Refuge is a place of comfort, peace, safety, security, a shelter, a haven where you can be your true self.
Can one take refuge if they are not entirely free in one's daily life?
Can a person be their true self and realize their true potential if they face injustice the minute they walk out the door?
What is happening to young African American men, and kids, who are often stopped, at times detained, beaten, killed, for walking, for driving, for being? I try to contemplate for a moment, how it must feel to be a suspect, to be detained, to be Other. I try to imagine what it must feel like to live your life with your guard up.
How must it feel to be a young man of color, to always live with a heightened sense of awareness when you're out in the world?
How deeply must it impact a person, a family, a community on a multi generational level, a cellular level, to know the cards are stacked against them? My heart feels heavy. I am sad and feel embarrassed that we haven't come very far. Perhaps the civil rights movement is never over, our work is not done until we all can be protected from brutality and injustice. I want to hold and comfort those suffering today in Ferguson, Staten Island, Cleveland.
How must a parent feel, when their child is always under suspicion by how they look, for the color of their skin? I want to honor innocent lives, I want to take a stand for peace, tolerance, reverence for life and step out of my cocooned, protected, comfort zone. Perhaps opening dialogue in my home and community, listening and learning is a good beginning.
I want to understand...
Can a person ever be free, have a sense of freedom when they are always looking over their shoulder?
How must it feel to be under suspicion, how does that impact how you perceive the world?
Do we really have justice if we are not all under the umbrella of equality? Can I take refuge when injustice is going on?
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| American citizens rounded up with armed soldiers during WWII and ordered to interment camps. |
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| Families could take only what they could carry and walked away from everything else. |
I have bi-racial kids who are now young adults. Both my parents, California natives, and most of my relatives were interned, imprisoned for years in desolate, desert "camps" during WWII for looking like the "enemy" and suffered a great injustice.
Today I look at my son and daughter with the eyes of a parent who struggles with deep concern for their very survival every time they walk out the door. How does it feel when you hold your child, nephew, brother, grandson, and wonder, will they be safe today?
If they are stopped, questioned, detained, just how quickly a routine thing like running an errand, going to the store, hanging out with friends, can turn into a tragedy.
I am always hopeful and forever optimistic. I can imagine a time when we can all see our interconnection with all people, all beings. There is no separation between us. I am a believer in the lofty ideal that we can remember "to live as one".
