The past weeks’ protests demand that I hold space for many aspects of this historic moment simultaneously. There is activism in every state of the United States that inspires me. People in countries around the world also demand an end of racial violence in the US and their own countries. At the same time, we need to hold space for those brave enough to leave their homes and risk transmission of COVID-19 to have their say.
On one of the first days of the protest, I was able to see that so many of the people participating in the demonstrations are teenagers, like the students I used to teach. I see they are getting arrested, and police are putting them in jail for their activism against police violence. These jails are epicenters of COVID-19 transmissions. I cry because I love them. I have a special place in my heart for teenagers, having spent so many years sharing important life moments with them. I love them because they want a better life for everyone and are willing to risk their own well-being for the greater good. I also grieve for the tragedy of their young lives. First COVID-19, the loss of school, maybe the loss of loved ones, perhaps poverty, and the experience of how little the society they live in values their lives.
I also need to hold space for “there is no other way to get to where our world needs to go.” I sense that the brave souls leading and participating in this journey are not just doing this for themselves. They are acting with a “we” consciousness.
How is this Happening?
As I try to make sense of this moment, I kept asking myself how is this happening? As a child, I watched Vietnam war end because of demonstrations around the world. I thought that the demonstrations just happened spontaneously and the politicians surrendered to pubic opinion. I later found out that ending the war was the result of an immense effort to organize and educate society along with the the persistence, and the power that that desire to stop the war created. So I knew to look for what is not visible to me. These new and powerful voices that seemingly emerged overnight are not new. The events are the result of years of effort to organize and educate society along with power that the desire to end police violence other aspects of racism creates.
This post offers a chance to meet the leaders of this movement–African American women who used their anger around the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, to create a vast network of organizations that helped us get to where we are today. They will tell you how they used their body sense of their lives to propel us to this moment in history. They offer many suggestions of how to be part of this energy and power. I hope you enjoy the video below hosted by Jane Fonda of Fire Drill Fridays in conversation with the leaders of the Movement for Black Lives Jessica Boyd, Colette Pichon Battle and Chinyere Tutashinda.
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Thank you for sharing the way you hold all the threads Diana. I’ve found myself immersed in what’s happening and forgetting to be in Grounded Presence. There were moments of remembering it such as when I listened to Black congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee speak out of her own grounded presence and embodied wisdom. Now your blog Diana is showing explicitly how to be with these world currents in a Focusing way. Thank you!
Dear Anna,
Thanks for your comments.
Tears started to come when I saw police putting 15-year-olds into vans. I knew I had to be with those feelings. As a teacher of teenagers, I remember so many people asking me how I could “tolerate” being with them. There is a lack of understanding of adolescent life. The lack of compassion, especially for teenagers of color, is frightening. Remaining in lockdown because of health problems also helped me connect to their bravery and willingness to live through suffering to change the world. What I found was when I got stuck on the details, facts, etc. I got lost. When I discovered my body’s sense of what I was seeing and learning about, I could be more present to both the joy it produced and the sadness. By doing that, I released so much energy that I could see that I could contribute even in this lockdown state to the forces for good that are opening up around the world.
Thank you Diana for sharing this on so many levels. I think a lot of us watching the protests have found it hard to stay in grounded presence. Thank you too for sharing the participation of the teenagers. And I particularly appreciate the idea that this has not just appeared – many have been working for years on these problems including the three women interviewed and Jane Fonda. I am also grateful for the example of watching this unfold in a Focusing way – and getting in touch with my own rage.