thought – Page 2 – Rhoneisms

Yesterday was the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre that destroyed “Black Wall Street”.

To understand some of the context of what’s going on right now you have to know the history.

So, I point you to where I live, the Rondo Neighborhood in St. Paul, MN.

“There is one thing we can do, and the happiest people are those who do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. We can be all here. We can… give all our attention to the opportunity before us.”

— Mark Van Doren

Seriously folks, find someone who even in the midst of the world burning down around you, can make you laugh.

Anti-Racism Resources: Books, Conversations and People Leading The Charge — Sarah K Peck

I really like and am heavily considering #2 for myself.

This is one that’s been making the rounds. I finally had a chance to read it and. It’s good: 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice – Equality Includes You – Medium

My beautiful wife, on why a sense of place matters:

“When we live and work and go to school and recreate in these places, we become part of something much larger than us. We exist together, united.

And when we lose these places, we lose part of our souls.”

We Know

Let me tell you about where I live…

I live in Saint Paul now. We jokingly refer to this as “Saint Small”. Despite its status as a medium-sized metropolitan city, it’s the sort of place where if I don’t know you, I know your people. I know people that know you. If I ask you who your people are, your friends and neighbors, where you’ve lived or worked, and I don’t know anyone you mention, you’re not from here.

Minneapolis, though larger and even more metropolitan, is not all that different. Especially in the neighborhoods. I lived in South Mineapolis from age 3-10 and then again from age 16-18. The spot where George Floyd died? My Grandmother’s house was a block away. The Cup Food grocery he died in front of used to be a pharmacy. I got ice cream from the soda fountain there. As a kid, I never lived anywhere more than two miles from that spot. If you lived or worked in South Minneapolis, we knew you. We knew your people. We knew who you churched with or who you drank with. It was that way then and it is that way now.

So, when we say that much of the chaos that is growing out of otherwise peaceful (sure, anger filled, wrenching, screaming, but non-violent) protests is from outside of the community, we know. When we say we are seeing cars we don’t recognize with out of state plates or, more tellingly, no plates at all, we know. When we say we don’t know the people or their people, we know. When we see businesses vandalized or burning that we know we would never harm, we know.

We don’t know you and we don’t know your people.

We know.