“I keep hearing folks slip and say “the fatal shooting of Jacob Blake”. I’ve heard it several times on different news sources. Each time they correct themselves or each other. Jacob Blake is alive. Paralyzed, possibly permanently from the waist down, but alive. The most soul-destroying part is that we as a society have grown accustomed that every shooting by a police officer, inflicted on a black man, results in yet another death. Let that marinate for a moment. We are constantly hashtagging and saying their names to the extent that our go-to is fatality. That is where we are now. That is our 2020 America.

We can fill pages with names of the dead. Death from this pandemic, death from gun violence, death from police shootings, death from storms, death from fires. In all of this, as we grieve for our neighbors, family, friends, it seems almost inevitable to fall into despair. To give in to disconnection. Hit that Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime binge and don’t look back. While it is necessary to take a moment here and there, we must not forget or falter in our responsibility to hear these stories, to share them, to let them impact us, to then turn that impact into movement. Stand up and be heard yourselves. Yes, this is our 2020 America. What are we going to do about it? Let’s get to work.”