Dear Dear Dear Ones,
I am reading about the harm and harassment on Ida B. Wells’ namesake street in Chicago. I hear the choppers outside my window in Brooklyn.
God damn it. God damn it. God damn it. Also peace and power to you each, and to all of us. And fly, fly, FLYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Nina Pop, Monika Diamond, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US WHO HAS BEEN KILLED BY WHITE SUPREMACY IN ANY OF THE MANY WAYS.
In the name of my father, George Hill Jr., a handsome Black man who loved people and dressed sharp and beautiful…a powerful ancestor now. In the name of my great-great-great-uncle Lewis M. Ayer, a white confederate congressman who grew up on and proliferated abject racism and abuse…an ancestor who needs healing now. In the name of my Grandmother Emma who is very much alive and teaching us how to thrive within God’s grace. We change now. We rest. We love. We be different. We make different. We make beauty. We make regal. We make sobbing with no apology. We make turned off cell phones, away messages and cuddle piles. We make riots and signs. We make fierce love to and with ourselves.
Peace to us. Peace to us. Peace to us. Wellness to us. Wellness to us. Wellness on us. Wellness on us. Wellness with us. Wellness with us. Wellness through us. Wellness through us. Blessings on and inside our wombs. Prayers on and within our sperm. Fiery yes-ness on our childrens’ faces. Wellness us. Wellness us. WEllness us. WELLness US. Us wellness. Us. Us. Us. Tenderness, righteous and healthy fire, family wealth, laughter, water, rest, connection to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US.
I love you fiercely, with compassion and with expectation.
Maria
P.S. If you are taking care of you and your family, more power! If you feel called to pitch in another way, here are some resources:
BLM’s Ways you Can Help
Bail Funds Across the States