new perspectives. Forgiveness and healing are being recorded as much--if not moreso--than episodes of violence. Powerful images of love, of a people ready to stand together rather than apart, to fight against the various systems that want more than anything to separate and divide.

There is a lot of pain and a lot of uncertainty, but those deep rooted structures of hatred and bigotry can't last. The beautiful change being born from this demand for transformation is being heard and will continue be heard. Voices will not be silenced, because the people now know they aren't alone in their anger--that if they stand up to speak, others will rally. Systems will be dismantled. Communities will rise up, finally finally heard and seen and empowered.

As we move into Pride month, a time historically rooted in radical change and fighting against discrimination, we can continue this discussion and heal wounds that have divided us for too long. All races, all colors, all religions and creeds, all sexualities and genders, the able bodied and disabled, the old and the young. We are strong when we stand together, and we will succeed.