Rhoneisms

Yesterday, my family and I finally mustered up the emotional strength to visit the intersection of 38th and Chicago — my old neighborhood and the site of the Murder of George Floyd.

Here’s what you need to understand about that place; because there’s no way to get a sense of it unless you’ve been there. It is not only a sacred space — with several bouquet and street art filled memorials constructed to honor his memory. It is so much more…

• It is a community gathering spot.

• It is a place of ongoing peaceful protest.

• It is a place to give speeches that call for change.

• It is a community free market where personal care supplies, clothing, fresh produce, and fresh cooked BBQ is available for anyone who needs it.

• It is a place for Native healing dances, because he died on stolen land.

• It is a place to be amongst shared grief and collective pain. To feel it together, To know that your anger is one with all anger. That all tears flow from the same source.

• It is a block party. With neighbors talking to neighbors. Connecting with friends. Reconnecting with people you haven’t seen in years.

But, more importantly for those coming from outside the community, its is a place where you can witness that whole of what the community is going through. A place to be a present part of what we as a larger community are working through together.

• A place to dance like the world is watching.

A place to be.