Mother nature has shaken us to the core. Everything we thought we believed and valued is being challenged and tested. She is calling our selves to ourselves. She is moving us toward introspection and self-reflection, to self-forgiveness, to self-love, to forgiveness for the greater good, to unconditional love through accountability via our individual character and nature.
Audre Lorde brilliantly said, “Your silence will not protect you.” Silence in the face of injustice will ruin you. It is time to heed the call to courage by tapping into our hearts. The time has come for courageous people to stand up for and with others. These times are no longer for complacency and complicities. We must embrace the shadows of what is implicit and firmly rooted in systemic and societal oppression and do something.
If there ever was doubt over our human connectedness, COVID taught us otherwise. It took a pandemic to demonstrate how the neglect of our most vulnerable and marginalized populations made the whole world vulnerable. For the first time ever, folks started to realize the importance of universal healthcare, the eradication of homelessness, and the impact of mental illness. How quickly these struggles could affect any one of us sunk in. Suddenly, it was significant that everyone have a place to rest with functioning utilities to maintain the necessary standards of cleanliness in order to combat this virus. Exactly who our essential workers are and the gargantuan sacrifice imposed upon them — understood.
Then, in the throes of a pandemic, with most of the nation locked down, social distancing, working from home, schooling from home, mourning and grieving the loss of so many, video footage of the cold-blooded murder of Ahmaud Arbery by vigilantes was thrust in our faces. Nineteen days later, Breonna Taylor was executed by police in her own home. Just when we thought we were catching our breath and mending our hearts, police murdered George Floyd. Plenty other Black, Brown and Trans lives have been taken in between and after, not so heavily publicized and scrutinized.
Our eyes have never deceived us, but this time our heads were unable to turn and escape the discomfort of knowing via sports, live entertainment and our personal and professional social lives. Grand juries of the broken hearted materialized everywhere catapulting us into the largest Civil Rights era ever in the history of this country with the manifestation of deep awakening and reckoning ever so present on the horizon. With much respect to the late, great Gil Scott Heron — this time, the revolution was televised. Finally the hashtags #blacklivesmatter #allblacklivesmatter have begun to be understood. Never have I been more stoked, inspired and hopeful for what’s to come.
Native American tradition asserts we are the answer to prayers prayed seven generations ago by those who walked this earth before us. Quite simply put — we are the answer. We must cease turning to others for solutions, looking for others to carry the burden, to do the work, to relieve us. Perhaps we do this as a last-ditch attempt for relief from our discomfort not realizing we are only postponing bringing forth the very purpose of our existence and the world we all desire to live in. Each and every one of us, after periods of introspection and grief, must not be still. I implore you to action in your individual lives pushing the needle ever so gracefully, personally and professionally supporting much needed shifts in our culture and systems.
African tradition orates one’s character is the true determining factor in the attainment of one’s destiny. My desire for each and every one of us is that our characters not ruin our destiny.
I invite you to consider this Hopi Elder’s prophecy written June 8, 2000:
You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back
and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered…
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, “This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word ’struggle’ from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
In the spirit of that prophecy, we took action. In early 2017, concerned by reports of the steady rise in incidents of hate and bias in Houston, especially incidents against African-American, Jewish, Muslim and LGBTQ communities, a group of over 30 community stakeholders came together to develop a coordinated community-wide plan — to speak our truth, to create our community, and to be good to one another.
Over the next two years, the group organized itself as the Houston Coalition Against Hate (HCAH) and has worked toward strengthening connections among organizations working in this space, facilitating the exchange of information, skills and experience, and establishing partnerships with law enforcement agencies and other institutions, so that Houston can improve its systems to effectively prevent and reduce incidents of hate.
In the past two years the Coalition has steadily and consistently grown with membership at well over 65 members strong. If you have been a member of the Coalition joining us in the fight against hate, bias, violence, and discrimination in the City of Houston, we thank you. If you are an organization or institution, not yet a member, we invite you. Without you, there is no us.
Tasked and Onwards,
Marjorie Joseph, Executive Director
Houston Coalition Against Hate
About the author:
Marjorie Joseph is Executive Director of Houston Coalition Against Hate, a network of community-based organizations, institutions and leaders in Houston, TX that have come together to collectively address incidents of hate, bias, discrimination and violence against Houstonians. She is an artist, organizer, and uses the creative process as a force for individual and community transformation.