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| Peter NG leading us in song at our 10-Year Party. |
It’s high time we who believe in a world beyond endless cycles of violence stop trying to play by the rules that are stacked against us anyway. It’s time we stop trying to be right, perfect, or even “good,” and instead do what is needed. It’s time we stop waiting for someone to come and save us, and instead send out our own signal. One that is unwavering. One that blatantly declares that we will not let each other face these incoming long, dark, and difficult times alone. One that makes the bold statement that we will do whatever it takes to keep the soul of ourselves and this world intact. – Chani Nicholas, excerpt from 01.22.25 Newsletter
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A few months ago, we celebrated with friends and former colleagues in Orange County to mark the ten-year anniversary of moving from Southern California to Southeast Michigan in August 2014. Our sister Kristen organized the event in my mom’s backyard. It was immaculate.
We raised a glass and ate tacos and shared a few stories. Members of our board testified from the mic. Our friend Peter flew down from Portland to celebrate and play popular tunes on his ukulele. We were bathing in beloved community.
Since our party, we’ve experienced a lot of heaviness. The election. The wildfires. The Nazi salute Inauguration. The flurry of fascist executive orders. The ongoing terrorizing of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Honestly, it feels like things are spiraling out of control. It makes a lot of sense that despair, depression, denial and controlling behavior are seeping out all over the place.
At the end of 2024, my friend Deni and I were texting. Deni was one of my favorite principals at Capistrano Valley High School. In our thread, Deni lamented that, these days, many well-meaning Americans are feeling absolutely overwhelmed with everything that is going on. She asked this:
If you could advise one thing that everyone should do in the coming year to help the overall state of the U.S., what would it be?
I immediately thought back to the day before George Floyd was murdered in 2020. Detroit pastor Rev. Roslyn Bouier got on a zoom church service that Lindsay and I were facilitating from Bend, Oregon. We were in the middle of the lock-down portion of the covid-19 pandemic. Rev. Roz told a dozen of us that our goal should not be about getting back to normal. Because “normal is overrated.”