From
Diana Butler Bass on
Facebook:
Dear Friends,
It is important that we remember the actions of these days and learn.
This is what it looks like when angry white people use a "democratic" process to wipe the memory and achievement of an honorable and successful black man from history. The drive to do away with him is so powerful that the "base" is willing to sacrifice their own to a life of no access to health care and potentially destroy the entire planet.
This is what it looks like when vengeance is the primary purpose of politics.
Do not forget these days. Because they are, for many, the opportunity to see what they never saw. The evil of the days can serve to awaken. Even after "he" is no longer president. Because until we deal with the depth of race and hierarchies and violence, this will continue.
Today, take a moment and be grateful for those who see clearly, who work with heart and passion for renewed practices of inclusion and true democracy in this, our national home.
I invite you to name some of those people here. Those who embody joy and justice in the midst of all of this.
Yours, Diana
Bass speaks truth with eloquence. The first names that come to mind are
Desmond Tutu,
Malala Yousafzai,
Barack Obama, and Michelle Obama. The inclusion of "joy" makes it more difficult to think of others, but the word belongs. Gratitude is quite often difficult for me, but Bass is right to include the word "grateful" in her letter.
