Another week, another person of color gunned down in this country. Asian spa workers. A young Black man. A Mexican boy. All living in different communities, all killed in different circumstances, united in their violent deaths at the hands of those who disregard their right to live. The same horror song, stuck on repeat since…
Striving toward antiracism
I am hard work. I am learning and quietly leading. I am striking out on my own and starting anew. I am family connections, bonding through food and drink and laughter. I am silence. I am sucking it up and denying. I am complicity, I am rugged individualism. I am believing I can do it…
Vaccinated
Inside my body, I now have molecules that will teach my immune system to recognize the COVID-19 virus. As I sit here waiting in the pharmacy, my body is gaining the knowledge of how to dismantle the threat that has held us hostage for the past year. And my ability to access the vaccine that…
Voting to defund means more funds for social services
This was also published in the Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal. I also wrote previously about this issue here. Defund the police. What does it mean? Here in Oak Park, the clearest indication we have for the meaning of "defund the police" is the ordinance proposed in August 2020, which committed to "reducing the amount…
(Un)Certainty
One year ago, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. One year ago, if we were privileged enough our jobs had us start working remotely. One year ago, school districts closed down in-person schooling. One year ago, we had no idea what was coming. One year ago, we could not anticipate what would change…
Staying on track with detracking
This piece was also published in the Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal. When you were 13 years old, did you know what career you wanted to have? Could you predict all of your adult interests and passions? Did you know how your current life would look? Most 13-year-olds do not have this knowledge because our…
Finding the will
On December 23, 2020, police killed Angelo Quinto by kneeling on his back after responding to a mental health support call at his mother’s home. On June 2, 2020, police shot and killed unarmed Sean Monterrosa as he knelt in front of a squad car. On May 25, 2020, police killed George Floyd by kneeling…
Rights and wrongs
The one-year anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery’s death. The release of an official report confirming that police had no reason to stop, frisk, or choke Elijah McClain. The lack of charges for police officers who killed Daniel Prude. The shooting deaths of two Fort Wayne teenagers in a hate crime. All of these events are happening…
Snow
Sometimes we cover what is there to try to produce a facsimile of beauty. We cover up signs of age with makeup and hair cream. We touch up photographs to display them in magazines and online. We change our appearance, hide the experiences we consider inappropriate, fail to acknowledge our mistakes. We wear figurative masks…
Drop and river
Each moment in our lives is followed by another. As we experience this succession of moments, we become accustomed to them. They begin to seem like one another, ordinary, commonplace, as if a moment the same as the last is always coming, rushing past like the vast number of droplets that make up a swiftly-flowing…
