Empty words

We stand with you...Black Lives Matter...We hear you...Are all empty words unless you believe in, and advocate for systemic change.

Believing in, advocating for, and ultimately, being a part of systemic change; for many of us; often means forcing yourself to reprogram certain thinking or logic patterns. Like asking yourself what is crime anyways? What is good? What is bad? What is justice? What is repair? What does punishment really do? How productive are revengeful thoughts and processes? What does it mean to heal? What really changes human behavior? And, are those changes sustainable? If not, what can we do to make positive behavior change be more sustainable?

I think about all these things as a public health professional, a trauma survivor, a healer, as a daughter and friend and niece, as a humanist, as an abolitionist, as a socialist.

Black leaders and organizers are asking for a lot of changes. I encourage you to listen to them, read their work, and ultimately, I encourage you to really believe that a better world is possible. That it's not "too radical." Love you all.