Marching On

    I opened the book, and we read about Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer, Diane Nash, and Daisy Bates. We looked at pictures of civil rights marches, and we talked about why people march. "Someone once said that marching is praying with your feet," I told them.

 

    Amma pointed to a white woman holding a sign, marching in a sea of black and brown people.  Her eyes popped and she said, "Mama, look! Would we have been marching with them?  Like her?"

 

    I fixed my mouth to say, "Of course.  Of course we would have, baby."

 

    But before I could say it, Tish said, "No, Amma. We wouldn't have been marching with them back then. I mean, we're not marching now."  Untamed, by Glennon Doyle (2020), p. 207

Gut punch. Ouch.

Our community held a Black Live Matter rally this afternoon, and I invited my family to join me.  While it wasn't technically the least I could do, it was a far gap from the most that could be done.  Dwayne was the first one to volunteer to come with me, even though it was "sixteen miles" out of our comfort zone.  By the time we left, all three kids were with us.  (Wesley agreed to join us when he found out he would not be allowed to play video games while we were gone.)  

Photo bombed by Piper's BFF and her dad

We stumbled into friends right away, and the bonus was seeing so many friends and neighbors I hadn't seen for 3 months.

It wasn't a very diverse group, but the local paper estimated about 500 marchers.  The line stretched from the local park to City Hall, where we knelt for 8:46 in remembrance of George Floyd.  Onward to the city center, where local leaders and impassioned voices spoke of their experiences. 

I was so glad to share this with my family and proud of my children for participating and listening during the two-and-a-half-hour rally.  I was able to grab a box of ice cream treats for the kids so they ended on a sweet note. 

On our way home, I got a text from a friend who saw our picture on a local twitter feed.

This afternoon was the easy part.  Now our job is to keep up the momentum outwardly while doing a lot of inward reflection and learning.  My summer reading list has lots of new titles on it!