#Say Her Name - Breonna Taylor

We must remember this woman. We must include and come to terms with the systematic inequality of and injustices towards women too.

In this first article what stands out to me is “In the weeks immediately after Taylor died, her case didn’t receive much news media and political attention, falling in line with a longstanding pattern in which police brutality against black women is rendered invisible and “I had just been following the story about police brutality and about George Floyd, and her name stopped coming up,” Young said. “I was really frustrated to see her be erased in real time.”

In the second article what stands out is this quote by Andrea Ritchie, “We’re not trying to compete with Floyd’s story, we’re trying to complete the story.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/birthday-breonna-taylor-black-lives-matter.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/us/breonna-taylor-black-lives-matter-women.html

Instagram Post - Vanessa Bryant

A few days ago, in reflecting on our macrocosm, capped off by the vile behavior and nature of the human being in the oval office, I was wondering how on earth all the social ills will be corrected. Thoughts immediately turned to the heart and family as the microcosm from which everything emanates. I believe what is being expressed on such a large scale is the sum total of teachings, unresolved wounding and lack of compassion in the heart of individuals and families. Mine included with sisterhood and marital dynamics involving jealousy, hatred, racism, sexism, injustice, dominance and control. Because I could not subscribe to or, despite great effort, correct the inherent “systems”, I removed myself from both to freely work on my own heart and actions.

With that, in my opinion, this post is perfectly timed and, indeed, one hundred percent correct!

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Compassion

The gist of the compassion cultivation training I took at Stanford is that every human being on this planet wants to feel happy and free from suffering. The textbook A Fearless Heart - How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives is a good one.

Heavy Cascade

With our current affairs and the glaring reality, danger, and uncertainty, it really feels like this again. It also feels though, just as in this image, like there is movement. And, within that is great possibility.

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Creative Catalysts 3 - 2015 - Prodromal Oops

Now a different class a couple of years later and another opportunity to randomly collect words from periodicals. They are foolishness, weeping, inconspicuous, framework, voice, parameters, face, reappearance, chattering, connection. The assignment was to form a poem and/or story. (Four years later the art piece emerged.)

Truth be told

A beautiful, innocent child

Smothered in a framework of unspoken and spoken expectations

Innocent no more

He grapples with untethering from the confines of the parameters

The racing of his thoughts and chattering voice

Quickly yielding to a weeping face and aching heart

Not surprising

The manic reappearance and inconspicuous connection

Ahh, the foolishness of a parent

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