Hello hello,
Happy Friday! What is better than a Friday during the summer?! The sun is shining, the kids are under the watchful eye of their teachers, and it feels like so much is possible 😊 This weekend, I’m looking forward to seeing some friends, a kiddie playdate, and, fingers crossed, a little time for some reading and podcast-listening!
I hope everyone has something going on this summer that they are SO looking forward to. There is something so magical about anticipation – to me, it often trumps the event itself! Right now, I’m giddy about our upcoming trip to MN! If you can possibly imagine, it will be the first time my sister meets my youngest child! And, the first time my mom will see him since he was 2 weeks old. An entire person has developed, and my closest family has only witnessed it via Facetime (big shoutout to Facetime – so grateful to live in a world where you exist- Xoxo.)
I keep reflecting about the fact that it has been a year since the murder of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd (a year!), and it makes me wonder what have we accomplished? What’s next? Codeswitch recently did a podcast episode reflecting on this very topic, and, in particular, white people’s journey with racial reckoning. This episode resonated so much with me especially as I examine my own journey. Yes, I’ve committed to educating myself and sharing my learnings, but so what? How do we translate this work into action? Here’s the episode: The Racial Reckoning That Wasn’t : Code Switch : NPR
I don’t have a great answer now, but this is where my mind is at. I want to take this year of conscious learning and see how I can find a way to make it more actionable. I find myself quick to point to the excuse that I have so many tiny dependents occupying all of my “free time”, but maybe I need to work on reframing that. What can we do with our time that advances the commitment to #blacklivesmatter #powertoprivilege #courageousconversations? Please tell me your ideas!
Be well,
Jessica
PS – I highly recommend How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith and Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford. I don’t really know how to work the Instagram, but I was so giddy when Clint Smith re-tweeted (??) my shout out to him about his book! Love you @clintsmith!! (my husband tells me hashtags and @ signs don’t work here… as if I even know what that means … #help. My 6 year old asks me if I lived during the “olden days”, and I’ve started to answer “yes, yes I did”.)