I am in mourning today. I am mourning for George Floyd and his family, mourning for Ahmaud Arbery, for Breonna Taylor, mourning for all the black and brown and indigenous people who have been murdered in cold blood across our nation, right here in the U.S.A.
The next man or woman murdered because of the color of their skin could be my husband, my child, my grandchild. Or it could be your beloved family member or friend.
As a Jewish woman I have vivid memories of my people being slaughtered by the Nazis. To this day, anti-semitism is very much alive. It is frightening to feel such hatred and malice, but I have only felt it rarely.
My husband, who is African American, feels it often; has felt it over and over again, whether in the deep South, Philadelphia or yes — here in the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass.
When will this stop? It has been 400 years since African people were brought here to be enslaved — to work for the profit of slave holders — 400 hundred years! But the wounding keeps going on. The Civil War never ended in people’s hearts and minds. When will this insanity be over?
The rage, the grief can fuel us to take action. What action can we take? What can we do? How do we become a force for justice, for connection between people, instead of separation?
First, let us take a breath together — one big collective breath. George Floyd couldn’t breathe; Eric Garner couldn’t breathe. How frightening that must have been, to die with the breath of your body being taken from you by force!
But we, the living, are breathing now — so let us take a breath for George, for Eric, for Breonna — for all those who are hurt and angry and in despair. Let us send our breath, our support, our love to the families who have lost their loved ones to this violence, to every Black, Brown, Immigrant, Indigenous person who has become a target simply because of the color of their skin.
Then let us take action in whatever way we can. Let us vote for people who believe in equality; work for voting rights, not voter suppression. Let us get educated and educate our children about what has happened and is still happening to black and brown people in this nation. Let us change the criminal justice system which is disproportionately imprisoning people of color. Let us dialogue with our police, our governing officials and our neighbors and start shifting the balance toward justice. Let us open our hearts to people who seem different from ourselves. Let us commit to becoming a part of a change that needs to happen to repair what has been broken in our land.
Everyone deserves to live in a safe place, to eat nourishing food, to receive high quality health care and an education that teaches us to be intelligent, fulfilled, caring community members. Everyone deserves to be treated equally by the law and by the society.
Let’s make this country great, truly for the first time — by living up to the principles the nation was built upon. Those principles originally applied only to white men who owned land and enslaved others. African Americans, Native Americans, women, immigrants (all of us!) have had to fight to share in those same rights, which our Constitution says rightfully belong to everyone who is a citizen here in the U.S.A.
We can become the nation we were meant to be — a nation of liberty and justice for all! A change is possible! We can do this! Let’s do it now!
Morning Star Chenven is a resident of Erving.