Nobody has to tell any of us. We live in dangerous times. Messages of hate permeate our entire culture. Justice and equality are under constant threat of extinction. Truth is manufactured. Love is fake. How now shall we live? Our only options are to fight or to die. Jesus fought. We will too.
My life was forever changed that night. I feel like I talk about it too much. It’s hard not to talk about something that so many will never understand. I was there. The shots pierced my soul. Though the world has moved on, a part of me will never be able to.
Our children are very young. Throughout my work as an activist, they have only been able to grasp pieces of what I do. Sometimes, those pieces have come together and grown into understanding. They know that we live in a country where police officers operate with relative impunity. They know that police are brutalizing people in our streets. They know that they could be next. They know.
The treehouse was a monster project. Countless hours and days went into our outdoor house of wood. Eventually, we finished it. To celebrate and raise awareness, we decided to paint a message on the side facing the street, “End Police Brutality.” It wasn’t long before many people in the neighborhood were in an uproar. Code enforcement made me paint over it. After a little research, I realized that all flags are permissible. So, I painted “End Police Brutality” on a large US flag and raised it up. The uproar grew. Ultimately…a few nights ago…someone jumped our fence, climbed to the top of our treehouse and vandalized the flag (shredded it and yanked it down). While we certainly felt violated, we were not surprised. Hate is often bold.
I didn’t hesitate to start working on a replacement. In the light of the evil that had befallen us, we decided to paint one word, “Resist.”
Amen.
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