BLACK LIVES MATTER
The Isolation Blues;
reflections during covid-19
There are moments from time to time that are larger than any one of us. Current events can sometimes override our personal lives and demand something extra of us. We find ourselves in one of those moments. When I was asked to be one of the speakers at last week’s Black Lives Matter Rally in Houlton I knew this was my chance to say something. Oh, and by the way, you only have 5 minutes…Okay, so here is an issue so complex and entrenched that we’re still working on it almost 400 years later, and I have 5 minutes. So of course I’ll do it!
Here is my 5 minute contribution to the cause.
BLACK LIVES MATTER SPEECH These are indeed remarkable times and remarkable days that we find ourselves a part of. Four weeks ago, who would have thought we would be here at the Houlton Information Center today calling for racial equality, expanded social justice and holding signs that say Black Lives Matter? We’ve seen injustice and racial violence before but this time it is different. Protests and rallies are continuing all across America and show no sign of abating. This time it is different. How can we go back to the way things were when we have seen what we have seen and felt what we have felt? This time it is different. This time we need to make a change. This is not a time for polarization. This is not a time for increased violence, fear and agitation. This is a time to come together; to come together as a people to come together as fellow citizens with common concerns to come together as one people and one nation a nation equal and fair to all… This is a time to find what and where we have agreement. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “We must realize that the time is always right to do right.” In this great country it is always the right time to affirm the worth and dignity of all its people: We will not disrespect any person in this country based on ethnicity or the color of their skin. We will not discriminate any person in this country based on ethnicity or the color of their skin. We will not physically assault any person in this great country based on ethnicity or the color of their skin. These are some of the basic rights and freedoms that our country was founded upon. This is nothing new. We simply need to do the work of making it how we consistently relate to and consistently treat each other with no one left out. The current news headlines challenge us to do the hard work. Now is the time. Now is the time to listen to the Black voices among us and in our society. Now is the time to open our heart to the suffering and the long enduring pain of the Black Lives among us and in our society. Now is the time to do something, to say something, to stand in solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters. Hate, bigotry and prejudice must not tear us apart. It is love that will hold us together. Love is the common bond. Love is the healing balm of the universe. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing at last is sacred, except the integrity of our own mind.” It is our soul that will keep us true. We must not and cannot compromise our soul or our integrity. This is what will keep us on track. And we do not have to do this alone. That’s why it is so great to see so many of you out there! We do not have to do this alone. We can do this together. We can do this together for the benefit of all and for the love of all. I would like to offer this prayer to all of us who are here today: We pray in the name of Universal Love and Compassion that our vision may be enlarged. May we see the possibilities that we can still be; a new possibility for our self a new possibility for our communities a new possibility for our country. Even in this time of confusion, frustration, outrage and injustice may we hold true and strong in the hope of improvements, new aspirations and the determination to do what we can to be a part of that change. As the darkness is dispelled by light so our doubt will be curbed by right action even when it is not easy, even when it is not convenient, even when it looks like it will not be enough, it is. It is what needs to be done and we are the ones who will do it. May our hearts include everyone. Even if we disagree, even if we struggle to come together, come together we must. In diversity is our strength. Unity is our calling. We are one people and one country on this day in the middle of June. Blessed are we all. AMEN.
Still in the woods,
(and sometimes in the park…)
Dave
June 19, 2020