Day 77 of Self Quarantine                       Covid 19 Deaths in U.S.:  103,000

We interrupt the Covid-19 pandemic for …

• • a black man, George Floyd, murdered by four policemen in Minneapolis
  • a dam breaking in Michigan and flooding hundreds out of their homes;
    • This natural disaster is advance notice for hurricane season on the East Coast and wild fires in the West this summer according to a warning from Columbia University Director of National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Dr. Irwin Redlener;
  • Twitter sort of blocking tweets from the President for using his bully pulpit to share “when they start looting we start shooting;”
  • the White House blocking public service health information from the CDC warning about spread of Covid-19 in newly opened churches when people sing;
  • a U.S. economy so bad that the White House is withholding its usual summer economic projections while another 2.4 million Americans filed jobless claims last week to bring the nine-week total to 38.6 million;
  • scientists sharing that Covid-19 lingers in the air for 30 minutes when you flush your toilet if you don’t put the lid down;
  • 17 year cicadas waking up on the East Coast;
  • Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post putting Minneapolis protests into perspective with the protests at the state house in Lansing, MI sharing that “Black Lives Remain Expendable.”

Just when you think 2020 couldn’t get any worse, I go to bed with the images of the protests turning violent in Minneapolis, MN.

Minneapolis Protests George Floyd Murder

I awake in the middle of the night to a text from my brother about the President’s inciting his base tweet.  I check in with our family Google Hangout and my son just shared that a CNN black reporter and his video crew were arrested in Minneapolis while a CNN white reporter was not.  So much for sleep tonight.

My daughter responds to my anger and frustration on our Hangout with:

You need to do so much more Dad.

The MOST important thing you can do for lasting change to help POC is to vote democratic up and down the ballot.  AND give TIME (and money) to help others do so.  If we do not ALL work our butts off between now and November we will only have ourselves to blame for continued violence. This violence is OUR fault.

Consider starting with either one of these: 

https://votesaveamerica.com/states/

https://www.environmentalvoter.org/

And/or call your congresspeople and let them know you were up at 4am thinking about how horrible this is and you want them to help. They don’t know if you don’t tell them.  An email takes literally 3 minutes.

Action action action action.

“Don’t boo. Vote” (And help get others registered to do so) etc etc

I mean, I get it. It’s awful. It’s so awful.  But turn to action!

As Sam Stein shared “I’m just so weary!”

As I sit with my morning coffee waiting for the sun to rise (yes, it did rise this morning), I am grateful that I have a roof over my head and food to eat and that I live in a very beautiful place.  I give thanks that a daughter of a colleague who lives a mile away from the protests in Minneapolis is safe and healthy this morning.  I give thanks for a family that knows we have to act in myriads of ways to save our democracy through our actions, our time and our money.

Sunrise Seattle

And I pray for the strength to keep me safe and healthy as I leave my comfort zone of self-quarantine.

Act now to get out the VOTE in November!