More Images and Thoughts On the Portland Protests for Racial and Economic Justice

My sign reads: Replace the capitalist globalization of racism, greed and violence with the globalization of generosity, equality, justice, truth, wisdom, compassion and love.

Eric Greatwood represents both veterans and independent press. He has been live-streaming the Portland protests every night for weeks. Deep bow of gratitude and respect.

There were many doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers participating and standing up for justice.

These photographs are a small glimpse into the Portland protests in front of the federal buildings on the night of Wednesday, July 29th. My husband and I will continue to return again and again to these protests and to support Black Lives Matter in every way we can. 

 

For me, this support includes continuing to read How To Be an Antiracist, listening to and being informed and inspired by the words of John Lewis and others, and actively identifying and peeling back the layers of racism that I have absorbed growing up in America. 

 

Choosing to do the work of learning how to be an antiracist is an ongoing process. It takes work and energy, courage and humility, compassion and commitment to recognize my blind spots and heal and transform the obstacles I’ve built around my heart which have impaired my capacity for consciousness, kindness, and love. 

 

I reflect in this moment with tears welling in my eyes on memories of my childhood in Grosse Pointe, Michigan where Blacks were prohibited by law from living. The one Black family that did move into this wealthy Detroit suburb when I was a teenager was ultimately driven out. And then there are my mother’s words ringing in my ears and my heart when a friend and her boyfriend were going to pick me up from my parents’ home and drive me back to college: “If that Black boy shows up on our doorstep, we’ll be finished in this neighborhood!”

So much has impacted me — and all of us. This also includes the economic structure of our nation which has from the very beginning been rooted in racism, greed, inequality, dehumanization, oppression, and violence. The systems and policies of patriarchal neoliberal predatory capitalism — the policing policies built on racism and punishment and dehumanization, the mass incarceration of the prison industrial complex, the ongoing brutality and violation directed at Indigenous Peoples and their land, the endless wars and worldwide militarism of the military industrial complex, the fossil fuel industry which is fueling man made global warming and driving us all towards extinction, the insurance and pharmaceutical industries which kill and impoverish millions, the animal and agricultural industries which poison the Earth and cause unfathomable suffering of other beings, the ongoing vast redistribution of wealth upwards and all the poverty and death and violence it leaves in its wake, the vast and relentless poisoning and devastation of the Earth, and on and on — all has their roots in racism and the ideology of domination. This is why radical systemic change has for so very, very long been vitally and urgently needed. 

 

This is a glimpse into why I’m so fiercely committed to the ongoing process of more and more deeply waking up, showing up, and doing my part in working to alleviate the suffering in our beautiful hurting world. The systems and policies causing such great harm most deeply impact Blacks, Indigenous Peoples, and other marginalized humans and nonhumans. And, because we are all interconnected, we are all affected. 

 

To be silent is to be complicit. To turn away, to remain ignorant, to justify and defend the status quo, to live with a shrunken circle of caring, to point fingers of blame and judgment at those who are hurting and demanding radical change, to distance our minds and hearts from the suffering of our planetary sisters and brothers is to enable that suffering to continue. 

 

It’s my belief that we all have a role to play in this great universal struggle for racial, economic, social, and environmental justice. This looks different for each of us. And whatever our part is, no matter how big or small, we’re all needed. We’re all needed. — Molly

My husband listening to a speaker amidst the crowds.