On mourning George Floyd and examining our history of violence

The root of compassion is not empathy; that is kindness. Kindness is great, but it is not the ultimate compassion. Ultimate compassion relieves the suffering that comes from separateness. The suffering that comes from separateness is relieved only when you are fully present with another person, not when you are separately present.

When our hearts open, when we know that we are in fact the world, when we experience the pain of others in our own blood and muscle, we are feeling compassion.

- Ram Dass

An idea from Paolo Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed ) comes to mind: when the oppressed fight for their liberation, they are ultimately bringing about the liberation of everyone, including the oppressors themselves. For how can anyone be free if they have their knee on someone’s neck?

When we protest, when we speak out against injustice, when we boycott corporations who continue to exploit women and people of color, when we hold our elected officials accountable…

when we do the hard work of examining our own, deeply forged and often hidden, unconscious biases,

when we resist choosing safety over the discomfort of confrontation whenever bias shows its twisted face,

then we are working to free all of humanity.

Until everyone is at peace, no one is at peace.

Below, a hastily-compiled guide of things to do/read/consider:

Listen to Cornel West:

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/6/1/cornel_west_us_moment_of_reckoning

What can I do?:

https://www.defendingblacklives.org/defund-police-sign-on/

https://www.change.org/

https://www.greatbigstory.com/guides/how-to-become-a-better-black-lives-matter-ally

https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/

Know your rights and what to do in an encounter with law enforcement:

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/discrimination-on-the-basis-of-race-ethnicity-or-national-origin

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/what-do-when-encountering-law-enforcement-questioning/

http://www.heraca.org/documents/knowyourrights/bustcard-English.pdf

Pressure your elected officials:

https://ny.curbed.com/2017/3/15/14886664/nyc-elected-officials-representative-how-to-contact

http://www.mygovnyc.org/

https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/county-election-officals.shtml

Vote:

http://www.nyccfb.info/nyc-votes/vgwelcome/guide-to-voting-in-the-2020-elections/

https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-information-2020.shtml

The role and responsibility of corporate America:

https://hbr.org/2020/06/u-s-businesses-must-take-meaningful-action-against-racism

Required reading:

Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlands, La Frontera; the New Mestiza

Freire, Paolo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Martin Luther King, Jr. Strength to Love

loka samastha sukhino bhavanthu

loka samastha sukhino bhavanthu

loka samastha sukhino bhavanthu

om shanti, shanti, shanti

(may all beings, everywhere, be free from suffering)