Global Running Day June 3 2020
When jogging in DC I like to stop at the memorials and read. Circling the Tidal Basin a couple years ago I took some time at MLK Memorial. This quote stuck with me. A good story linked here w video.
‘Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope’
I’m waiting for a stone of hope.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms delivered an impassioned plea to calm the violence in her city on Friday night.
“This is not a protest, this is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., this is chaos. A protest has purpose. When Dr. King was assassinated, we didn’t do this to our city.”
What are some of the conditions that are making this country so volatile?
-unemployment is at historic highs
-Coronavirus is affecting communities of color at much greater rates. I wrote a piece on this crisis here
-as the country starts to gradually reopen fears of financial insecurity and economic crisis are highly present
Adding more tinder to the fire.
-Large gatherings can spike new infections as protesters cram together some without masks.
-As was the case at the White House yesterday many cities are firing teargas into causing coughing and we know the respiratory droplets are highly infectious.
So for World Running Day June 3 (and every day) be a Stone of Hope
Run for peace
Run for love
Run for justice
Run for your mental and physical health
Run for Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd and for all who have suffered and lost lives from senseless violence
I may not get to the mountaintop with you but together we can try.
A powerful song Janelle Monáe “Hell You Talmbout”- Say His Name !
Do it without violence.
In 1963 MLK Jr. dreamed of a day when African Americans might be judged by “the content of our character rather than the color of our skin.”
Much to think about on your run today
To pledge to our local chapter of NAACP we are doing a gofundme for one week
https://www.gofundme.com/f/run-for-black-lives
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A “stone of hope” on the Overlook in Harpers Ferry West Virginia looking down at John Brown’s Fort where the abolitionist raided the Armory in 1859
Your piece on the disparities in covid outcomes is excellent. Thank you for sharing the link and for speaking up about these injustices. I’m glad to have found your work.