When the pandemic hit the U.S. crocuses began to break through the soil, precursors of the bright season ahead. After a bleak experience of lives lost, quarantine and financial instability, there were signs of reopening–all shattered from the senseless loss of George Floyd. Protests ensued, emphasizing the message that Black Lives Matter. Next came rioting but in the same realm of Lloyd’s unnecessary death, where his family spoke that this was against his peaceful nature, what was the point? Rioters profited at the expense of a man’s death, destroying the businesses of people who have been trying to recoup from COVID-19 that killed so many and kept us sheltered–away from families, community and regular human interaction. Perhaps such upheaval from normalcy altered many, becoming the switch that turned on bad behavior. Emotions are raw. We were trying to contain a virus, an unseen mysterious enemy that I hoped united us. The virus does not discriminate on gender, sex or race. It should bind humans. Floyd’s murder pivoted the collective energy from #WeAreInThistogether to #BlackLivesMatter.
Peonies begin to mark their glory with impeccable timing.
We’ve been looking for answers. Many turn to world leaders in hopes they can make sense of these tragedies. Schools are sending out crafted responses with a few links on how to communicate racial incidents with children. The messages lack impact, that Marvel moment where a hero zooms in with all the gadgetry and stunts to annihilate the bad guy.
Painting entitled “Sharky Waters”, which was created during the pandemic that shows a mix of good and bad, anticipating the light that comes out of dark times.
Our real world heroes may not have the flash, or Marvel budget, but they exist. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta spoke as a mother to her city, where we had a glimpse of what her children may face if they took the car out without permission. Said Bottoms when she addressed her city about the riots, “A protest has a purpose. When Dr. King was assassinated, we didn’t do this to our city. So, if you love this city, this city that has had a legacy of black mayors and black police chiefs and people who care about this city where more than 50 percent of the business owners in metro Atlanta are minority-business owners, if you care about this city, then go home.” Bottoms also cited Atlanta’s Chief of Police Erika Shields on the abhorrence of the Flloyd tragedy. Said Shields: “I am aware that there is a huge amount of hurt, anger and fear over Mr. Floyd’s murder. Rightly so. How disconnected does law enforcement have to be for a man to be suffocated by a cop in broad daylight knowing that the cameras are rolling, with fellow officers standing around watching? These officers didn’t just fail as cops; they fundamentally failed as human beings.”
We have Meghan Markle’s moving commencement speech to students graduating from her alma mater, Immaculate Heart in Los Angeles: “There’s a way for us to reframe this for you and to not see this as the end of something but instead to see this as the beginning of you harnessing all the work, all the values, and all the skills that you have embodied over the last four years.”
And we can always return to the great pacifists of our time. From the peaceful power of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Desmond Tutu to the soft eloquence of Mr. Rogers, they may not have had the super suit but their impact is real.
Creating a balance of light and dark as an optimistic design of the time.
The crocuses made their debut, now dried into the ground, but this week peonies have bloomed. The pink, vibrant showy flower that hallmarks the bright season ahead. It’s a good symbol that we’ll gladly accept.
