Dear Trans Kids: I went outside today, and the blueness of the sky took my breath away. I stood there, feeling the barely-there burn of the sun against my skin, and I remembered deeply, on a cellular level, that the divine infuses everything. Me. You. The sun, the moon, the stars, the trees. We are... Continue Reading →
The Anti-Worry Squad
On Twitter, a mom insisted worry should be ingrained in the return-to-school process during COVID. As if I were letting kids down by not succumbing to a vortex of worry. Worry has never manifested anything good in my life. Never changed anything. Instead, worry blocks me from wise decision making. From exploring all the options,... Continue Reading →
George Floyd
He should be alive, surely. They all should, those men killed for their Little Trees. Those children killed for a bag of Skittles. But America is poisoned to its core by racism and genocide. The killing of black men and women isn’t happenstance or accident. It is the Machine working as it was meant to—crushing... Continue Reading →
I Survived My DUI Stop. But I’m White.
Another black man was killed by police in Atlanta. Shot in the back while he was running away. Know the egregious act that ended his life? He was drunk. And he fell asleep in his car in a Wendy's drive-thru. This is a story I should be hearing in an AA meeting in a church... Continue Reading →
This Is The Work
The first time I marched with Black Lives Matter, some friends were concerned. It was after Alton Sterling and Philando Castille were murdered by police in 2016. And literally the day after Dallas. Safety concerns were real. But safety concerns for black people have been real in this country since its inception. I could not... Continue Reading →
Confidential to New(ish) AntiRacists: Get a Life Raft
I don't know everything. Hell, I don't know most things. But here's one thing I'm sure of: if you are a white person getting down to the hard, soul-searching work of becoming anti-racist, you're going to need a life raft. Because there's a tidal wave of rage, grief, regret, and full-blown horror headed your way.... Continue Reading →
Now, What Happened Again?
Sometime around 6th grade or so, I got ahold of The Diary of Anne Frank. And suddenly, my world was awash in both the goodness and insight of a 13 year old European Jewish girl from forty years ago and the abject horror that human nature can unleash. Both. At the very same time. I,... Continue Reading →
We All Have To Start Somewhere
Hey, white folks! I've got an idea: let's stop shouting "Racist!" at each other just to end a conversation. Let's honor where each person is in the long, hard, soulful world of becoming anti-racist, meet them where they are, and help them along. Because it sure isn't black folks' job to do that. That's all... Continue Reading →
Gay Isn’t an Insult.
Some kid at school "insulted" my baby by calling her "gay." And I swear, it lit me up... like I wanted to march down to that school and give that damn kid (and every adult in the vicinity of his life) a tongue-lashing he wouldn't likely forget. But instead, I took a few deep breaths... Continue Reading →
Review: I’m Still Here–Black Dignity in A World Made for Whiteness
Sometimes I get too big for my britches. That’s just cold hard truth. In a short, succinct, and damn powerful book, Austin Channing Brown managed to make me take an honest look at my relationship to whiteness and how I manage that in spaces where I’m working toward racial justice—hell, in any spaces at all.... Continue Reading →