I’m trying something new for those of you who prefer to listen instead of read - an audio version of the main body of the newsletter (you’ll still have to check out the actual newsletter for the links). You can listen directly above or choose to open in your favorite podcast app. Let me know what you think!
Since the year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder on May 25th, there have been a thousand think pieces about the meaning and impact of Floyd’s murder over the last few weeks, as there should be. On the day Floyd was murdered, Grant and I stripped our deck, a truly terrible job that I don’t ever want to do again and which took far longer than we thought it would. Because it took so long, what I remember about the weeks following Floyd’s murder and the subsequent protests around the world, is that, because we had to move our deck furniture out to the yard for several weeks, Grant and I would sit out in the middle of the yard, doom scrolling on our phones, having countless conversations about what had happened that day, sharing some new podcast or article that we’d listened to or read with a fresh perspective we hadn’t considered, or, honestly, we spent many nights crying or raging over some new video that had surfaced during the protests.
Grant and I had dipped our toes into anti-racism work after attending the Evolving Faith conference in 2018, but we still had (and have) so much work to do. Those days following Floyd’s murder last year were like drinking from a fire hose: learning from and listening to so many people of color sharing their stories, their anger, their grief, trying to have honest conversations with friends and family members about what was going on while standing up for our Black neighbors and friends, trying to figure out in what ways and how much to tell our kids - and all of this while in the midst of hitting 100K dead from Covid in the US alone.
I have struggled since the peak of the protests last summer, especially as we see the polls that show how white people’s support of Black Lives Matter has plummeted since the summer, about what work each of us is called to do and, most importantly, how we sustain a movement.
I was talking to my spiritual director, Victoria Loorz, last week about this sustainability piece of activism. She said that a problem on the right is the deniability of the problems, and that the problem on the left is that there is little allowance for evolution on the topic, meaning that if you don’t have it exactly right (who does?!), don’t even try. Obviously, the denial that is prevalent on the right is dangerous, toxic, and does not leave any space for growth and healing. But the black-and-white thinking on the left stalls movement too. It doesn’t allow us to show up and make mistakes. It holds us to impossible standards.
Victoria pointed out that what we used to hold communally, we’re now expecting people to hold as individuals. In previous, especially indigenous, cultures, the entire community held the work that needed to be done, which might go a little something like this in my imagination:
Sara is passionate about caring for the natural world, so she does that work and tells those stories. Laura experienced a school shooting and gives her time and resources to pass saner gun laws. Teri advocates for LGBTQ youth in our community. Grant coaches basketball and teaches the kids about leadership and kindness on and off the court. Tom shows up to the school board meeting to argue in favor of teaching CRT in schools.
Individually, we all still do our best because our healing is all wrapped up in everyone and everything else’s, but when we’re participating in communities that are doing the work, we can go deeper into our own passions, interests, and things that bring us life. And, crucially, we have time to rest and find joy too, which are a big part of why we’re here. We can communally be more sustainable because we’re pursuing the kinds of activism that we were individually built for, instead of each trying to do it all.
One of the reasons I still go to church, despite having quite a few hang-ups about it these days, is because I want to participate in a community that is doing this healing work. I can’t carry it all by myself, but I can lean on and learn from others in community. We’ve tried the more individualistic, patriarchal methods, and we’ve seen where that has gotten us.
I’m hopeful that, despite the polling, that last summer and the pandemic broke something open in us societally that will allow us to move toward more rebirth and integration.
Rants and raves
👍 I’ve been in a weird movement rut, and I did the Peleton app free trial a few weeks ago. I’ve been mostly doing the outdoor runs, and I almost hate to say it, but I’ve been really liking it. We have a spin bike for Grant’s training in the off season, so I can use the app with that too and won’t be getting the whole actual Peleton bike, but I think I’ll be keeping up the app subscription for now.
👍 I’m late to the Olivia Rodrigo party, but, man, does this album make me feel seventeen again. Some of those lyrics are just pure genius.
👎 Saying “guilty pleasures.” Stop associating guilt with stuff that gives you pleasure. I shared this on Instagram this week and shared how I stopped saying “guilty pleasure” a few years ago and just started LIKING WHAT I LIKE with no preamble or apologies. Dare you to try it too (what’s your “love novel?”).
Stuff worth sharing this week
My favorite recent follow is Virginia Sole-Smith. Her newsletter and Instagram are free educations every week. But I read this piece she did for Scientific American and this similarly-themed newsletter two+ months ago and think about it at least once a day. If you feed kids or eat yourself (ha!), you definitely want to be following Virginia.
Absolutely no one who reads this newsletter or follows me on social media is surprised that I “amened” my way through this, but I think it’s worth the read even if you aren’t obsessed with this whole conversation like me. Again, this pandemic is SUCH an opportunity to rethink everything - and I see so few segments of our culture willing to do so. It makes me want to scream for days.
Lepore is an automatic read for me, and, since we’re seeing burnout everywhere these days, this piece gave me lots to think about.
Seasonal view of the week
We made it through the weirdest school year of our lives! I’m really proud of how flexible these kids were, and I’m so thankful to their teachers for making the year feel as normal as possible.
Cheers to noticing your community(ies) in the week ahead!
Sara
where to go from here